Judge Judy Missed Her Husband so Much She Re-married Him After Divorce | "I Like to Have Someone to Fuss Over"

Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 11, 2022. It has since been updated.

Judy Sheindlin is a stern judge in the courtroom but has a sunnier personality off-screen. Judge Judy takes no bullshit from anyone on-screen and is completely besotted by her husband, Jerry Sheindlin, in real life. Married for almost 41 years, this woman with a successful career on daytime television was the highest-paid TV host in 2018, earning $147 million. 

The 76-year-old Judge Judy also enjoys a great relationship with her 85-year-old husband and fellow judge. However, this wasn't always the case. The couple has been through their fair share of marital troubles to reach a level of bliss that is obvious in their faces now. Judy was initially married to Ronald Levy, also an attorney then, in her early 20s and they have two children Jamie and Adam. However, Ronald never understood that she was a strong woman who would not be happy being on a domestic front only. She was an attorney and wanted to carve a name for herself. However, for Ronald, her job was only a hobby. 

Not surprisingly, the couple divorced soon. “My first husband is a lovely, lovely man but he always viewed my job as a hobby and there came a time where I resented that,” Judy said, according to Country Living. 

Not long after, she ran into Jerry at a bar. They were both in the same profession. According to Jerry, the first time they met he was speaking to a reporter when Judy came up to him and something funny happened. 

“Judy came walking in and put her finger in my face and said, ‘And who is this?’ I said, ‘Lady, get your finger out of my face.’ We've been together ever since,” he told the LA Times. They got married in 1977 and they have three children Gregory, Jonathan, and Nicole. 

Soon, she became famous as a family court judge in New York City because of her no-nonsense style, which led to her own TV show in 1996. For a while, her husband was her competitor. He was the celebrity judge on the show The People’s Court. 

"She is the one who told me I should do it," Sheindlin told LA Times in 1999. "If she had any reservations at all, I wouldn't have done it." 

By then, they were already on their second sprint as a married couple. They had hit a rough patch after being married for 14 years and divorced briefly in 1990. The already successful Judy felt that Jerry didn't support her enough after her father's death.  

“I just had to come to terms with the fact that men of that generation are different,” Judy explained. “They expect, even if they have no right, they expect to be taken care of or catered to.”

However, they couldn't stay apart very long. They were too much in love and willing to work on their differences. They remarried a year later. Judy sweetly told Closer Weekly, according to Country Living, "I missed Jerry. I like to have someone to fuss over. I like to be mated. It’s natural for me. I learned the hard way that sometimes what you think makes you happy won’t."

The old couple is not without a good sense of humor. She once revealed that while she has many awards strewn across the house there are none in the bedroom. "I have different ones in different places. The only place I don't have any awards out in the open is in the bedroom. Other than that they are all over, I don't know I sort of feel that is one place where I feel nobody should be getting awards," she said, according to Daily Mail. 

To which, Jerry added, "No awards? She just gave me an award last night. I just don't understand this. I'm going to have to talk to her about that." 

Judge Judy continues to reign over the reality legal shows and recently sported a new hairstyle that surprised a lot of fans. She looks happy and healthy as ever with Jerry by her side. 

References:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3038579/The-verdict-Judge-Judy-gets-honors-courtroom-bedroom-says-salty-husband-38-years.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-aug-01-ca-61737-story.html

https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/a27815965/judge-judy-sheindlin-husband-jerry-sheindlin-marriage-divorce-kids/