After almost a decade together, the couple who met "out of the blue" is still going strong and are happy raising their blended family together.
Back in 2010, The Big Little Lies star Reese Witherspoon knew that she wanted a lighthearted relationship after having been through two very public breakups. What she did not expect was meeting her future husband, Jim Toth, who just swept her off her feet.
The first time they met, everything just happened "out of the blue." We never know when something wonderful will come our way and that is what happened to her. It was very unexpectedly that she met the person she wanted to spend her life with.
"This really drunk guy was hitting on me, making such an idiot of himself, yelling at me. He was like, [slurring, scowling, pointing finger in her face] `You don't know me.' And I was like, `Yeah, I know. I don't know you!' Jim came over and said, 'Please excuse my friend. He's just broken up with someone.' Jim was a really good friend, pulling him out of that situation. That's just kind of who he is, a really good person," Reese told Elle.
After being married to Ryan Phillippe and dating Jake Gyllenhall, he was a breath of fresh air. He was someone “who’s more mature and in a place in his life where he’s ready to settle down,” a source told People in 2010. “The relationship happened very fast. I think for the first time in a very long time, she feels as if she’s with a grown-up," they said.
It was this mature, caring and protective personality traits of Jim that made her fall deeper in love with him. “Jim said ‘I’m gonna show you every day what a good partner is, what a good person is. I'm going to take care of you. I'm gonna do this so much that you're gonna get used to it,'” Reese told Elle. “I was like ‘What are you talking about?’ I’ve never had anybody like that in my life.”
Since both of them were head over heels with each other, the relationship got serious quickly and in less than a year of dating, he proposed. When it was announced that they will be getting married, their reps said, "They are extremely happy." The couple married soon in March 2011 in an intimate wedding at her Ojai estate, according to Us Weekly.
It did not take the couple a long time to start a family either. After a year of being wed, they welcomed their first child, Tennessee James Toth, on September 27, 2012. She has two more kids, daughter Ava and son Deacon with Ryan. She loves Jim not just for the partner he is but also for the father he has become.
“He’s an incredible man, a wonderful organizer, a great leader," she said. "He’s very patient and funny with the kids, and he really encourages them to see the humor in life," she told People in 2016. In March 2019, they celebrated their eighth anniversary and the two love birds have made their blended family a success.
The couple continues to have date nights and their idea of a date night will surprise you. “Going to a nice dinner and not having to wake up at the crack of dawn with the kids,” she told People. “That’s nice.” Spoken like a real hands-on mom who just wants to be able to get some alone time with their partner, something everybody relates to.
The actress is very upfront and real about her life too. She doesn't want people to think it's all perfect. She has as many problems as any other person. "I want to not perpetuate any more of this kind of garbage that's out there in the media about women falling in love blindly. No one's life is perfect, and I'm sick of whatever tabloid stuff or this or that story tries to portray. My life is just as realistic as everybody else's. Whoever thinks someone has a perfect life, I'm so eager to dispel that," she told Elle.
References:
https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/g2801/reese-witherspoon-unbound-612491/
https://people.com/archive/reeses-whirlwind-romance-vol-73-no-17/
https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body/news/reese-witherspoon-jim-toth-engaged-20102812/
https://people.com/movies/reese-witherspoon-and-jim-toth-share-their-ideal-date-night/