After a messy divorce, Alec Baldwin didn’t even picture himself getting married again until he met Hilaria Baldwin.

The pair now share seven kids and are embarking on TLC’s The Baldwins. A messy divorce from ex-wife Kim Basinger had left him soured on the institution, while he also felt that remarrying would send their daughter Ireland Baldwin, as Alec wrote in his 2017 memoir Nevertheless, “a signal that looked like abandonment.”

Now 29, Ireland was only 5 when her parents first separated in 2000, and the headline-making fallout from the Baldwin-Basinger custody battle lasted for years.

But the way Alec remembers it, his misgivings simply vanished when he met Hilaria Baldwin—then Hilaria Thomas—on Feb. 18, 2011, in New York. He and a friend were “wandering around downtown with no destination in mind,” Alec wrote in his book, when they popped into Pure Food and Wine, a restaurant with a raw vegan menu that the actor was not craving.

It was the perfect spot to meet a wellness-focused yoga instructor, though, and that’s where he first spied his future second wife.

Married for 12 years and now parents of seven, Alec and Hilaria are poised to embark on their unlikeliest adventure yet: Starring on TLC’s The Baldwins, which premieres Feb. 23.

Given Alec’s known aversion to cameras in his personal space, doing reality TV may seem like a stretch for the 66-year-old. But here’s the thing: Given the choice of being away from his family for work or getting to work with his family, it actually made perfect sense.

TLC/Warner Media

“For me, work-related things really aren’t that critical anymore,” he told People ahead of the series’ premiere. “I thought, ‘I get to spend time with my family.’”

Meanwhile, the perpetually busy entertainer has been singing that tune for years.

“I’m happier when I’m with them than when I’m not with them,” Alec told Howard Stern in 2015. “When I’m not with my family, I’m miserable. My wife is like the greatest person I’ve ever met in my life.”

And he was smitten from the start.

“I was standing near the door with my friends when he walked up and took my hand and said, ‘I must know you,” Hilaria told the New York Times in 2012. To which she replied, “‘You must know me?’ and then he gave me his card.”

He never asked women for their phone numbers, Alec noted to the Times. But of that fateful meeting, he wrote in his book, “Suddenly, the idea of avoiding commitment, of not moving forward, seemed misguided. A risk-free life is not worth living.”

But Hilaria wasn’t even sure at first whether she was going to call the actor, who’s 25 years her senior, or not.

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“So my friend dialed the number, but he didn’t pick up,” she told the Times. “And when he called back, I missed the call.”

Not winning at phone tag, Hilaria then made a friend listen to the first voicemail the 30 Rock alum ever left for her. And the pal said, “‘He just wants to talk. I don’t know what the big deal is.’”

Their first date was a dinner out with friends, after which Alec shook her hand at the end of the evening. That made the still-cautious Hilaria think he really was interested in getting to know her.

To put it mildly. Hilaria was the “rarest of people,” the Hunt for Red October star described her in Nevertheless, extolling her beauty, intelligence, honesty and decency (as well as her kindness and patience when it came to his ongoing health and fitness journey, following his wife’s lead). He wrote that he “knew there was something unique about her” when they met.

After six weeks of handshakes, he asked permission for a kiss. “The truth was undeniable: We clicked,” Hilaria wrote in her 2016 book The Living Clearly Method. “Loving Alec felt so good and so right—and we had so much fun.”

They moved in together that November and wed on June 30, 2012, at Manhattan’s Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in front of guests including the groom’s daughter Ireland and younger brothers Billy Baldwin and Stephen Baldwin, plus pals Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels and Mariska Hargitay.

The couple’s wedding rings are each engraved with “Somos un buen equipo,” meaning, we are a good team.

Bruce Glikas/WireImage

“I’ve dated a lot of people since my divorce, and have thought a lot about what I wanted and what I wanted to do,” Alec told the Times ahead of their nuptials. “I thought about it too much, I suppose. I wasn’t really ready to take that chance and to act until I met Hilaria.”

And while “she was in no hurry,” he added, “she was very mature and clear about what she wanted—to be married someday.”

Alec was also admittedly eager for another chance to be a more present father, having said over the years he regretted the damage his divorce caused to his relationship with Ireland when she was growing up.

Though neither he nor Hilaria, who split their time between a Manhattan duplex and a home on Long Island, envisioned having such a full house.

Their eldest child together, daughter Carmen Gabriela, was born Aug. 23, 2013. She was followed in quick succession by sons Rafael Thomas, born June 17, 2015, and Leonardo Ángel Charles, born Sept. 12, 2016.

Son Romeo Alejandro David was born May 17, 2018, his mom revealing that his name was almost Diego until she had misgivings just days before his birth.

But heartbreak followed, Hilaria suffering a miscarriage in April 2019 and losing another pregnancy that November.

“We are very sad to share that today we learned that our baby passed away at 4 months,” she shared on social media at the time. “We also want you to know that even though we are not ok right now, we will be…We are so lucky with our 4 healthy babies—and we will never lose sight of this.”

Instagram / Hilaria Baldwin

Son Eduardo Pao Lucas, was born Sept. 8, 2020, and they welcomed daughter María Lucía Victoria via surrogate on Feb. 25, 2021.

“Our rainbow baby, Edu, is such a blessing—we are overwhelmed by how fortunate we are to have him,” Hilaria reflected in March 2021. “We are living each day, bonding, and grateful for all of the very special angels who helped bring Lucía into the world.”

The babies “bring light into our lives,” she continued, “almost like twins, we love you so much.”

Rounding out the family, Hilaria gave birth to Ilaria Catalina Irena on Sept. 22, 2022.

She told People during her pregnancy, “One of the most beautiful things my children have experienced with a big family is how the heart can grow with every new sibling.”

And while Ireland is based in Los Angeles, her now 21-month-old daughter Holland has had opportunities to bond with her grandpa and meet her seven aunts and uncles in New York. “My first baby had her first baby,” Alec wrote on Instagram when his grandchild was born to Ireland and her musician boyfriend RAC in May 2023. “Much love to the three of you!”

Instagram/Ireland Baldwin

Meanwhile, as for the nine of them, Hilaria has said that the key to managing the daily school run for their six school-age kids is to prepare for everything the night before. And when the house is full again at the end of the day, everyone pitches in to make dinner before bath time and homework.

“Teaching them to help around the house is very much a part of our parenting philosophy,” Hilaria shared with Vogue in September 2024. “As soon as they get in the door after school, we have a routine of washing up and eating.”

As for self-care, she runs early in the morning before the kids wake up or fits in workouts between meetings and other business. And on weekends, when everyone is home, Hilaria still makes sure to carve out time for herself, explaining, “I have learned to free myself from guilt by telling them that I need to take care of myself too—body and mind. I hope they see it as an invitation for them to live the same way.”

Hilaria Baldwin/Instagram

Team Baldwin has also endured its share of rough times, including a bizarre controversy in which Hilaria was accused of faking her Hispanic identity. The Massachusetts native, who was born Hillary Thomas, said that anything online (including her bio on Creative Artists Agency’s website) stating she was originally from Mallorca, Spain was a mistake, that she’d never said any such a thing. Moreover, the bilingual wellness expert said that members of her family had called her Hilaria long before she was in the public eye.

“The things I have shared about myself are very clear,” she told the New York Times in 2020. “I was born in Boston. I spent time in Boston and in Spain. My family now lives in Spain. I moved to New York when I was 19 years old and I have lived here ever since. For me, I feel like I have spent 10 years sharing that story over and over again. And now it seems like it’s not enough.”

Hilaria Baldwin/Instagram

But the Mom Brain podcast host, known for posting photos of herself doing yoga in unexpected places and otherwise sharing snippets from her family world, was already well-versed in criticism from strangers.

“I think I go through phases and I think a lot of it has to do with your philosophy, your emotions, where you are not just in that phase in your life,” she told Motherly in 2019 about her approach to dealing in online vitriol.

“I’ve done things from literally copying the comment and posting it on my story” to call out a bully, she explained. “And if this person is bullying me, I guarantee you that they’re bullying other people. So I’ll do that. Sometimes I’ll block, sometimes I’ll respond.”

She was tested like never before, however, when Alec was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the wake of the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The 42-year-old was fatally wounded on the New Mexico set of the period western Rust when she was struck by a live round discharged from a prop gun the actor was holding. He pleaded not guilty, maintaining he didn’t pull the trigger.

Just a few days into his July 2024 trial, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against the actor with prejudice due to what she determined was prosecutorial misconduct and he wept in Hilaria’s arms in the courtroom. (Alec is now suing the district attorney and others for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations.)

Photo by Ramsay de Give-Pool/Getty Images

Hilaria was by his side throughout, though the stress took its toll. “She is the most spiritually ascended human being I’ve ever met, and she was kind to me and supportive of me,” Alec said on a December episode of David Duchovny‘s Fail Better podcast. “She was frustrated. She was in pain. She suffered tremendously.”

Meanwhile, The Baldwins cameras were already rolling while the case was ongoing, making for some fraught emotional scenes amid the benign look-at-all-these-kids chaos and cute family tableaus.

“It was an opportunity for us to actually speak,” Hilaria told People. “It was a really safe space. And I think it was also very cathartic, almost like a diary, during a very unsure time of our life. That felt both terrifying and like it could get us through day by day.”

And they never forgot about the suffering experienced by Halyna’s family, either, she noted.

“A son lost his mom,” Hilaria said. “We are going to feel and carry that pain forever.”

But, she continued, “We’re leaning into gratitude every single day. The simple beauties of life can get you through hard moments.”

Hilaria Baldwin/Instagram

Among her and Alec’s secrets for staying close: Having date night after the kids go to sleep.

“Taking time together has helped us through much good and some challenging times in our relationship,” Hilaria told Vogue. “When we got married and started having kids, he said: You are my wife and the mother of our kids, but I want you always to be my girlfriend too.”

From boyfriend and girlfriend to parents of seven, see Alec and Hilaria’s epic romance in photos:

Gary Gershoff/WireImage

Summer Lovin’

Alec Baldwin told the New York Times he gave his future wife, then Hilaria Thomas, his number upon meeting her at Pure Food and Wine in New York in February 2011. The two played phone tag until they finally arranged a time to meet for dinner.

That August they enjoyed their first US Open together, one of Alec’s favorite events.

Theo Wargo/WireImage

Black Tie Date Night

Alec looked into his future and saw Hilaria at the 10th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation’s “An Enduring Vision” benefit at Cipriani Wall Street in October 2011. They moved in together the following month.

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Swept Away

Hilaria accompanied Alec to the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. “I’ve dated a lot of people since my divorce, and have thought a lot about what I wanted and what I wanted to do,” he said. “I thought about it too much, I suppose. I wasn’t really ready to take that chance and to act until I met Hilaria.”

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He Put a Ring On It!

In April 2012, Alec’s rep confirmed to E! News that he and Hilaria were engaged.

Henry Lamb/Photowire/BEI/Shutterstock

Daughter-Approved!

Hilaria and Ireland Baldwin frequently tweet about their friendship. Ireland joked on the social networking site she was going to serve as a “flower girl” in the wedding, but actually was a bridesmaid.

Anthony Harvey/Getty Images

They Do!

On June 30, 2012, the happy couple tied the knot in front of family and friends at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Manhattan. The bride wore a silk magnolia trumpet Amsale gown and the groom donned a tux from Tom Ford.

Instagram/Hilaria Baldwin

Full House

The couple are now parents of seven, welcoming Carmen Gabriela (Aug. 23, 2013), Rafael Thomas (June 17, 2015), Leonardo Ángel Charles (Sept. 12, 2016), Romeo Alejandro David (May 17, 2018), Eduardo “Edu” Pao Lucas (Sept. 8, 2020), María Lucía Victoria (Feb. 25, 2021, via surrogate) and Ilaria Catalina Irena (Sept. 22, 2022).

The whole family will be starring on TLC’s The Baldwins, premiering Feb. 23, 2025.