Aging pop star Justin Timberlake, 41, and his vegan wife Jessica Biel, 40, were married nearly 10 years ago in a star-studded ceremony in Puglia, Italy. You remember the wedding photo that ended up on the cover of People: Biel crouched on the floor in her pink ball gown; Timberlake jumping maniacally above her head. How are these two doing in the run-up to their aluminum anniversary? Well.
Biel is currently on the press tour for Candy, a Hulu series about a real-life woman who was accused of murdering her best friend because she was having an affair with her husband. (Elizabeth Olsen is also playing Candy in a separate but, I’m sure, equally fabulous series for HBO Max.) During this press tour, reporters have asked Biel about her relationship with Timberlake and their upcoming anniversary. Biel has tried to sound chipper about it all, but I imagine it’s a bit tricky for her, given this is the first time she’s had extended contact with the press since Timberlake was caught cheating on her with a co-star on a New Orleans balcony in 2019. Her answers suggest to me that the couple might not make it to their anniversary after all (they still have five months to go).
“That’s a really substantial amount of someone’s life”
In an interview with Access Hollywood last week, Biel said this about 10 years of marriage with the former lead singer of *NSYNC: “I sometimes feel like 10 years has just flown by in the blink of an eye and other times I feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, 10 years, that’s a really substantial amount of someone’s life.’”
Oh my gosh. She added, “We’ve had our ups and downs, like everybody, and I’m just really proud of it, and I’m still the happiest and loving my life.” Credit to the actress for making that sound almost believable.
“It just goes on and on”
Biel recently celebrated her 40th birthday, and she revealed in an interview with Ellen Degeneres that Timberlake found a way to make the party about himself. “He did surprise me,” she said. “He threw me such an amazing, amazing party, and he flew his band in and he performed for me.”
Perhaps sensing that Timberlake’s self-serving surprise wouldn’t sound romantic to everyone in the audience, she added, “I mean, look, I will go head-to-head with anybody, but I’m his number one fan. Who do I want to see on my birthday but him and his band?”
This wasn’t just a couple of songs, either. Biel explained that Timberlake performed — to an audience of rapt guests, I imagine — every important song to the couple from the course of their 15-year relationship. “So, everything from Feist to Radiohead to Donny Hathaway to … gosh, I mean, it just goes on and on,” Biel said.
This is not the first time Timberlake has blessed Biel with the gift of his melodies during an important moment in her life. He also sang an original tune while she walked down the aisle at their wedding.
“We have to keep dating”
On the red carpet at the L.A. premiere of Candy, an Entertainment Tonight reporter asked Biel directly how she and Timberlake keep the magic alive in their marriage. “It’s a really good question, right?” Biel responded, before gathering an answer. “Well, I’ll have to give Justin the credit in this moment, for this one thing that he always says to me: ‘We might be married, but we have to keep dating,’ and it’s so true,” she said. “You just have to keep making time for each other and you have to keep making each other a priority. And do the things that you love together.”
She did not elaborate on what those things are.
“He sent me out of the house”
On that same red carpet, Biel also revealed to Access Hollywood how Timberlake celebrated her on Mother’s Day. “He sent me out of the house for a handful of hours, which was so nice,” she said. “I went and had a face massage. I hung out with girlfriends. I went to brunch. I walked around the city. I drove around like I was 20 with no kids and no job. It was fantastic.”
In those brief hours away from her constantly crooning husband, I imagine Biel finally experienced true peace. Maybe next time she won’t come back.
