Don Cheadle Jokes About Why He Finally Married Longtime Love After 28 Years: 'Our Accountant'

Don Cheadle and his wife Bridgid Coulter knew they'd eventually marry from the very beginning.

On Monday, the 56-year-old actor attended the premiere of his new film Space Jam: A New Legacy, where he jokingly told Entertainment Tonight the real reason he and his wife finally tied the knot after 28 years together.

"Our accountant proposed to both of us and he showed us the numbers, and we said, yeah, we should probably do it," Cheadle said.

While they only recently married, Cheadle said the topic of marriage had long been on their minds.

"It came up a lot of time," he said. "But every time, we were like, 'But we're already together?' [The accountant said], 'Yeah, but this is a better reason to be together.' Really, it's because our accountant proposed to us, I wish there were some big sweet romantic story, but the romance happened, you know, the first year."

Cheadle also jokingly shared his advice on tying the knot, saying, "Wait 28 years before you get married. Do not rush into things. Be very careful!"

Coulter jokingly added, "You've got to make sure. I wasn't sure. Now, I think I'm almost sure."

The couple already has two kids—daughters Ayana, 26, and Imani, 24—both of whom weren't particularly impressed when their parents decided to finally making things official.

"They were great. They were lovely," Coulter said of their kids. "They're like, 'OK, mom and dad, now you're doing this?'"

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Their ceremony, Coulter revealed, was an intimate one. "It was just beautiful. It was just for us in our backyard, our two kids. It was for us. It was special."

In June, Cheadle revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that he and Coulter had married amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The news came out when Wanda Sykes, who was guest hosting the show, said she owed the actor an apology.

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"You texted me at the top of the year, I guess, and you told me that you just got married," Sykes said. "And I was like, 'Oh damn, the pandemic got to Don and Bridgid.'"

"I was like, 'What the hell happened, man?'" she continued to joke, before noting that her response back to Cheadle was less than enthusiastic. "I think I just text something back, like, 'Hey, if you're happy, I'm happy for you.' ... I was like, 'Cheadle went Hollywood.'"

After Sykes explained to Cheadle that she wasn't aware that he and Coulter weren't already married, the Black Monday star said that he could understand why she came to that conclusion.

"Yeah, I mean, that's understandable given that we've been together 28 years before we got married," Cheadle said. "I hold you blameless."