Celebrity Celebrity Weddings Celebrity Wedding Ceremonies & Receptions Don Cheadle Reveals He and Longtime Girlfriend Bridgid Coulter Got Married amid COVID Pandemic "We've been together 28 years before we got married," the actor said during a guest appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show By Nicholas Rice Nicholas Rice Nicholas Rice is a Senior Editor for PEOPLE Magazine. He began working with the brand as an Editorial Intern in early 2020, before later transitioning to a freelance role, and then staff positions soon after. Nicholas writes and edits anywhere between 7 to 9 stories per day on average for PEOPLE, spanning across each vertical the brand covers. People Editorial Guidelines Published on June 30, 2021 11:24AM EDT Photo: Santiago Felipe/Getty Images Don Cheadle is a married man! While appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Wednesday, the 56-year-old actor revealed to guest host Wanda Sykes that he and his longtime love, Bridgid Coulter, got married amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The news was first revealed during Cheadle's visit to the daytime talk show series when Sykes, 57, said she owed the actor an apology. "You texted me at the top of the year, I guess, and you told me that you just got married," the comedian 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." Despite only recently tying the knot, the couple — who have been together since 1992 — share two daughters, Ayana and Imani and previously appeared in Rosewood together. Don Cheadle, Rosario Dawson and More Sign Amnesty International USA Pledge Committing to Future of Tolerance Michael Rozman/Warner Bros. Later in his Ellen appearance, Cheadle also opened up about how he had his famous friends help him make sure he didn't put on any weight amid the pandemic. When first asked by Sykes why Anthony Anderson was challenging him to "the Big Willie Challenge" on social media, Cheadle joked, "No one told him to do that," before he explained the whole ordeal began with friends and fellow actors Chris Spencer and Will Smith. "This whole thing started, really, with Chris Spencer and Will Smith going back and forth, and then Will famously did his picture ... so I don't know why he keeps tagging me," the actor quipped. "During the pandemic, when this whole thing started, I started doing push-ups and sit-ups and planks and texting," he said. "I'm on this text chain with DL Hughley and Anthony Anderson and Cedric the Entertainer and George Lopez and Chris." "And it was just to stay accountable to each other so we didn't get the COVID-19 pounds during the pandemic," he added. Close