People_USA_June_26_2017

COUNTERCLOCKWISE FROM TOP: REX/SHUTTERSTOCK; MARCEL WINSTON/GETTY IMAGES; ALESSANDRO DI MEO/EPA;
MIGUEL AGUILAR/PACIFIC COAST NEWS; FAMEFLYNET/SPLASH NEWS; DAVID M. BENETT/GETTY IMAGES
39, in 2013, George’s second
act has taken a wonderfully
unexpected turn. “All I know
is that [Amal] sort of changed
everything in terms of what
I thought my future—my
personal future—was going
to be,” George told People in
2015. “I’ve always been optimistic
about the world, [but]
I wasn’t always completely
optimistic about how it was
going to work out personally
for me. But now I am.” The
world’s most eligible bachelor
(and People’s two-time Sexiest
‘Amal was
the calm
one in
the center
of all this
storm. She
is just so in
charge of
things and
so strong’
—NICK
CLOONEY
Man Alive) fell hard and fast, proposing after just
seven months of dating. “We sure are having fun!”
gushed George toPeoplearound the first anniversary
of their wedding, a four-day affair held
in Venice in September 2014.
Nick Clooney suspected early on that
Amal would forever change the direction
of his son’s life. He was with George the
day he first met Amal—who tagged along
to a dinner with mutual friends in 2013—
and recalls witnessing the sparks fly. “She
was so remarkable and he was so remarkable
around her. It was just different than
all the other relationships I had seen him
in,” he says. “I really think by the time that
first [meeting] was over, his and her fates
were sealed.” Until then, George, whose
three-year first marriage to Talia Balsam
ended in divorce in 1992, had been cautious
about the prospect of settling down.
“I knew what his concern was. . . . He had
seen what a high degree of success can
do to a relationship,” says Nick. “He was smart. He
waited until the time that he could handle it, and he
waited until he found a person who could handle it
as well.” When George talked about not seeing kids
in his future, “I would listen to him patiently and
then finally step in and say, ‘George, some astounding
woman is going to knock your socks off, end of
story.’ And it’s exactly what happened.”
The couple’s bond was on display when Amal
visited the set of his movie Suburbicon late last
fall. “George and Amal were both glowing,” a set
source told People at the time. Despite whispers
they might be expecting, the Clooneys didn’t confirm
the news publicly until late February, though
they had quietly confided in their families and
close friends early on. “I almost started crying,”
his buddy Matt Damon told Entertainment Tonight.
“I was so happy for him.”
1
2
5
3
4
6
First Comes
Love...
1. Not long after they
met, the smitten pair
enjoyed a night out
in London in 2013.
2. Dining in L.A.
just after their 2014
engagement.
3. Boarding a vintage
water taxi before
their 2014 wedding
in Venice.
4. Cuddling at a
Casamigos launch in
Ibiza in 2015.
5. Amal and pooch
Millie visited
George on the set
of Suburbicon last
October. They
have two other
rescue dogs,
Einstein and Louie.
6. Strolling near their
English country house
in January. “There
isn’t a day that goes
by that I’m not proud
to be your husband,”
George told Amal
from the stage
at the César Awards
the next month.