Christina Ricci married husband Mark Hampton in 2021. The actress and the British hair stylist had a pretty whirlwind romance on the tail of Ricci’s divorce from ex-husband James Heerdegen. Ricci and Heerdegen met on the set of the ABC’s Pan Am in 2011 and were married in October 2013. They share one child, a son named Freddie, but their marriage dissolved amid allegations of abuse that reportedly heightened during 2020 and the COVID-19 lockdown.
Ricci appeared on the August 2022 episode of Anna Faris’s Unqualified podcast to discuss the end of that relationship and the beginning of her new one. Ricci told Faris that before Hampton, she didn’t know what a healthy relationship was.
“I would say—and this sounds really annoying and cloying and stupid—but I would say the first time I really fell in love in a healthy way is probably this marriage that I’m in now,” she said. “I think a lot of my relationships in the past had a lot to do with unhealthy things that I was looking for.”
She added, “And I don’t know if you can call [it] love, but I don’t think things that aren’t good for you should be called love.”
Shortly after a judge granted her a restraining order against her ex-husband, ending his visitation rights with their child, Hampton and Ricci were an official item. Here’s their relationship timeline so far.
July 2021
Ricci went Instagram official with Hampton on his birthday in 2021, writing in the caption of a photo of Hampton flexing, “Happy Birthday @markhamptonhair ♥️🎂♥️🎂♥️🎂♥️ favorite person, gorgeous human, bringer of all things happy, magical and good ♥️♥️♥️I love you ♥️♥️♥️♥️ this next year is going to be the best one yet ♥️🎉.”
The couple have not shared how they met or when exactly they got together.
August 2021
One month later, the pair shared that they were expecting a baby together with a photo of a sonogram.
“Life keeps getting better,” Ricci wrote.
October 2021
Continuing their trend of announcing big changes with a casual Instagram post, Ricci shared a selfie of herself with Hampton to tell fans they were married.
“Mr. and Mrs. 💒♥️💒♥️💒,” she wrote.
November 2021
Ricci and Hampton walked the red carpet together for the premiere of Yellowjackets and Ricci showed off her baby bump in a gorgeous teal gown.
December 2021
In December, the couple welcomed their first child together, Cleopatra Ricci Hampton.
January 2022
While on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ricci shared that Hampton chose their daughter’s name before she knew what happened.
“My husband was like, ‘Well, we’re going to give her a full name right? And the nickname is Cleo?’ And I was like, ‘Cleopatra?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, the full name’s Cleopatra.’ And I was sort of like, ‘Fine, whatever. We’ll talk about this later,’” she said. “He got so excited he put it on Instagram, and media outlets picked up that her name was Cleopatra Ricci Hampton, and I was like, ‘Oh, I guess her name’s Cleopatra.’”
May 2022
Ricci shared a glimpse into how Hampton does her hair these days.
October 2022
In early October, Ricci celebrated their anniversary on Instagram.
And at the end of the month the family, including Freddie and little Cleo, got dressed up for Halloween.
November 2022
Hampton attended the premiere of Netflix’s Wednesday with his gorgeous wife in a thematic gown, and she tagged him on Instagram as being responsible for her hair style.
They attended the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards red carpet together that month as well at Casa Cipriani.
That month Ricci was interviewed by the Sunday Times Style magazine, sharing that during her divorce from Heerdegen, many old mementos ended up being sold. She added that Hampton help her recover some things and show his support.
“What has been interesting with Mark was that he was horrified that I hadn’t saved anything, so he has gone on eBay and found my old magazine covers, which is really lovely,” she said. “He is trying to show me that it is safe to have those things.”
December 2022
Ricci shared an adorable photo of Hampton and the kids together around Christmas.
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.