Engaged! Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi

 

Millie Bobby Brown has enamored viewers by playing Eleven in the TV series “Stranger Things”, and the title character in the “Enola Holmes” movie in 2020. On a personal side, the media connected her with many boys and men, but she’s only mentioned a friend-turned-boyfriend, Jake Bongiovi, Jon Bon Jovi’s son, since June 2021.

It was apparent that she had found time and energy for love amidst her acting obligations, running her beauty line business, and starting a coffee company in the second quartal of 2023. However, her engagement ring shocked many in April 2023; further research revealed that she might have been engaged to Jake for nearly a year.

They became engaged after less than two years

Jake and Milline didn’t hide their relationship from the public. They frequently posted about each other on social media, and looked lovingly at each other while holding hands before the paparazzi. However, their bond reached a new level in 2022. They began attending public events together, going on adventures, and referring to each other as ‘partners for life’ and ‘the love of my (each other’s) life.’

Although she wore a ring on her ring finger for months, Millie didn’t flaunt it until April 2023. It then became the focus of several photos the couple took at the beach, followed by captions expressing deep love. Millie also held her hand up to the camera a few days later, in a video discussing launching her coffee business, as if to let everyone know.

Millie met Jake online

During a WIRED interview for the “Enola Holmes 2” premiere in November 2022, Millie revealed that she met Jake, whose full name is Jacob Hurley Bongiovi, via Instagram. Jake is an aspiring actor, the third of four children born to the well-known rock singer and musician Jon Bon Jovi and his wife Dorothea. Jake’s said a music career didn’t seem enticing, explaining, ‘I think I’ll leave that to my dad! There’s really no following the act there.’ Jake explained that there was always music playing in the house when he ws growing up, but that ‘people on the screen spoke to me, not the voices through the speakers.’

Furthermore, he’s focusing on his education instead of living a rockstar lifestyle, and attends Syracuse University in New York State. Millie revealed that their romantic sparks didn’t fly immediately and that they’ve been ‘friends for a bit. Jake confirmed this by captioning their first image with ‘bff,’ short for ‘best friends forever,’ when he posted it onto Instagram on 3 June 2021. However, he added a heart emoji at the end, and they looked relatively close in the back of a vehicle. That led some fans to believe they may be dating, or getting there.

A city walk started the gossip

Nothing specific pointed to them being more than friends until a few weeks after Jake uploaded their picture. Paparazzi spotted the couple holding hands while strolling through New York City,  wearing surgical face masks, which wasn’t unusual during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and sporting casual clothing and sunglasses. Their behavior and attire indicated a celebrity’s attempt to conceal their identity.

As if hand-holding wasn’t implying a romantic evening was happening, they took turns carrying a tote bag with Millie’s brown-colored, fluffy puppy Winnie, who she adopted in March 2020. Overall, they seemed close while shopping, and looked into the paparazzi’s camera in many pictures, implying that they knew what their actions would suggest. A few months later, in September 2021, they made a cameo in a video on Mariah Carey’s TikTok account. She recreated an opening to her 1997 single, “Honey,” and Millie and Jake pretended to interrogate Mariah, her boyfriend Bryan Tanaka, and their twins.

She seemingly made their relationship official in late 2021

On 1 November 2021, Millie posted an image of the couple in a tight hug at the London Eye tourist attraction in the English capital. She captioned it with two emojis, a Ferris wheel and an eye, which could have been misperceived as a casual visit between two close friends, since they weren’t kissing. However, their body language made the spark between them hard to hide, and, on a close inspection, Jake was kissing her cheek.

The two spent the holidays together

Jake indirectly confirmed that they would spend the end-of-year holidays together in December 2021 after sharing a picture of them before a Christmas tree, traditionally placed in front of the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Millie also posted images of the two cozying up at home on Christmas Day. However, confirming whether they spent time together as friends was hard since they wore masks and winter clothing.

They attended the 2022 BAFTA Awards

Millie presented evidence that she was in love during the BAFTA Awards in March 2022. The couple wore matching black outfits, mixing the goth and a formal look, and Jake had a Ukrainian flag on his lapel as a sign of support for the just-invaded country. The two kept cuddling up for the cameras in their red carpet debut, and her hands on his chest in most pictures made their romantic connection unmistakable.

That brought attention to one detail many missed. The two dressed as Barbie and Ken a month before the ceremony, when Millie celebrated her 18th birthday. She was vague, only writing the words Barbie always utters, ‘Hey Ken!’ while Jake was straightforward, calling her Barbie and saying that he loved her after wishing her a happy birthday.

Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi Make Their Red Carpet Debut as a Couple https://t.co/l7wzhAaJFf

— E! News (@enews) March 13, 2022

Millie and Jake continued to appear together

Now that it was clear there was love between them, no one was surprised to see them together in public. He joined her during the premiere of the fourth season of “Stranger Things” in New York City in May 2022, and again dressed to match the evening’s theme. After several social media posts on their social media accounts, Millie posted photos from their romantic vacation in Spain around his 20th birthday on 7 May, noting that she ‘can’t wait to fly to the moon and back with him.’

Although they visited many places, the Barcelona church, La Sagrada Familia, seemingly captivated them the most. Jake was also a brief topic during the press tour for the TV show that month, when Noah Schnapp asked if Jake approved of her love for singer Olivia Rodrigo, and she jokingly replied, ‘Of course, and if he didn’t, he’d be getting a knuckle sandwich.’

In July, they visited an apiary, another name for a bee farm, and Millie stated that she loved having similar adventures and beautiful experiences with him. Finally, her six-month Instagram recap montage around that time allowed fans to see a video of them inside a car singing along to “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift.

Engagement rumors started half a year later

Although it’s unclear when the two began dating, they ostensibly became engaged a year to a year and a half after. Although there were hints when Millie commented on a picture of them eating ice cream with one straw in August 2022 with ‘always b my baby <3,’ the message was somewhat generic.

On 1 January 2023, she called him ‘a partner for life,’ and things got more serious when Jake in a birthday message that he posted in February 2023, called her the girl of his dreams, and claimed that he loved her more than words can describe However, pictures of another stroll through New York City several days later showed more than the couple likely wanted. In many shots, it was apparent that she wore a diamond ring on her ring finger, which suggested that Jake had popped the question.

Although the cat was out of the bag, neither responded to the media’s request for comment. That brought attention to the fact that she had sported a golden ring in the first half of 2022, then a diamond ring in August 2022, in a paparazzi snap of them kissing on a corner.

They seemingly confirmed their engagement in April 2023

On 11 April 2023, Millie posted a black-and-white image showing them with broad smiles while he held her tightly from behind. Her caption, ‘I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, I want ’em all,’ followed by a heart emoji, would be a simple confession of love and wouldn’t be a shock based on what fans knew.

However, two things were mystifying. Mentioning ‘three summers now’ would suggest they started dating in the summer of 2020, which was impossible. That was easily explained by the caption being the lyrics of a song by Taylor Swift released in August 2019. However, her hands were in focus, grabbing his forearms, and her ring finger had what seemed to be the diamond ring she was spotted wearing months before. That, paired with the lyrics and the history, and his post at the same time, in which he called Millie ‘his forever,’ apparently confirmed that the two are engaged and plan to marry.

Additionally, on 13 April 2023, Millie posted a video for Instagram Thursday, announcing her new business venture, Florence by Mills Coffee, which was ‘her dream since I can remember.’ While exciting, her gestures, as if showing the ring off, and a kiss to close the video attracted the most attention, especially when the latter showed her ring up close.

Millie received some backlash

Most people reacted to her engagement positively, including her “Stranger Things” co-star and friend Noah Schnapp, Gordon Ramsey’s daughter Tilly, “The Only Way Is Essex” star Jess Wright, and Ashley Tisdale of “High School Musical” fame. However, some were worried or irritated. They commented that Millie should have waited a few years before accepting the engagement ring or tying the knot, especially since she was inexperienced, and had had few confirmed partners. After all, she turned 19 in 2023, and Jake is a little older at 21.

Others found her caption while announcing the engagement insensitive and ironic. The words come from Taylor Swift’s song “Lover,” which she allegedly wrote for a rumored ex-boyfriend, actor Joe Alwyn. Millie posted her picture around the time media focused on reports that Taylor and Joe took a break, or broke up after a six-year relationship. Luckily, her fans defended her, saying that Millie is ‘in her “Lover” era’ and should express her happiness.

She achieved a lot at an early age

While Millie never outright said that she’s engaged or specified when it could have happened, the bling on her finger, apparently valued at up to $100,000 according to one gemologist, shows that she did and that it likely happened in early 2023, potentially February, after 18 to 20 months of dating. While many thought that it was early, they forgot that Millie did many things at a young age. She landed a role in the “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland” TV series at nine, became a well-known actress at 14, was one of the youngest Primetime Emmy Award nominees, and developed into an entrepreneur and environmentalist. Additionally, their parents have been married for decades – Jake’s parents hit it off in high school.

Millie and Jake are on the right path

Jake and Millie have many things going for them, separately and as a couple. She is a successful actress and a business owner, and the media reported that Jake encouraged her to enroll at Purdue University. Jake is a student, actor, and aspiring producer, and landed a role in the hair comedy, “Rockbottom,” in February 2023; he’ll star alongside McKaley Miller, Teala Dunn and Tom Everett Scott.

They also keep their social media profiles up-to-date with pictures of each other and seem deeply in love. Rushing into getting engaged, the most common criticism they receive is not necessarily bad. A YouTuber who goes by RawBeautyKristi is one of many who defend the couple. She stated that she had met her husband when they were 15 and 17, and clarified that she felt genuine love in her teens and that it only grew when they turned 30. Dolly Parton also met her husband at 18 in 1964, married him two years later, and the couple renewed their vows in 2016.

HMM – that still leaves many others with very different experiences!