“It is an accelerated version of what I went through”: Jon Bon Jovi likens son Jake and Millie Bobby Brown’s romance to marriage to wife Dorothea

Rockstar Jon Bon Jovi is supportive of his son, Jake Bongiovi, and his fiance Millie Bobby Brown's relationship. In an interview with The Times U.K. published on Saturday, April 13, the Bon Jovi frontmen likened his son's romance to his own romance with his wife Dorothea Hurley Bongiovi. The It's My Life hitmaker said:

"It is an accelerated version of what I went through 40 years ago,"

The singer married Dorothea Hurley Bongiovi back in 1989. The duo were high school sweethearts and remain married to this day. 21-year-old Jake and 20-year-old Millie got engaged in April of last year after Jake staged a spectacular underwater proposal for Millie.

Jon Bon Jovi and his wife were childhood sweethearts (Image via Instagram/ @jonbonjovi)

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"They’re gonna be great together": Jon Bon Jovie on Jake Bongiovi and Millie Bobby Brown

Jon Bon Jovie has only great things to say about his son Jake Bongiovi's relationship with Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown. He told The Times U.K. in an interview published on Saturday:

"I’ve gotten to know her in the last year, she works really hard, and she and Jake will grow together in their own way,"

The Always hitmaker further compared the two's relationship with his relationship with his wife. He told the publication:

"I think, with the support of family around them, they’re gonna be great together."

The 62-year-old singer met his 61-year-old partner Dorothea Hurley Bongiovi back in 1980 at the Sayreville War Memorial High School, New Jersey. According to a 2020 interview with People, the singer said that his wife even let him cheat off her in history class. He told the publication at the time:

"I was immediately drawn to her from the minute I saw her and that never changed."

Jon Bon Jovi and his wife were in the same history class back in school (Image via Instagram/ @jonbonjovi)

According to a Watch What Happens Live interview, Jon Bon Jovi and Dorothea did briefly break up in 1985 after which the singer started dating Man of Steel actress Diane Lane. The former couple eventually reconciled. Nine years later in 1989, the high school sweethearts tied the knot in an impromptu Las Vegas wedding. The singer recalled to Men's Health in 2010 about that fateful day:

"I turned to Dorothea and said, 'I got an idea. Why don't we go right now?' She said, 'You're out of your mind.' I said, 'Come on. What's better than this, right now, this moment?' And so we ran off to Las Vegas. Didn't tell a soul."

Jon Bon Jovi and Dorothea Hurley Bongiovi went on to have 4 kids, namely Stephanie, Jesse, Jacob (Jake), and Romeo. The singer told The Times UK:

"We’re from the same place, we’re the same age, and she was with me when I had less than zero, so we went on the journey together."

According to People, Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi first sparked rumors of romance back in 2021 when Millie and Jake started sharing pictures of both of them spending time together on Instagram. They made it official with a picture of the two sharing a kiss at the London Eye.

Millie and Jake embracing each other at the London Eye (Image via Instagram/ @milliebobbybrown)

The duo made their red carpet debut at the 2022 BAFTA Film Awards. Later that year, Jake accompanied Millie to the premiere of Stranger Things season 4. She revealed in a 2022 Wired interview that she had met Jake on Instagram.

On April 11, 2023, Millie Bobby Brown revealed with an Instagram post that the duo had gotten engaged. In a February 29 appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the Damsel actress revealed that Jake presented her with a ring contained in a shell while they were diving "many meters down" the ocean.

Jake put the ring on Millie's finger and Millie tried showing it off to Jake but it accidentally slipped. However, according to the actress, Jake Bongiovi threw himself after the plummetting ring like a "cinematic movie" and got it back.