Who Is Molly Ringwald’s Husband? All About Panio Gianopoulos

Molly Ringwald and her husband Panio Gianopoulos have been together for more than two decades.

On February 1, 2023 Sixteen candles the actress celebrated their love story with a sweet post on Instagram. “Today, the ‘getaway car’ and I have been together for 22 years!” she wrote alongside two of their photos. “Happy anniversary to us! 3 kids, 3 dogs, 1 cat and lots of love. The best decision I’ve made. Here’s to at least 22❣️”

In 2003, they welcomed their first child together, daughter Mathilda Gianopoulos. The couple added two more children to their family in 2009 with the birth of twins, daughter Adele and son Roman.

At the time, the actress starred in ABC Family’s The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Speaking to PEOPLE, she praised her husband for helping her balance motherhood and career. “It really helps to have a supportive partner and a lot of flexibility,” she said.

So who is Molly Ringwald’s husband? Here’s everything you need to know about Panio Gianopoulos and his relationship with the actress.

He is a writer

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Gianopoulos is a writer and former book editor. He published two books: the novella “The Famous Beast” and the collection of short stories “How to get into our house and where we keep the money”“. He writes both fiction and non-fiction, and his short stories and essays have been published in numerous magazines, including Tin house and Salon.

During the interview with Los Angeles Times, Ringwald spoke of Gianopoulos’ literary prowess. “He’s a writer – that’s what he’s always done, he’s never wanted to do anything else,” she said. “Unlike me, where I’m a singer, I’m an actress, I’m a writer. That’s it, for him it’s all about writing.”

This 47-year-old is also a businessman. He holds a BA in Literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MBA from Stanford University. In 2018, he co-founded The Next Big Idea Club, a nonfiction book subscription.

He and Ringwald married in 2007

Gianopoulos and Ringwald were married on July 6, 2007 in a private ceremony.

In 2019, Gianopoulos shared a wedding photo on Instagram with the caption, “Married 12 years today, still make each other smile ❤️”

Their courtship began over email

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The couple met online in the early 2000s, shortly after Ringwald separated her from her first husband, Valéry Lameignère, to whom she was married from 1999 to 2002.

Ringwald and Gianopoulos were discussing books with mutual friends in an online literary salon when they hit it off. Soon, the two began sending emails before planning to meet in person.

He has a black belt

Molly Ringwald’s Instagram

Gianopoulos is a trained martial artist who taught a martial arts course.

In a 2011 essay for Parade, Ringwald described it as “too beautiful to be taken seriously”. She recalled that her marriage had just ended and she didn’t want to date anyone at the time she met Gianopoulos, a man she said was “completely inappropriate” because of their seven-year age difference.

On top of that, she said, “it doesn’t matter that he wrote and edited books and was a second-degree black belt in karate.”

After sending flirty e-mails for a while, he offered to teach her some self-defense, and that meeting became their first date.

He made tzatziki for their first date

On their first date, Gianopoulos taught Ringwald some basic martial arts moves before asking her out for dinner, making tzatziki with lots of garlic.

In his essay for Parade, Ringwald explained that she was afraid it wasn’t actually a meal date, writing “Who cooks garlic on a first date? Did I read everything wrong?”

Speaking with The Palm Beach Post, Ringwald said the two now enjoy creating food for their family. “I’m a really fancy cook. It will take me two days to prepare a meal,” she said. “My husband is the head chef in our house.”

They have 3 children

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Ringwald and Gianopoulos have three children. They had their first daughter, Mathilda Ereni Gianopoulos, on October 22, 2003.

“I’m a little harder on her than my husband,” she told PEOPLE in 2008. “But that’s because he’s the father, and she’s got him around her little finger.”

In her book, “Getting The Pretty Back,” Ringwald describes how choosing Mathilda’s name was an ordeal. Gianopoulos explained to her that in Greek culture it is customary to name the first-born child after the father’s parents. However, when Ringwald discovered she was having a girl, she gave up on giving her daughter the same name as her mother-in-law; they eventually came to a compromise, using the name Ereni as a middle name.

On July 10, 2009, Ringwald and Gianopoulous welcomed fraternal twins, a daughter named Adele Georgiana and a son named Roman Stylianos. “It’s exhausting, but it’s beautiful,” she told PEOPLE.

Speaking with Good maintenance, Ringwald praised her husband as an “amazing father.” She went on to say, “I thought because I’m a woman I’d know what to do all the time, but I really think he’s a natural.”

He acted with Ringwald

Gianopoulos is part of the literary scene, but he also has some acting experience. He appeared in an episode of the first season The Secret Life of the American Teenager with his wife.

He also appeared on screen as himself in several JT LeRoy documentaries.

They write together

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Although she is known for her roles in legendary romantic comedies and as a member of Brat in the 1980s, she is also an author. Her first book, “Getting The Pretty Back,” a memoir, was published in 2010. Two years later, she published “When It Happens To You,” a work of fiction.

“I really like to write next to my husband,” she said in an interview for Los Angeles Times. “I feel incredibly comfortable,” she added. “I like that it’s there so I can pat him on the knee – I find that very comforting.”

Speaking with Publishers Weekly, she said Gianopoulos is “the only person I share the story with as I move forward. He’s been incredibly helpful.”

And it seems to go both ways. He said Los Angeles Times that Ringwald is the first person to read his work and that he often goes to her for feedback. “Very often, she will have great insight,” he said.

They always have dates

Molly Ringwald’s Instagram

In an interview with Good housekeeping Ringwald said that “constantly have meetings.”

“Sometimes my husband tries to be a little adventurous and enrolls us in a cooking or watercolor class, which is really nice,” she continued. “We mix it up—you know, surprise each other a little bit.”

On Instagram, Ringwald shared another of their romantic traditions, writing: “Every year my husband writes me a poem. He writes them by hand in a little book and gives me the only copy. I published this one in my first book of essays and it still makes my heart swell 💗”

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Source: HIS Education