Dick Van Dyke, 96, is talking candidly about his marriage to his much-younger spouse, Arlene Silver, 50, saying he nervous followers would scrutinize their 46-year age hole.
In a brand new interview with Closer magazine, the “Mary Poppins” legend bluntly said: “I assumed there could be an outcry a few gold digger marrying an outdated man, however nobody ever took that perspective.”
Van Dyke — who has a reported fortune of $50 million — first met Silver on the 2007 Display screen Actors Guild Awards. On the time, he was 81 and he or she was simply 35.
Silver — who was working as a make-up artist on the occasion — additionally spoke with Nearer, recalling the second she first laid eyes on her now-husband.
“He mentioned, ‘Hello, I’m Dick.’ The very first thing I requested him was, ‘Weren’t you in ‘Mary Poppins’? We acquired alongside instantly as buddies, so it didn’t really feel like he was a lot older than me,” she instructed the publication.
The pair’s friendship subsequently turned romantic they usually wed in February 2012.
Van Dyke and Silver celebrated their tenth marriage ceremony anniversary final month, and it appears they’re nonetheless as liked up because the day they mentioned “I do.”
“We share an perspective,” Van Dyke cooed of his spouse. “She will be able to drift. She likes to sing and dance, which we do virtually each day. She’s simply pleasant.”
Silver subsequently chimed in: “He’s essentially the most good human being. I’ve by no means met anybody so comfortable, so real, so superb. He’s similar to a cheerful capsule.”
Final month, the couple showed off their fun-loving relationship in a video posted in honor of Valentine’s Day.
The pair have been seen dancing to a cover of the 1958 Doris Day track “Everyone Loves a Lover” carried out by Silver’s band, Arlene & the Vantastix.
The video went viral on-line, with followers remarking on the truth that Van Dyke may nonetheless bust a transfer in his mid-nineties.
Again in 2019, Van Dyke shared his secrets and techniques to staying in nice form, telling Closer: “I’ve at all times been an exerciser and nonetheless am. I’m going to the fitness center three days per week, get within the pool and train. At my age, they are saying to maintain transferring. Put me on stable floor and I’ll begin tapping.”
The star revealed he does water aerobics, lifts weights and walks on a treadmill.
He added that he additionally has “good genes” and is fortunate he hasn’t been “hit by a bus.”
In the meantime, Van Dyke instructed NPR in 2015 that he regretted smoking and consuming when he was youthful, saying he gave up the habits a long time in the past.
He additionally instructed different seniors to “simply maintain transferring.”
“I’ve arthritis and all these issues, however I maintain transferring,” he said. “I didn’t uncover dancing and singing till I used to be in my 30s. It simply occurred out of nowhere. I remorse that I didn’t prepare just a little or take some vocal teaching or one thing. However I simply loved what I had and had enjoyable with it.”
The “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” star added that his optimism helped him to remain younger.
“It’s extra in my nature to be optimistic, I feel,” he declared. “I’m a type of individuals who rise up on the proper aspect of the mattress within the morning. I rise up and have a cup of espresso and go to the fitness center as a result of I speak myself out of it as a result of I’ll as anyone will.”
He additionally mentioned much-younger Silver retains him on his toes, declaring: “I generally overlook that we’re doing a fantastic experiment right here — 46 years distinction. And we work at it to some extent. There’s acquired to be some understanding, discover out what outdated habits don’t work anymore. It takes some adjusting and becoming in however that’s a part of the enjoyable of it.”
Silver is Van Dyke’s second spouse. The four-time Emmy winner break up from his first spouse and mom of his 4 kids, Margie Willett, in 1984 after 36 years of marriage.
Van Dyke was additionally in a relationship with actress Michelle Triola for greater than 30 years till she died in 2009.
