‘Knew it was a mistake’: Cracks emerged after their wedding

Before Brooke Shields found her happy ever after with husband Chris Henchy, she was one half of one of the most famous couples of the 1990s.
Shields, a child star who made the leap into adult roles, dated a who’s who of celebrities including Scott Baio, Dean Cain, Michael Jackson and Liam Neeson, before she met and married former tennis superstar Andre Agassi.
Let’s take a look at the relationship between Brooke Shields and Andre Agassi, including how they met, their wedding and their divorce just two years later.
READ MORE: Andre Agassi considers Steffi Graf his hardest-fought ‘win’
Shields and Agassi reportedly first met at a tennis match in 1993 before conducting their courtship over fax.
In her 2014 memoir, There Was a Little Girl, Shields recalled the early days of their relationship.
“We began to communicate via long rambling faxes about life and God and the strange burden of fame and overpowering parents,” she wrote.
“We knew somewhere deep inside that we needed each other.”
Shields told AARP The Magazine earlier this year she was at first relieved Agassi was an even bigger star than her.
READ MORE: Brooke Shields’ dog played matchmaker on a movie lot
“With Andre, it also felt good to feel smaller than another, because he was so famous and number 1 in the world,” she said.
“Everywhere we went, he had tonnes of bodyguards,” she said.
“[But] I could sit back because it wasn’t my world. He was the first one out of the car when we arrived at events.”
In an interview with People, Shields said they bonded over their common experience with fame.
“We understood each other’s trajectory with regards to being famous – or infamous – at such a young age,” she said.
READ MORE: Glance across a room sparked romance for tennis legend Navratilova
Shields also credited Agassi for giving her the strength to fire her mother from her long-term role as manager.
But while the public saw a united couple, behind the scenes, things were going wrong.
It was Shields’ guest appearance in a 1996 episode of Friends that led things to boil over.
Shields played Erika, an off-kilter super fan of Matt LeBlanc’s character Joey, and the part required her to lick the actor’s hand.
Agassi was in the studio audience when the scene was being shot and stormed out.
As Shields recalled in her memoir, “He said I made him look like a fool by licking Joey’s fingers and he got in his car and drove all the way to Vegas.
“Once there, he smashed all of his tennis trophies, destroying them in a rage.”
Shields didn’t know at the time that part of the reason for the erratic behaviour was an addiction to crystal meth, which Agassi revealed in his 2009 autobiography Open.
Shields went on to land the starring role in TV sitcom Suddenly Susan, which aired from 1996 to 2000.
Despite their problems, Shields and Agassi got engaged in 1996 and married on April 19, 1997, at a church in California. Their wedding made the cover of People magazine.
But Shields recalled in her memoir that she knew straight away the marriage would fail.
“It hit me all of a sudden – I knew it was a mistake,” she wrote.
“For the next two years, we saw very little of each other. I was working on my show, Suddenly Susan, and he was playing at various tournaments.”
The couple divorced in 1999, just two years after marrying.
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Shields delved into her and Agassi tumultuous relationship in the 2023 documentary Pretty Baby.
She told People at the time of its release she had not been in touch with Agassi in 14 years.
For his part, Agassi wrote about the last “embarrassing” phone call that ended their marriage in his memoir. 
He said he phoned Shields to try to make amends and explain his actions but while she said she was sorry he was suffering, he needed to “fix himself.”
Agassi, now 54, went on to marry former women’s tennis champion Steffi Graf in 2001. The two share two children, son Jaden, 22, and daughter Jaz, 20.
While Shields and Agassi no longer speak, Shields did keep the dress she wore for their nuptials, and even found an unusual way to recycle the gown.
She told People this week her youngest daughter Grier chose to wear the dress to her recent high school graduation.
Shields, now 59, said she had no reason to stop Grier from wearing the dress.
“He’s a good guy so to me it was really like a big full circle moment,” Shields said. “And it honours something and I think that’s healthy.”
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