Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI, Nick Sined/JPI (2), Denis Guignebourg/JPI
The Meet-Cute
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General Hospital leading man Chad Duell (Michael) and Young & Restless scene stealer Courtney Hope (Sally) first crossed paths at a 2016 premiere party for a friend’s TV show. When she ran into her pal, his General Hospital brother Bryan Craig (ex-Morgan), he introduced them. “She was actually testing for my love interest on [the show at the time],” Duell told Soap Opera Digest in 2019, “so I was giving her a little bit of advice.” Spoiler alert: She didn’t get the part. But that coincidence wasn’t the strangest thing about their initial encounter. “It was a Hollywood party,” Duell noted, “and we were talking about real stuff. That’s not normal!”
A Moment of Hesitation
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When that fateful evening wound down — with Duell and Hope reluctantly accompanying their crew to a club — he held back. “I wanted to hang out with her,” he admitted to Soaps in Depth in 2018, “but part of me knew I would end up dating her. I guess I was scared.” Eventually, of course, he got over his trepidation, and before either of them knew what hit ’em, they realized that whoa…
This Is Serious
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When Duell and Hope connected, they did so in a big way; their chatter was anything but idle. From the start, “he was someone I could talk to and just talk and talk and talk about everything from family to work to spirituality,” she told Digest, “I felt like, ‘This is definitely a genuine human being, and I could see it going far.’”
Puppy Love
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The fur flew when the lovebirds moved in together — the fur on their excited four-legged family members, that is. The couple’s home is a happy, happy doghouse of sorts, a sanctuary where the sounds of the actors running lines may at any given moment be punctuated by the pitter-patter of little paws or a boisterous bark from their canine companions, Stevie Nicks, Bella and Bentley.
Child’s Play
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A sense of whimsy permeates Duell and Hope’s place. “Chad and I are both big nerds, and we like nostalgic things that remind us of being kids,” Hope told In Depth. As shelves full of retro tchotchkes suggest, “neither of us can be too serious.”
Going Deep
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As easily as Duell as Hope communicate with one another, perhaps it won’t come as a surprise that they are also exceedingly good for one another. Though his General Hospital dad Maurice Benard (Sonny) noted during an episode of his vlog, Duell can be a bit closed-off, “he has opened up more and more since we’ve dated,” observed Hope, adding that “I get very stressed out sometimes,” and he’s so chill that “we’re a good balance.”
With This Ring…
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On Valentine’s Day 2021, the sweethearts shared that they’d made their relationship official — well, even more official — and gotten engaged. “In the morning, Chad gave me a dozen roses and a big teddy bear, and told me he was taking me on a picnic for lunch and giving me a present there,” she told People. “When we got to Malibu… he read me the most beautiful poem, because I love poetry, and I started choking up.” But the best was yet to come. “He then told me to close my eyes and turn the other way, ’cause he had to ‘set something up,’” she went on. “He comically fumbled behind me to distract me from what he was really doing — and when I turned around, he was on his knee!”
Now and Always
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The day after Duell slipped an engagement ring on Hope’s finger, she took to social media and understated, “Yesterday was a good day.” The actress, who by then had crossed over Sally from The Bold and the Beautiful to The Young and the Restless, added, “Forever with this man is a dream come true.” For his part, her future husband called himself “one lucky dude.”
The Buddy System
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Perhaps the real secret to the success of Duell and Hope’s relationship is that they don’t just love one another, they also like one another. “He’s definitely my best friend,” Hope told Digest. “What withstands everything no matter what comes our way is that I have a friend that can support and be there for me and that I can also enjoy the journey with. Plus, he’s cute!”
Heading for a Wedding
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As each day brought the couple one step closer to their “I dos,” they savored every moment. Heck, Duell told People that it was just plain “fun to say fiancée… It’s a whole new step.” Soon enough, he knew that he would “get to call her my wife! I’m excited for a lot: our future kids, new adventures, a new home and having my best friend to grow old with.”
The Newlyweds
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On October 23, 2021, Duell and Hope tied the knot in what the bride called “the perfect gothic night.” (Maybe you “red” about it — and marveled at the gorgeous photos from the steampunk-inspired nuptials.) In her outfit by Adolfo Sanchez of Netflix’s Next in Fashion, she exclaimed, “I felt like a damn queen!” And looked like one, too.
Starting Over
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Eight weeks after tying the knot, the news broke that Duell and Hope had split up. “We didn’t actually sign anything,” he told TV dad Maurice Benard (Sonny) during a January 2022 edition of his State of Mind vlog. “We weren’t really, like, you know, married or anything.” What happened? “Out of respect to her, I’m not going to delve too much into all this stuff,” Duell said. “It’s a complicated situation, and it’s not what anybody thinks.”
You Say You Want an Evolution…
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Eleven months after the wedding, Duell returned to Benard’s vlog and opened up about the journey on which he’d gone since the breakup. “It hurts, and it’s hard to just sit with yourself and choose to be single,” he said. “It’s a decision. It’s hard to do, man, because everyone likes to have somebody to love.” But the Emmy winner was wisely using the time to become the best man he can possibly be.
Relationships End, Love Doesn’t
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On what would have been her first wedding anniversary with Duell, Hope Instagrammed photos from their nuptials and reflected on “a love that was built through memories, patience, adventure, lessons, challenges and laughter, a love that did not stand the test of time, and a love that will forever hold a place in my heart, because it changed me.”
A Time to Heal
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In that same post, Hope opened up a bit about “how I’ve spent the last year scraping myself off of the floor time and time again and then walking out in the world trying to seem ‘OK.'” In other words, “I’ve lived the life of a Phoenix this last year, and it was far less majestic that I had previously believed it to be.” But as painful and infuriating as it could be, it was also “cathartic,” she said. Now “my relationship with my self is stronger than it’s ever been, and for the first time in my life, I know that I fully, unshakably, have my own back.”
