The star, dubbed one of 'Glamour's first-ever global Women of the Year honorees, opens up about her fiancé and wanting children.
Millie Bobby Brown is taking all things in life -- her career, her upcoming marriage, and whatever comes after that -- on her own time, no one else's.
In an interview with Glamour honoring the outlet's first-ever global Women of the Year honorees, the Stranger Things star opened up about trusting her instincts in the face of doubts concerning her engagement to Jake Bongiovi.
"It's like -- I know I should make this movie now. I know I should write this book now. I know I should do this now," Brown says of trusting her own sense of timing.
"It's not because I can't do it in 10 years; of course I can do it in 10 years," she continues. "But why, when I know that it's going to work now? Just like Florence [by Mills, her beauty brand] will be there in 10 years. You'll be able to see my movie in 10 years on TV. And I know that Jake and I will be okay... It's like, why wait? Let's go for it."
The 19-year-old previously shared with WIRED that she met Bongiovi, 21, on Instagram. They first sparked dating rumors in 2021, and the couple made their red carpet debut at the BAFTA Awards in March 2022.
In April, Brown took to Instagram and shared a photo of the couple posing together as she showed off her engagement ring. The black-and-white photo shows Bongiovi hugging her from behind while she displays a large diamond ring on that finger. Brown captioned the pic with the lyrics to Taylor Swift's song, "Lover," writing, "I've loved you three summers now, honey, I want 'em all."
Speaking with Glamour, Brown shares that she and her beau met after "a really...interesting time" in her life. "I was so upset with myself and the decisions I had made," she says, seemingly referring to her relationship with Hunter Ecimovic, a TikToker whom Brown was previously linked to.
The pair made headlines when Ecimovic made claims about his relationship with Brown on social media, including that he groomed her. "I think I was so afraid to be a strong woman in a relationship," the Enola Holmes star says of her past relationships.
"When I met Jake, I just felt I could be loud. He embraced that and encouraged that. And I fell in love with myself while being with him," she says.
"I was like, 'Why do you love me?'" recalls Brown. "And then he listed all these things that I hated about myself. I was like, 'You see good in those things?' And he was like, 'Of course I do.'
"Those are things that I love about myself now," she adds. "He was a really big, huge part of me loving myself and becoming a woman. It was like, 'Wow, I really love this person because he allows me to love myself.'"
The star goes on to call the intensity of her connection with Bongiovi "bizarre" as she gushes about her fiancé. But she admits that she never fantasized about a wedding, being more focused on what comes after marriage.
"My dream was to have a baby," she confesses, sharing that she has always known that she wants children. Having her mother and grandmother as examples fueled that desire; but it was meeting Bongiovi that changed her mind about the marriage element.
"After meeting Jake and seeing, 'Oh, I don't have to be this stereotypical wife for him. He doesn't want me to be that either. He wants me to go and do my thing and live my life, and he will hold my hand in the process of that.' I was like, 'Oh, I do want this,'" Brown explains.
The star admits that she feels lucky to have her and her fiancé's families by their side as they journey to be husband and wife. "We were modeled by wonderful, loving relationships," she says. "So it's something that we both had that mutual drive for. His family were so wonderfully accepting of me and embraced me, and it's so nice to find a second family in that."
A month after Brown and Bongiovi shared their engagement, Bongiovi's dad, Jon Bon Jovi, confirmed on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live that the couple was heading down the aisle. When asked how he felt about his son getting engaged at such a young age, Bon Jovi said, "I don't know if age matters, if you find the right partner and you grow together."
"I think that would be my advice really, is growing together is wise," added the rocker -- who has been married to his high school sweetheart, Dorothea, since tying the knot in April 1989.
And when it comes to wedding planning, Brown has previously revealed that she and Bongiovi are going forward as a team.
During an appearance on Today With Hoda & Jenna, Brown shared that wedding planning has been anything but stressful, and said she has Bongiovi to thank for that.
"It has not been stressful at all for me," she said. "Jake is very involved. He’s very helpful during the whole process. I’ve never felt alone in it, which I think is really nice. I’m always like, 'Is this a good idea? Is this a good idea?' Ultimately, it's just a very intimate day for the both of us, so we're both really excited."
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