Actor Jim Carrey has referred to Renee Zellweger as “his last great love” in his new semi-autobiographical novel Memoirs and Misinformation, written alongside author Dana Vachon. While speaking with radio host Howard Stern, he explained that he didn’t have any regrets but that Zellweger was “special to me.”
In Carrey’s interview with Stern, the host said he was surprised Carrey had called Zellweger “the great love of my life.” Zellweger and Carrey dated for a year after starring in Me, Myself and Irene before eventually splitting in November 2000.
Responding to Stern, Carrey said, “That’s true and she was special to me, very special. I think she’s lovely.”
“I don’t regret, I don’t have those things, but I do appreciate the people who have come through my life for the good that they gave me,” he continued.
Zellweger, who is known to be very private about her personal life, previously opened up about her relationship with Carrey which she called an “unexpected, wonderful thing.”
Speaking to the Guardian at the time in 2000, she revealed that they had bumped into one another at various events and that she had “known him for a while” before they eventually worked on Me, Myself and Irene.
However, she initially had reservations about dating a colleague. As rumours of a romance began to circle the pair (despite not being together), she recalled to CNN, “When the picture wrapped, we’d spoken a couple of times on the phone and then all those rumours came out that I was dating him. I was so mad. I said, ‘No, it’s not true.’ And then I went home … and I went, ‘God, I do miss him.’”
Despite engagement rumours (Zellweger later said they were “made up”), the pair separated in 2000 with a spokesperson saying they “wanted different things.”
After their split, Carrey would later go on to date controversial TV host Jenny McCarthy - who he was with for five years until 2010 - and later dated makeup artist Cathriona White. The pair were in an on-off relationship starting from 2012, however White died of suicide in 2015.
Following her split from Carrey, Zellweger would go on to date other celebrities such as singer Jack White and Bradley Cooper. She married singer Kenny Chesney in 2005, however they had their wedding annulled months later and was in a relationship with Doyle Bramhall II between 2012-2019. She is currently single.
Carrey’s book Memoirs and Misinformation is currently available in stores and online.
For those seeking mental health support, the Samaritans operate a 24/7 helpline which can be contacted at 116 123 or by email at jo@samaritans.org. The NHS also provide resources to support those battling suicidal thoughts here and mental health charity Mind can be contacted by text at 86463, by phone at 0300 123 3393 and online at their website.
“Jim Carrey Says Renée Zellweger Was “His Last Great Love””
In an interview on The Howard Stern Show on SiriusXM on Tuesday, Stern asked the actor about his semi-fictional book, Memoirs and Misinformation based on his real life, and how sincere he was in writing that Zellweger was “his last great love.”
“She definitely was special to me, very special, I think she’s lovely,” Carrey confirmed. Stern added, “You have poetic license because it’s fiction, but you’re saying, ‘Man, the great love of my life was Renee Zellweger’ and that was quite some time ago, and it was almost like you were saying I shouldn’t have fucked that up. That was the one, whatever happened, the one that got away.”
Carrey replied, “I don’t regret, I don’t have those things, but I do appreciate the people that have come through my life for the good that they gave me.” The pair first met when they costarred in the 1999 film Me, Myself & Irene and dated for a year before breaking up in 2000.
According to the film’s director, Bobby Farrelly, Carrey “flipped for her immediately” on set, but Zellweger was slightly more hesitant. She told CNN at the time, “I liked him, a lot, but you’re not going (to the set) for the love connection…When the picture wrapped, we’d spoken a couple of times on the phone and then all those rumors came out that I was dating him. I was so mad. I said, ‘No, it’s not true.’ And then I went home … and I went, ‘God, I do miss him.’”
The actress later told Entertainment Weekly that their relationship “was a very unexpected, wonderful thing.” In the same interview, Carrey noted that Zellweger helped keep him grounded, saying, “She’s a very connected person. She thinks having a good time is renting a U-Haul and taking furniture to Texas. She’s real in that way and I absolutely love it.”
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“Jim Carrey opens up about ex Renee Zellweger: ‘She was special to me’”
“She was special to me, very special,” the comedian and actor, 58, explained on SiriusXM’s “The Howard Stern Show” on Tuesday. “I think she’s lovely.”
Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger at the premiere of “Man on the Moon” in Hollywood in 1999. Jim Ruymen / AFP via Getty Images
He also called her the “great love of my life” in the new semi-autobiographical novel “Memoirs and Misinformation” he wrote with Dana Vachon, which was published July 7.
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The actors started working together while filming “Me, Myself and Irene” in 1999 and began dating after the film finished shooting. They quickly became engaged and attended the 2000 Golden Globes together — but everything came to an end late that year.
Carrey was married from 1987 to 1995 to Melissa Wormer, with whom he had a daughter, Jane; and to actress Lauren Holly from 1996 to 1997. Zellweger married singer Kenny Chesney in 2005, but it was annulled in 2006. Neither is currently married.
Though their time together was brief, there was real interest from the paparazzi and tabloid media in their relationship; in 2000, Carrey told Entertainment Weekly he felt something “chemical” for Zellweger while making the movie.
“It was a very unexpected, wonderful thing,” Zellweger told EW in 2000. “We didn’t see each other for a few months after we finished the picture — or really speak even — and I just noticed his absence significantly. It just felt like, ‘Wow, I really miss him.'”
Still, despite the fact that he cares for Zellweger, he’s not holding a candle for her.
“I don’t regret — I don’t have those things,” he continued. “But I do appreciate the people that have come through my life for the good that they gave me … but I don’t pine for anybody, it’s not that kind of situation. It’s just my way of saying, ‘There was a very important thing there,’ and to recognize that.”
“Renee Zellweger was the great love of Jim Carrey’s life”
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“Daily Download: Jim Carrey Says Ex-Girlfriend Renee Zellweger Was ‘Special To Me’”
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Daily Download: Jim Carrey Says Ex-Girlfriend Renee Zellweger Was ‘Special To Me’
Jim Carrey opens up to Howard Stern about his romantic relationship with Renee Zellweger. Plus, Cardi B’s daughter, Kulture, gets gifted with a Birkin bag for her birthday.
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“‘She was very special to me’: Jim Carrey calls Renee Zellweger the love of his life”
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“Renée Zellweger : Jim Carrey, son ex, considère qu’elle est ‘la femme de sa vie’”
Interrogé à ce propos sur Sirius XM par Howard Stern, Jim Carrey a confirmé pudiquement ses propos d’un romantisme rare. “C’est vrai, elle est vraiment spéciale pour moi, a-t-il expliqué. Elle est tout simplement charmante.” De son côté, Renée Zellweger avait déjà précisé que leur relation ne sortait pas de nulle part, sans préciser quels liens elle avait pu conserver avec lui après la rupture. “On a pas mal d’amis communs, donc j’avais souvent entendu parlé de lui. On avait déjà pu se voir, se dire bonjour plusieurs fois, précisait-elle au Guardian. On s’était même rencontré il y a quelques années lors d’un dîner. En fait, on se connaissait déjà depuis un bon moment.”
Jim Carrey a été marié à Melissa Womer, à Lauren Holly et a également vécu une jolie romance de cinq ans avec Jenny McCarthy. Renée Zellweger, quant à elle, a connu l’amour auprès de Bradley Cooper et a été au coeur d’une rumeur la liant à George Clooney. Elle a épousé le musicien Kenny Chesney en 2005 mais ils ont divorcé quatre mois plus tard. Depuis 2012, c’est auprès de Doyle Bramhall II qu’elle s’épanouit… bien qu’elle ne soit pas apparue à ses côtés depuis 2017. Au début de l’année 2020, Renée Zellweger est repartie avec l’Oscar de la meilleure actrice sous le coude pour sa performance brillantissime dans le film Judy, de Rupert Goold. Alors qu’importe les hommes…