Soap Opera Couple Reportedly Splits 8 Weeks After Getting Married
Soap opera stars Courtney Hope and Chad Duell recently broke up, just eight weeks after they held a lavish wedding in Malibu, California in September. The couple dated for five years before getting engaged on Valentine's Day. Hope, 32, stars as Sally Spectra on The Young and the Restless, while Duell, 34, plays Michael Corinthos on General Hospital.
The former couple "quietly" called it quits, Soap Opera Digest reported on Monday. A source also told PEOPLE Hope and Duell have gone their separate ways. They have not posted about their split on their Instagram pages, although they both deleted references to their wedding.
Hope and Duell had an elaborate "Till Death"-themed wedding in Malibu, with the two wearing matching red ensembles while their guests wore all-black. Katrina Bowden and Katherine Kelly Lang, who starred on The Bold and The Beautiful with Hope, attended the wedding. The Young and the Restless stars Tracey Bregman and Hunter King were also there.
When they posted photos from the wedding on Instagram, Hope thanked everyone "for joining us in celebrating our love." Hope called the wedding the "perfect gothic night, surrounded by those we cherish most." Hope also thanked the designer of her dress, which included lace legging boots and a "Till Death" veil. She "visualized this dress for years," Hope wrote.
Duell and Hope began dating in 2016. On Valentine's Day, Duell surprised Hope by proposing at Point Dume in Malibu. In the morning on the day of the proposal, Duell gave Hope a dozen roses and a teddy bear, and told her they were going to the beach for a picnic, Hope told PEOPLE in February. He also planned to give her a special present. When she started eating, she realized Duell was ready to give her the present.
"He then told me to close my eyes and turn the other way 'cause he had to 'set something up,'" Hope said. "Then he comically fumbled behind me to distract me from what he was really doing – and when I turned around, he was on his knee!" Hope said Duell is "so romantic, so when he planned a picnic I wasn't too thrown off." Hope posted photos with her engagement ring on Instagram at the time, but those have since been deleted as well.
This is Duell's second divorce. He was previously married to Taylor Novak for less than six months in 2012 before the marriage was annulled. Duell joined General Hospital in 2010, while Hope joined The Young and the Restless last year after three years on The Bold and the Beautiful.