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They were a knockout on their wedding day at a villa in Mykonos, Greece. Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren (65) and his fiancé Emma Krokdal (27) recently said their I do's in front of a handful of friends and family in a private ceremony in the land of the gods.
The couple, who began dating in 2019, told People magazine that it was the right time to tie the knot.
“With both Covid and a long road of challenging medical treatments, we’ve had to push our marriage plans many times,” they said.
Their relationship initially raised eyebrows because of their 38-year age gap and people were quick to think it was a sham.
But critics were silenced when the Rocky actor revealed earlier this year that Emma had been by his side during his years-long battle with cancer.
The couple met in 2019 at a gym in Los Angeles where Emma worked as personal trainer, and just a year later, in June 2020, he proposed.
"I didn't know why she liked me at all, but I suppose she saw something there. She didn't know about my acting career, she didn't know anything about me," he said in May.
Even though their age gap was apparent, it became clear to them that they had plenty in common.
This is the second marriage for Dolph who was previously married to Anette Qviberg, the mother of his two children.
"I feel like Emma is very mature for her age, for sure. She's had an interesting life,” he said. “She came over here from a small town in Norway. She was married here and she went through a difficult divorce and went through a lot of stuff that most young people her age don't have to deal with."
Dolph also opened up about his cancer battle, saying Emma was "like an angel that was sent down to help me".
The action star revealed that he'd received treatment after doctors found a tumour in his kidney eight years ago but the cancer returned and spread to his lungs, spine, liver and stomach. He also suggested that his years-long steroid use might have contributed to his condition.
He knew he was against the ropes last year when doctors told him he had just a few years to live.
“At that point it started to hit me that this was something serious. The surgeon called me and said it had grown, it was too big, it had grown to the size of a small lemon.
“I asked them, 'how long do I have left?', I think he said two to three years but I could tell in his voice he thought it was less. I thought that was it for sure.”
Emma was by his side during the entire ordeal. “That was a struggle, he was losing weight. We realised it was a lot worse than we thought,” she recalled.
After changing his treatment, he began to see a difference.
"2022 was basically watching these medications do their thing and finally things shrunk. Now I'm in the process of taking out the remaining scar tissue of these tumors."
His zest for life is helping him kick cancer to the kerb – in June he was spotted holidaying with Emma in Cape Town and he's more determined than ever to make the most of every moment.
"You appreciate every day you can be with people you love," he says. "You just appreciate, you know, having been lucky enough to be alive and appreciate every moment there is."
SOURCES: FOXNEWS.COM; EXPRESS.CO.UK; EDITION.CNN.COM; PEOPLE.COM; DAILYMAIL.CO.UK
