Why Patrick Dempsey kept marriage to wife 26 years older than him 'secret'

In 1991, Hollywood heartthrob Patrick Dempsey exchanged vows with the woman he planned to spend the rest of his life - Rochelle 'Rocky' Parker

It wouldn't be until their divorce three years later, however, that many fans of the actor even realised he'd been married.

That's because Dempsey and Parker had largely kept their nuptials a secret, given their 26 year age-gap.

The much-loved Grey's Anatomy star had been just 21-years-old when he tied the knot. His bride, meanwhile, had been 47.

The pair met three years earlier, after being cast as auntie and nephew in stage production called Brighton Beach Memoirs.

Dempsey had been just 18 at the time, and Parker, 44.

By the end of 1984, they were both a romantic item and professional collaborators, with Dempsey also hiring his considerably-older girlfriend - who was also a mother-of-three - as his full-time acting coach and manager.

The couple had kept their marriage a secret for several years (Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Though neither party ever confirmed the rumour to press, Spock and Christine report that, after deciding to wed, the couple hadn't wanted their romance to cause controversy amongst gossip columns.

This was supposedly in part spurred by wanting to avoid criticism over their cross-generational romance - predominantly, that Dempsey had been a teenager when they met, and that Parker's children were older than him.

Their 'secret' was also said to have been partly prompted by not wanting their romance to impact the actor's professional endeavours.

As we say, it wasn't until towards the end of their three year marriage that Dempsey and Parker even began making public appearances together, which is why many rich details surrounding their romance remain unknown.

By 1994, the couple had formally separated, with Parker filing for divorce over 'irreconcilable differences'.

Dempsey has only publicly discussed his first marriage on a handful of occasions (Jason Mendez/Getty Images)

During the proceedings, Dempsey's now-ex shocked onlookers by claiming the TV star had assaulted her on the set of Can't Buy Me Love in 1987 - a claim she later retracted, insisting she'd been 'advised to make' it by her legal representatives.

The 'Dr Derek Shepherd' front-man, meanwhile, has maintained some air of secrecy since his first marriage came to an end, and only reflected on it in a public sphere on a handful of occasions.

In one 2006 instance, he told Barbara Walters his first marriage had been a 'Freudian nightmare that is public knowledge'.

"I think I needed a mother," Dempsey continued. "There were a lot of negative things that I'm still undoing from it. She had a son one year older than me."

Three years after his divorce, the Sweet Home Alabama star married make-up artist Jillian Fink, with whom he shares three children.

It is not known whether Parker remarried again. She died of lung and throat cancer in 2014, aged 74.