CAMERON Diaz and Benji Madden are one of the strongest couples in Hollywood – and a lot of that is down to their somewhat hidden romance.
The pair have just announced they’ve welcomed their second child, a baby boy named Cardinal, in an Instagram post on Friday after successfully hiding they were expecting.
But this pair, who are embedded in the celebrity world thanks to their family and long-held career connections, are used to playing things cool.
Here’s everything you need to know about their romance – from meet-cute to baby number two.
Love At First Sight
Actress Cameron and Good Charlotte guitarist Benji were introduced to each other through Nicole Richie and her husband, Joel – Benji’s twin brother and bandmate.
According to Cameron, the pair asked if Benji could join them at a barbecue she was hosting in May 2014.
However, she noted as soon as she walked in the door she was hooked, and speaking on Anna Faris’s Unqualified podcast, she explained: “I met mine [husband] through my now sister-in-law and brother-in-law, I met them first and then they didn’t set us up but we were in the same room because of them, and then we found each other. I was like, ‘How come I didn’t see him before?’”
“I saw him walking towards me, and I was like, ‘Huh, he’s hot, I haven’t seen him before,’” she later added. “But then when I saw him, like who he was, that’s what made me really be like, ‘Oh you, you’re special, you’re the guy, you’re the hidden gem in my life.’”
Whirlwind marriage
Just six months later Cameron sparked engagement rumours after being seen wearing a ring on her finger.
They confirmed their relationship on social media that Christmas, and were married on January 5th, 2015 at their California home.
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Nicole was one of Cameron’s bridesmaids, and Joel was Benji’s best man.
Reese Witherspoon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette were also in attendance.
During her wedding speech, Cameron reportedly said: “I waited because I didn’t want to settle, and now I got the best man ever. My special man. He’s mine.”
An official statement by the couple read: “We couldn’t be happier to begin our new journey together surrounded by our closest family and friends.”
Wedded Bliss
Following their marriage, the couple’s bond continued to strengthen.
Two months after the wedding, Joel created a permanent memory of his wife by getting a tattoo of her name from shoulder-to-shoulder across his chest.
A year later and they were still in the honeymoon phase, with Cameron praising Joel and saying she knew he was the one as “no one compared.”
“You realise like, ‘Oh right, this is what the real thing is, this is what real love is and this is what commitment and devotion is,” she told Andy Cohen on his radio show.
While the pair have opted not to make any public appearances at official events together, the pair offer fans small insights into their marriage on occasion on social media.
In August 2018, Benji celebrated her birthday with a caption that read: “There’s so much to write, so many things that make me so proud of you and how special you are.
“Thank you for being the best friend and partner to me and taking this journey of Marriage. The way you live your life everyday, and your compassion for the world shines thru in your eyes and you inspire me to want to be the best man I can be in this lifetime.
“You’re the realest. I’m so grateful to be yours Always&Forever, and to call you my One&Only. True Love.”
Baby Makes Three
In January 2020, two days before their five-year anniversary, the couple announced they had expanded their family and welcomed their first baby – a daughter named Raddix.
In a statement shared on both their social medias, the pair wrote: “We are so happy, bless and grateful to begin this new decade by announcing the birth of our daughter, Raddix Madden. She has instantly captured our hearts and completed our family.
“While we are overjoyed to share this news, we also feel a strong instinct to protect our little one’s privacy. So we won’t be posting any pictures or sharing any more details, other than the fact that she is really really cute!! Some would even say RAD:)”
The pair have kept to their word and they have never shared a picture of their daughter.
Cameron later noted that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they were able to spend quality time as a new family as they quarantined.
“[Benji] actually gets to come out of a meeting and give her a kiss and play with her for a little bit, where if he was going to the office every day, he wouldn’t have been able to do that,” she told Seth Meyers during an interview for Late Night. “So we’re just having a lot of gratitude for that.”
Secret to a Happy Marriage
In December 2023, Cameron sparked an online debate about relationships by declaring separate bedrooms should be “normalised” to keep the romance alive.
Speaking to Molly Sims and Emese Gormley on their Lipstick on the Rim podcast, Cameron stated: “We should normalize separate bedrooms. To me, I would literally, I have my house, you have yours. We have the family house in the middle. I will go and sleep in my room. You go sleep in your room. I’m fine. And we have the bedroom in the middle that we can convene in for our relations.”
“By the way, I don’t feel that way now because my husband is so wonderful,” she added. “I said that before I got married.”
Nice to Meet Two
In March 2024, Cameron and Benji announced they had welcomed their second child together, a baby boy.
Alongside a piece of artwork bearing the words ‘A little bird whispered to me’, the couple wrote: “We are blessed and excited to announce the birth of our Son, Cardinal Madden.
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“He is awesome and We are all so happy he is here! For the kids safety and privacy we won’t be posting any pictures- but he’s really cute.
“We are feeling so blessed and grateful. Sending much love from our fam to yours. Best wishes and Good Afternoon!!”
