Hallmark Star Hilarie Burton & Jeffrey Dean Morgan Have A Surprising Age Gap

Jeffrey Dean Morgan was set up with Hilarie Burton by his "Supernatural" co-star Jensen Ackles and Jensen's wife Danneel Ackles, who was one of Burton's "One Tree Hill" castmates. As she got to know the man she would someday marry, Burton discovered a lot to like. "He knew exactly who he was. His confidence was intoxicating," she told People. Morgan's age possibly helped him in that respect — he'd been around much longer than Burton, so he possessed that maturity and self-assuredness that (sometimes) comes with the passage of time.

Burton was 26 years old when she first met Morgan, who is 16 years her senior. It was 2009 and she had just exited "One Tree Hill," which meant that she had plenty of free time to explore different opportunities. Morgan proved to be the ideal partner at that turning point in her career. According to Burton, he had already grown into the man he wanted to be, making him her rock as she embarked on an exciting new chapter in her life. "I could be the one who could experiment. Being with someone so solid allowed me to grow," she said.

The couple celebrated the birth of their son Gus mere months after they started dating, which could have put a lot of stress on such a new relationship. However, they discovered that they enjoyed parenthood so much that they decided to expand their family. Burton had to endure years of fertility struggles before getting pregnant with their daughter George, who was born in 2018. Now, the couple is growing old — and gray — with their happy little family.

Hilarie Burton and Jeffrey Dean Morgan celebrated a lot of birthdays together before they finally got hitched in 2019. Morgan has also learned which piece of jewelry to not buy for his wife: the one that marks the relentless march of time. One of Burton's worst birthday experiences with her husband was when he gifted her a watch, and she explained why on her "Drama Queens" podcast. Not only did it bring back unpleasant memories of an ex getting her the same gift, but she considered it impersonal and boring. Also, she's just not a watch person.

While she's no fan of timepieces, Burton doesn't mind how the passage of time affects her hair. In a 2023 interview with New Beauty, she revealed that noticing the way fans raved over her "Silver Fox" hubby made her decide to ditch the hair dye. "His silver made him better in their eyes," she said. "His age was an asset that made him respectable. I wanted that." So, she quit worrying about trying to fit the youth-obsessed beauty standard of Hollywood, where few women let those grays grow out in their 40s. "I liked that I was free," she said of her decision to embrace her silver strands. 

As it turns out, she also loves the way the color looks on her — and it doesn't bother her that it's a reminder of those pesky watches continuing to tick the seconds away. She said of aging, "My version of beauty is the power of this next phase, what comes after youth."