Real-life Celebrity Breakup: Jack Wagner and Heather Locklear

Jack Wagner and Heather Locklear. From reel life Mr. and Mrs. to a real-life couple, they engaged in a romance not all that dissimilar from their Melrose Place counterparts. File this one under fact is sometimes stranger than fiction.

How Did Jack Wagner and Heather Locklear Meet

It was a classic love story — boy meets girl, boy becomes enamored with girl, boy sabotages girl’s attempts to climb the corporate ladder and then tries to kill her on an operating table. Okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly a classic example after all.

However, by the time Melrose Place aired its final episode in May of 1999, resident romantic wafflers Peter Burns and Amanda Woodward were reunited, married — the whole assassination bid forgiven and forgotten — and planning to spend the rest of their lives together on an island paradise.

For actors Jack Wagner and Heather Locklear, who had starred in the hit series since 1994 and 1993 respectively, the ending was merely a hazard of the acting profession and, like so many times before, they set about finding their next project.

Reconnection
Nearly a decade later, it seemed like the pretend spouses were about to become a bonafide item. Despite claims that they were just good friends enjoying each other’s company, Locklear finally confessed to People that there was more to the story and claimed that their relationship was, “wonderful and exciting and blossoming.”

Jack Pops The Question
For the next four years, the pair’s love affair was dogged by rumors that either a proposal of marriage was imminent or it had already taken place. In reference to the scuttlebutt, Wagner said the following to E! News:

“The reality is she has a 13-year-old daughter and I have a 16-year-old son. To try to put two families together, everything has to be in place to do that. It’s more about…doing the right thing for the kids. That’s kind of what our focus is right now.”

In an echo of her partner’s sentiment, Locklear told People, but reported by Hollywood.com that “if Jack said, ‘Let’s get married,’ I’d go, ‘OK!’ But I have a daughter to consider. I’m trying to be a thoughtful role model and not selfish.”

Come August of 2011, it seemed that the fates had aligned and all obstacles conquered for the couple were engaged to be married — the deal sealed with the presentation of a 6-carat diamond ring.

Jack Wagner and Heather Locklear Call It Quits

By November of that same year, the engagement was off and the relationship over. According to Wagner, the decision was reached after the duo realized that they were spending too much time on planning a wedding and not enough with their children. Post confirmation, Wagner insisted that he and Locklear were still in touch and that they, “still love each other very much.”

Violence Erupts
One month later, Star Magazine reported that during a visit Wagner paid to Locklear’s Sherman Oaks home — ostensibly in aide of returning some of her personal belongings left behind at his abode — the embittered exes engaged in a physical altercation.

An anonymous source told the publication (and subsequently reported by the Daily Mail) that “a huge argument erupted as they insulted each other’s families. As Heather went to her car, Jack lunged at her, trying to grab or push her. Her reaction was to swing. She caught Jack with a right hook across his face, knocking him to the ground.”

Patrol officers were summoned to the scene and even though neither party wished to press charges against the other, a file was prepared and sent to L.A. City Attorney’s Office for review. After a hearing on February 9, 2012, it was decided that no further action would be taken and the case was closed.

Reflection 
Though the former couple apparently remained estranged for many years, Wagner had nothing but well wishes for Locklear following the revelation that she had been forcibly hospitalized in the summer of 2018.

“Listen, we all have our struggles and our issues,” he told Extra host Mario Lopez. “So Heather’s in my prayers. I love her and her family and I just hope that she can really dig in and turn her life around. I love her to death and I just pray for the best…”

Reunion 
Over a year later, Wagner took to Instagram to share a snapshot of himself and Locklear inside what appeared to be a beauty shop where they were both getting a follicle touch-up.

He captioned the moment thusly: “Sooo much fun catching up with one of my favorite people in the world!! We’re still tryin to look our Best😂😂 🤭🤭🤗🤗😬😬🤓🤓🙏 🙏😎 Love you @HeatherLocklear #Recovery #Grateful #TYGod.”