Sylvester Stallone posted a steamy shirtless throwback with his wife Jennifer Flavin to celebrate her 56th birthday this week.
The 78-year-old movie star married Jennifer in 1997 and they are the proud parents of three daughters – Sophia, 27, Sistine, 26, and Scarlet, 22.
About two years ago, they shocked the public by announcing they were planning to divorce after 25 years as husband and wife.
Then, in an astonishing U-turn, it emerged that they had decided to give their marriage another try after ironing out their issues.
Now Sylvester looked back on the early years of their relationship by posting a heart-stopping snap of the pair of them in swimsuits on a boat.
Sylvester was wearing nothing but a speedo, showing off his cloven-in-marble torso and powerful legs to full advantage as he leaned against the rail.
Meanwhile Jennifer was clad in a slinky black one-piece that flattered her willowy frame and flaunted her sensational legs.
In the Instagram album he posted for Jennifer’s birthday, the Rambo star also posted pictures of them walking hand in hand and cuddling together in an armchair.
‘Happy birthday to my wife, Jennifer! Myself and the children think you are absolutely amazing. We love you forever!’ he gushed in his caption.
Jennifer was just 19 years old when she was first introduced to Sylvester in 1988, by which point he was a world-famous twice-divorced movie star in his 40s.
They went red carpet official in 1990, only to break up in 1994 when Sylvester shockingly ended the relationship via FedEx letter.
‘He sent me a six-page handwritten letter, in pen, It was pretty sloppy,’ Jennifer told People, in an article that alleged he had cheated on her with Janice Dickinson.
Ultimately, they got back together in 1995 and welcomed their eldest daughter the following year before making it down the aisle in 1997.
They became a rare example of a long-lasting Hollywood marriage, until the image was shattered in August 2022 when Jennifer filed for divorce.
However, the following month, reports began swirling that she had agreed to take him back and that the pair were in the process of repairing their relationship.
After he and Jennifer reunited, Sylvester gave a revealing interview to London’s Sunday Times about how their marriage was ultimately saved.
‘There was a reawakening of what was more valuable than anything, which is my love for my family,’ the Rocky beefcake explained. ‘It takes precedence over my work, and that was a hard lesson to learn.’
He revealed that earlier in his career, he tended to place work ahead of his children, saying, ‘I didn’t pay enough attention when they were growing up.’
Said he: ‘I was so career-oriented, and now I go: “OK, I don’t have that much runway up ahead, and I want to start asking them about their lives.”‘
He recalled: ‘I ask them about their day, and they started at first a little monosyllabic. Then I heard one say: “I was just thinking about you.” Oh my God. I’ve never heard that before in my life. When a daughter knows you care, she’s there forever.’