The Moment
Halle Berry and longtime boyfriend Van Hunt just turned a cold New York night into a walking ad for grown-up romance.
Photos from a recent evening stroll show the Oscar winner bundled in a long double-breasted coat, jeans, and boots, tucked in close to Hunt, who layered a plaid shirt and green pants under a hooded parka. His arm is around her; she looks relaxed, not like a woman in a hurry to sprint down any aisle.
Berry, 59, and Hunt, 55, have been together since 2020. A source recently said she is in no rush to marry again, even though the couple has talked about it and, yes, he has already proposed.
In a joint interview last year, Hunt joked that he had put a proposal out there and it was still ‘floating.’ Berry backed him up, saying they do not feel they need a wedding to validate their love. Translation: the ring is not the relationship.
She did make one thing very clear: Van Hunt is, in her words, the love of her life and the one she feels she should have married, if anyone. She has also said she believes they will probably marry someday, but on their own timeline and for their own reasons.
The Take
I am quietly obsessed with this version of Halle Berry.
Not the flawless red-carpet Halle, not the tabloid divorce headline Halle, but this woman-in-a-wool-coat who has finally decided that her peace matters more than everyone else’s expectations.
Because let’s be honest: if any celebrity has earned the right to move slowly on marriage number four, it is the woman who has already done it three times, in public, under a microscope.
Berry is doing something we rarely see from famous women over 40: she is treating marriage like an option, not an automatic setting. The love is there. The commitment is there. The proposal is literally ‘on hold.’ And instead of panicking, she is asking a huge, very un-Hollywood question: what do I actually want this to look like?
Most celebrity romances play out like a limited series: meet-cute, whirlwind engagement, lavish wedding, messy season finale in divorce court. Berry and Hunt feel more like a long-running show that got smarter in later seasons. The stakes are lower, the characters know themselves better, and the plot twist is that nothing explosive has to happen at all.
Her whole vibe screams: we are not rushing to print up monogrammed towels just to prove a point. After three marriages, two kids, and decades of public scrutiny, she is choosing the slow, steady burn over the fireworks factory.
The analogy that keeps coming to mind? She is treating marriage like a remodel, not an emergency repair. You do it when the foundation is solid, you have the budget, and you actually like the house you are in. You do not do it just because the neighbors are having contractors over.
There is also something quietly radical about a nearly 60-year-old woman saying: My relationship is successful right now, ring or no ring. For a generation who grew up on fairy tales that ended with a wedding, Berry is offering a sequel: happily ever after might actually be a cozy walk, a good parka, and the freedom to say ‘not yet’ without fear.
Receipts
Confirmed
- Berry and Hunt have been dating since 2020 and were recently photographed walking arm in arm on a nighttime stroll in New York City, bundled up against the cold (celebrity photo agency shots published February 2, 2026).
- A source close to Berry said she is in no rush to marry, adding that being with Hunt has been wonderful for her and that she wants things to stay the way they are for now (quoted in a recent entertainment magazine report).
- In a June 2025 joint video interview for a major morning show website, Hunt said he had proposed and that the proposal was ‘on hold,’ while Berry said they do not feel they need to get married to validate their love.
- Berry has publicly called Hunt the love of her life, including in a 2021 Instagram post where she gushed about their relationship.
- Her marriage history is a matter of public record: she was married to baseball player David Justice (1993-1997), singer Eric Benet (married 2001, divorce finalized 2005), and actor Olivier Martinez (2013-2016). She has two children, Nahla and Maceo, from past relationships.
Unverified / Reported
- Specific details about private conversations regarding marriage plans between Berry and Hunt come from unnamed sources quoted in entertainment reports, not from Berry or Hunt directly.
Sources: Celebrity photo agency set and news report, February 2, 2026; entertainment magazine report quoting a source close to Berry, early 2026; joint video interview with Halle Berry and Van Hunt for a major morning show website, June 2025; Halle Berry public Instagram posts about Van Hunt, 2021.
Backstory (For Casual Readers)
If you remember Halle Berry from her Bond girl era or winning that historic Best Actress Oscar in 2002, here is the quick catch-up. After a string of very public marriages and breakups, Berry spent years in the press more for her personal life than her work. In 2020, she went public with Van Hunt, a musician she had been quietly dating. Instead of another whirlwind, this relationship has unfolded slowly: social media soft-launch, a few red carpets, and a lot of low-key, real-life moments. By 2021 she was calling him the love of her life. By 2025, we learned he had proposed, but she was in no hurry to make it official.
What’s Next
So, where does this go from here? Probably not where we are trained to look.
Do not expect a surprise wedding every time they fly to Europe or post a cute vacation photo. Based on what they have actually said, a ceremony is more of a ‘someday, if and when it feels right’ possibility than a looming deadline.
What is more likely: more of what we are already seeing? Quiet support at events, the occasional red-carpet moment, and the everyday stuff like bundled-up walks in New York while the rest of us debate the right coat length.
If they do choose to marry, it will almost certainly be framed as something they wanted to do for themselves, not because the internet kept asking when she was going to make it official. And if they never do? Berry has already told us she is perfectly comfortable with that, too.
In a culture that still treats single or remarried women over 40 like a cautionary tale, Halle Berry is out here writing a different kind of script: a mature relationship, a proposal on pause, and zero panic in sight.
Your turn: Does Halle keeping the proposal ‘on hold’ feel like the healthiest kind of boundary, or do you think marriage still matters as the final step in a long-term relationship?
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