Finding The One. Billie Lourd and Austen Rydell have preferred to keep details about their romance on the down low — but they have still offered glimpses at their road to happily ever after over the years.
The couple first sparked romance rumors in 2016 after they were spotted spending time together. Later that year, Lourd and Rydell briefly pulled the plug on their relationship. At the time, the actress moved on with her Scream Queens costar Taylor Lautner.
The Twilight star showed his support for Lourd after her mother, Carrie Fisher, died in December 2016 at age 60. Fisher’s mother, Debbie Reynolds, died one day later.
In 2017, the American Horror Story alum reunited with her ex-boyfriend after parting ways with Lautner. At the time, an eyewitness told Us Weekly that the duo attempted to be discrete when they attended an event in West Hollywood. Rydell watched as his girlfriend answered questions on the red carpet before they were spotted kissing inside of the film festival.
After four years of dating, Rydell and Lourd announced that they were engaged in June 2020. The California native secretly welcomed their first child together later that year.
Lourd clarified that her son was “not technically a quarantine baby” and was “conceived before” the coronavirus pandemic.
“He’s technically just a Caribbean baby,” Lourd joked in an interview with Bruce Bozzi in January 2021. “I got to keep it to myself, and only my family knew and nobody else knew. Everyone was so surprised when we posted that little picture of his feet, and it got to just be something I shared with the people I loved the most, which was so incredible and made my pregnancy so magical and wonderful, which I did not expect it was going to be, but it turned out to be the greatest experience.”
The new mom gushed about how much she “loved being pregnant” with her partner by her side. “Now we know each other better than anybody could ever know each other,” she detailed. “He was so caring and incredible and cooked for me and gave me foot massages and did these classes with me. Like, he did the lactation class, he did the positive birthing class. So he was with me every step of the way. And we just became even closer friends, even better partners. And I think it prepared us to be the best parents.”
Lourd also got honest about how her approach to motherhood differed from her late mother’s parenting style.
“My main job when she was alive was taking care of her and making sure she was OK,” she said on the “New Day” podcast in October 2021. “I was her main support, and I was 7, for a lot of the time, and that was really hard, and that’s why I grew up really fast because I was her best friend. I was her mother, I was her kid, I was her everything. And that’s one of the things I’m learning not to do with my kid.”
According to the Ticket to Paradise actress, her childhood involved plenty of “pressure,” adding, “There’s a lot of things that my mom taught me to do and then there’s a lot that is, honestly it might be more valuable, of what not to do. And that’s one of the things that I will not do to my son.”
Rydell, for his part, later praised Lourd’s love and commitment to their family. “This badass hot mom wife is 30!! She’s accomplished more, traveled further, and experienced more than anyone you’ve ever met at 30 and she is MY wife! Good luck finding a life partner like mine! I love you forever @praisethelourd !! ,” he wrote via Instagram in July 2022.
Scroll down to relive Lourd and Rydell’s romance:
Finding The One. Billie Lourd and Austen Rydell have preferred to keep details about their romance on the down low — but they have still offered glimpses at their road to happily ever after over the years.
The couple first sparked romance rumors in 2016 after they were spotted spending time together. Later that year, Lourd and Rydell briefly pulled the plug on their relationship. At the time, the actress moved on with her Scream Queens costar Taylor Lautner.
The Twilight star showed his support for Lourd after her mother, Carrie Fisher, died in December 2016 at age 60. Fisher’s mother, Debbie Reynolds, died one day later.
In 2017, the American Horror Story alum reunited with her ex-boyfriend after parting ways with Lautner. At the time, an eyewitness told Us Weekly that the duo attempted to be discrete when they attended an event in West Hollywood. Rydell watched as his girlfriend answered questions on the red carpet before they were spotted kissing inside of the film festival.
After four years of dating, Rydell and Lourd announced that they were engaged in June 2020. The California native secretly welcomed their first child together later that year.
Lourd clarified that her son was “not technically a quarantine baby” and was “conceived before” the coronavirus pandemic.
“He’s technically just a Caribbean baby,” Lourd joked in an interview with Bruce Bozzi in January 2021. “I got to keep it to myself, and only my family knew and nobody else knew. Everyone was so surprised when we posted that little picture of his feet, and it got to just be something I shared with the people I loved the most, which was so incredible and made my pregnancy so magical and wonderful, which I did not expect it was going to be, but it turned out to be the greatest experience.”
The new mom gushed about how much she “loved being pregnant” with her partner by her side. “Now we know each other better than anybody could ever know each other,” she detailed. “He was so caring and incredible and cooked for me and gave me foot massages and did these classes with me. Like, he did the lactation class, he did the positive birthing class. So he was with me every step of the way. And we just became even closer friends, even better partners. And I think it prepared us to be the best parents.”
Lourd also got honest about how her approach to motherhood differed from her late mother’s parenting style.
“My main job when she was alive was taking care of her and making sure she was OK,” she said on the “New Day” podcast in October 2021. “I was her main support, and I was 7, for a lot of the time, and that was really hard, and that’s why I grew up really fast because I was her best friend. I was her mother, I was her kid, I was her everything. And that’s one of the things I’m learning not to do with my kid.”
According to the Ticket to Paradise actress, her childhood involved plenty of “pressure,” adding, “There’s a lot of things that my mom taught me to do and then there’s a lot that is, honestly it might be more valuable, of what not to do. And that’s one of the things that I will not do to my son.”
Rydell, for his part, later praised Lourd’s love and commitment to their family. “This badass hot mom wife is 30!! She’s accomplished more, traveled further, and experienced more than anyone you’ve ever met at 30 and she is MY wife! Good luck finding a life partner like mine! I love you forever @praisethelourd !! ,” he wrote via Instagram in July 2022.
Scroll down to relive Lourd and Rydell’s romance:
Credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock
2016
Lourd and Rydell were first romantically linked in 2016.
Credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock
2017
After calling it quits with Lautner, Lourd reconciled with Rydell.
Credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock
June 2020
Rydell announced his and Lourd’s engagement after four years of dating on and off, writing via Instagram, “She said YES!! (Actually she said ‘Duhhh’). But I guess that’s even better than yes?!? .”
Credit: Courtesy of Billie Lourd/Instagram
February 2021
“Hi Kingston’s mom! Happy Valentines Day!! You’ve made me the happiest person in the world and I love you more than you will ever comprehend !!! ,” Rydell gushed about his then-fiancée via Instagram.
Credit: Courtesy of Billie Lourd/Instagram
April 2022
“Happy triple decade to my HUSBAND (whoaaa still feels super cool to say that out loud ok fine type it out loud is typing out loud a thing?) I don’t think I ever made this face till I met you?! You make me the giddiest gal in the universe (yes I said giddy no it’s not a hip word to use but it’s the only one that captures how you make me feel),” the Star Wars star wrote via Instagram. “Anyway I’m not gonna write a novel on this here instagram post but I could write a whole stack o novels about how much I love you!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDI!!! @avstenrydell.”
Credit: Gregory Pace/Shutterstock; Rob Latour/Shutterstock
December 2022
Bryan Lourd broke the news that his daughter and Rydell welcomed their second child. “My daughter had a baby last night,” he announced at Variety’s Dealmakers Breakfast. “Everything’s great. So, if I wander, it’s because the adrenaline is still flowing.”
