Aahana Swrup
The 2012 Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum starrer romance drama film, ‘The Vow,’ finds the origins of its astonishing love story from the real-life relationship of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter. The film fictionalizes the couple into the characters of Paige and Leo, spouses who undergo a tragic car accident. Paige emerges from the event with severe memory loss issues, forgetting everything about Leo and their relationship. Nevertheless, despite the odds stacked against his favor, Leo holds true to his wedding vows and embarks on a mission to make Paige fall back in love with him.
The film depicts a compelling romance between Paige and Leo, highlighting the latter’s undying devotion to his wife and the vows he made to her on their wedding day. Therefore, given the extraordinary nature of their relationship, viewers must be curious to know about the real-life couple behind these characters and their current whereabouts.
Kim and Krickitt Carpenter’s Relationship
Kim and Krickitt, the real-life inspiration behind Paige and Leo from ‘The Vow,’ actually charted a much different journey during their early relationship. The pair had their meet-cute in 1992 after Kim, a university baseball coach, spotted Krickitt, a sales representative’s number in a sportswear catalog. Noting the uncommon name, the man decided to call Krickitt, which jumpstarted a conversation that turned into a relationship.
Due to their geographies, the couple had to take flights to meet in person. However, their relationship progressed so well that Kim met Krickitt’s family only two weeks after meeting her in person for the first time. Thus, on September 18, 1993, the couple tied the knot and moved in with each other following their honeymoon. Yet, two months later, on Thanksgiving, tragedy befell when a near-fatal car accident put Krickitt in a coma for three weeks.
Even more bad news awaited Kim as he learned that Krickitt had lost all memory of him. Although the former attempted to help his wife regain her memories, his efforts were in vain. Still, instead of giving up on their marriage, Kim decided to pursue Krickitt all over again.
Two years later, on May 25, 1996, the couple renewed their vows, ending up back together even though Krickitt never regained her memories.
The couple went on to have two kids, Danny, their son, in 2000, the same year that Kim published a memoir about their story titled ‘The Vow.’ Three years later, the couple welcomed a daughter, Lee Ann, to their family. Years later, after their love story caught Hollywood’s attention and became the inspiration for ‘The Vow,’ Krickitt spoke about her relationship and said, “I chose to love him [Kim], and obviously my love grew for him. He’s a wonderful individual.”
Kim and Krickitt Carpenter’s Eventual Divorce
Despite Kim and Krickitt’s picture-esque relationship, built on the former’s love and respect for his vow to his wife, the couple didn’t see a happily-ever-after. Twenty-five years into their marriage, the couple ended up getting a divorce due to Kim’s infidelity. His affair came out into the open after Krickitt began suspecting her husband of harboring an extramarital affair and confronted him about it. In the face of her confrontation, Kim found himself unable to keep secrets from her any further and confessed to the cheating.
“I was beyond devastated cause I never would have imagined that would happen to me,” said Krickitt when recalling the event in a conversation with Inside Edition. “[And] I experienced the most excruciating pain I have ever felt.” In other interviews, the woman also spoke about how blindsided she was by her husband’s affair since she had the utmost faith in their commitment to each other and their vow.
Similarly, Kim also discussed the events and said, “You spend years and years combatting and trying to fight for something that you committed to, and to go out and do the inexcusable was not….. it was a very unfortunate situation.” The man further took responsibility for his regrettable actions and said, “I’ll forever feel in my character the guilt and the shame that I have.”
Still, despite the unfortunate turn of events, Krickitt reportedly doesn’t regret her relationship with Kim and appreciates their journey for what it is. Moreover, she’s grateful to the kids she has through her marriage with Kim, alongside the lifetime of memories they made. Immediately after their separation, Krickitt and her daughter, Lee Ann, moved into a townhouse. Meanwhile, their son, Danny, remained with his father.
Currently, years after their divorce, both individuals are moving on with their lives. While Kim doesn’t maintain a social media presence, fans can find updates on Krickitt and her kids’ lives on her Facebook Page. The woman used to substitute as a high school teacher and likely continues to do so, given her routine social media posts in support of Liberty High School. Meanwhile, according to the last known reports, Kim was the CEO of San Juan County.
Read More: The Vow: Is Cafe Mnemonic an Actual Coffee House?
