Sylvester Stallone has been married three times – but has finally found happiness with third wife Jennifer Flavin.
The Hollywood actor shares three daughters, Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet, with Jennifer, who showed off her ageless looks in a sexy bikini while on holiday with them last weekend.
Before Sly settled down with Jennifer, he dumped her by FedEx then got engaged to another model while under the belief she had given birth to his child.
As part of the Daily Star’s look back at Hollywood action heroes, we revisit Stallone’s wild year between his split from Jennifer in March 1994 and when they got back together in the summer of 1995.
The legendary actor had unorthodox relationship with Jennifer, admitting there were “no strings” but also gushing about how she had “made all the difference” in his life.
She was convinced their romance was in a good place until March 1994 when a FedEx package turned up on her door and she discovered she had been unceremoniously dumped.
Stallone had been seeing Dickinson (Image: Sygma via Getty Images)
Completely out of the blue, Jennifer discovered that their five-and-a-half year relationship was over in a “sloppy” six-page handwritten letter.
“I cried a lot. I called all my friends. And I cleaned my apartment about five times. I had so many pictures and things to get rid of,” she told People Magazine in May 1994.
What left Jennifer most “disappointed” was the manner in which Stallone decided to drop the brutal bombshell.
“You can’t just write somebody off in a letter after six years. It’s not like I was going to try to beg him to come back to me or anything. I just wanted to talk.”
What the letter did not reveal was that Stallone had been having an affair with another woman – fellow model Janice Dickinson.
A few days later, Jennifer’s agent revealed that Stallone had been seeing Janice behind her back, something which she describes hitting her “like a ton of bricks”.
Stallone with Dickinson at a Versace evening (Image: Sygma via Getty Images)
Janice had given birth to her daughter, Savannah, in February 1994 and flew to Miami to introduce her to Stallone.
It was widely reported at the time that Sly was the father, and Savannah, now 26, was even given his surname when she was born.
Stallone and Dickinson got engaged for a short period, but they split up when a DNA test proved that he was actually not the biological father of her daughter.
Writing in her 2002 autobiography ‘No Lifeguard On Duty’, Dickinson admitted that she had slept with three men in the space of a week.
She believed that Stallone was the father, but conceded it could have been her then partner film producer Michael Birnbaum or an unnamed artist.
The pair were briefly engaged (Image: Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“Things hadn’t been going well with Michael for some time, and we split up later that week when I came clean about Stallone,” explained Janice.
“But Sly didn’t call, as I had expected him to, and a week later I discovered I was pregnant.
“I called Sly and went over to see him. We had supper and made love – he’d improved considerably since our brief debut. Then I told him I was pregnant.
“‘How do you know it’s not Michael Birnbaum’s?’ he asked.
“Well, I didn’t – in fact, it could even have been the artist’s – but in all honesty, deep down, I felt the child was Sly’s.”
Just six weeks after giving birth, Janice was back on the catwalk for Versace.
Janice Dickinson with her daughter Savannah in 2012 (Image: WireImage)
Stallone had been in the audience but when Janice walked down the runway she realised he had gone.
When she found the actor back at their hotel, Janice was stunned by his announcement.
Discussing the incident in her book, she wrote: “‘She’s not mine,’ he said. ‘I just heard from the DNA lab in Long Beach. Savannah’s not mine. Send my regards to Mr Birnbaum’ – and with that he stood up.
“‘We had a good run, Janice. Say nice things about me and I’ll say nice things about you.’
“And then he turned and walked out.”
It was confirmed that Birnbaum was actually Savannah’s father.
Stallone moved on and in October of that year he dated Andrea Wieser, a 22-year-old Austrian model.
When they split up, the Hollywood action hero then started seeing Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Angie Everhart after first setting eyes on her on a magazine cover.
They got engaged in April 1995 after a whirlwind romance, but never made it down the aisle and called things off.
Stallone got back with Flavin (Image: Reuters)
In the summer of that year, Stallone seemingly realised he had made a mistake and got back with Jennifer.
He was noted as becoming an “impeccable” partner to Jennifer – with the model giving birth to their first daughter, Sophia, in 1996.
They finally made things official in May 1997 when they exchanged vows in a glamorous London ceremony at the Dorchester Hotel.
They had their marriage blessed in a chapel at Blenheim Palace and spent their first night as husband and wife there before going to Ireland for their honeymoon.
In a statement released shortly afterwards, Stallone said: “I have had two great things happen to me in the past year: the birth of our beautiful daughter Sophia Rose, and now my marriage to Jennifer, who is a great mother and I know will be a wonderful wife.”
Sly with his wife and daughters (Image: AFP/Getty Images)
The couple went on to have two more daughters, Sistine and Scarlet, leaving Sly as the only man in a house full of women.
“Everything in the house is female. The toys, the housekeeper, all the dogs. The one dog I have that’s male is neutered. I’m next,” he joked in a Telegraph interview in 2010.
“But I’ve never had more fun. I learnt that from my wife. It took me 19 years to realise she’s always right. I realised that women have a knack, at least Jennifer, for making incredibly erudite, wise, smart decisions.
The couple are still happily married to this day, with Sly regularly gushing about his wife on social media.
In August this year, he posted a heartwarming message on Instagram to celebrate her birthday: “THE HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS TO MY TRUE LOVE, JENNIFER! The greatest wife and mother in the WORLD!!”
Posting more photos of the pair, he added: “I am so proud of My wife Jennifer, that I can’t stop celebrating her birthday! Your are the heart and soul of this family. I love you and we love you forever!!!”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
