While promoting his new HBO Max crime thriller No Sudden Move, seasoned actor Don Cheadle was invited to The Ellen Show, hosted by comedian Wanda Sykes, to discuss his life and career with fans. Dropping a bombshell on the daytime talk show, he revealed that he and fellow actress Bridgid Coulter secretly got married in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The couple had been together for 28 years before officially tying the knot.

Revealing that Cheadle, her friend in the industry, texted her in early 2021 about the news, Sykes joked on the show that she was surprised to hear about the marriage. “You texted me at the top of the year and you told me that you just got married,”

“And I was like, ‘Aw, damn. The pandemic done got to Don and Brigid.’ I was like, ‘What the hell happened, man?” she continued. “And I think I just texted something back like, ‘Hey, if you’re happy, I’m happy for you,'”

When Sykes admitted that she had no idea the long-term couple wasn’t married beforehand, Cheadle let her off the hook by

saying, “That’s understandable given that we’ve been together 28 years before we got married. I hold you blameless.”

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Also an actress, Coulter acted alongside her now-husband in 1997’s Rosewood, a historical film based on the true story behind the Florida town’s 1923 mass-lynchings and racially motivated attacks. She’s also been featured in Rizzoli & Isles and Family Matters.

The newlyweds share two daughters together, 26-year-old Ayana and 24-year-old Imani. 

In 2010, Cheadle, 56,  sat down with PEOPLE to discuss the importance of his family and relationship despite his high-profile life and career, saying “I am somebody who really does want to make sure my relationship stays together and that I am there for the important parts of my kids’ life.”

Congratulations to the happy couple on their new chapter.