Before John McEnroe wed Patty Smyth in 1997, he was married to American actress Tatum O'Neal from 1986 to 1994.
The couple share three kids and their eldest Kevin McEnroe was born three months before they got married. On 1 August 1986, the tennis pro, then 27, and the Paper Moon actress, then 22, gathered close family and friends – including best man Peter Rennert – for a ceremony at St. Dominic’s Roman Catholic Church in Oyster Bay, Long Island, near John's parents.
© Ron GalellaPhotos show John dressed in a suit and a red bow tie and waving to crowds as he emerged from the church alongside his new wife. Tatum looked stunning in a feminine ivory gown, featuring a sheer lace neckline, a fitted waist and a tiered skirt with a lace underlay.
She accessorised with small heels, a pearl necklace, a bouquet of pastel pink and purple flowers and a gypsophila headband pulling her blonde curls away from her face.
© Getty ImagesThe former couple's traditional wedding was met with intense interest from the public, with a reported 500 people gathering outside the church to catch a glimpse of the famous bride and groom – a far cry from John's hopes to "fly under the radar."
He told The Guardian: "I remember thinking, 'I’m going to fly under the radar' with my ex-wife.
"Like, who the hell are you kidding? The level of attention exploded! There was way more than I’d ever gotten with any person or any thing. Oh my God! So then you dig in your heels."
This explains why he wanted a very private wedding with his second wife Patty.
John and Tatum's split
© UK PressJohn and Tatum first crossed paths at a Hollywood Hills party in 1984, with the Little Darlings star later admitting she thought he was "very good-looking" and describing their meeting as "love at first sight."
They got married two years later and welcomed two more children after their wedding – Sean was born in 1988 and Emily was born in 1991.
The pair split in 1992 and ended up in a custody battle over their three children, with John claiming his ex had a drug problem while Tatum suggested the tennis star had anger problems.
Their divorce was confirmed in 1994 and he was granted full custody in 1998 amid her heroin addiction.
"I don’t think I ever got to that falling-apart stage, but I was having a hard time functioning," he told The Guardian of their split.
"For that first six months, it was like, just get the kids in school, or make sure that I’m there for them. But at one point, someone told me, ‘They’re seeing you with tears and crying and that’s not good for your kids.’ So I had to get my shit together."
Recalling his parents' conflicts, Kevin told People: "We were brought up where they didn't talk much unless we spoke to them separately. We loved them equally and separately, and through their struggles, I think we developed very different relationships because of it.
"I can't say it was easier or harder than a divorce where people talked because I have no idea what that's like. At times it was not easy, but I'm sure every young person from a divorced family finds that at times, it's a difficult sort of bridge to cross, in terms of understanding how to deal with it."
John and Patty's private wedding
© GettyJohn found love again with the former 80s rock band Scandal star Patty Smyth, whom he secretly married in 1997.
The pair were so insistent about keeping their love life private that they got married in Hawaii at the same time as the Oscars in 1997 "so nobody would notice."
© GettyThey have never released any details or photos of their ceremony, but the singer later told People she considers their privacy the secret to their happy marriage.
"I just thought if I kept it on the down-low, I had this gut feeling that we would stay together - if I threw it out to the world, that we wouldn't - because I've seen that happen so many times."
