When Bridgit Mendler finished her role on Disney Channel's flagship show Good Luck Channel, it looked like she'd follow in the footsteps of stars like Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus to become a pop sensation with singles like "Ready or Not" and "Hurricane". Yet despite a couple of ad-hoc TV appearances, Bridgit left the spotlight in the mid-2010s and people started wondering where she'd gone.
Now, Bridgit, 31, has given fans a rare update on X (formerly known as Twitter), after she initially teased a big life change in November 2023, when she wrote: "Friends! Staying on brand with a signature cryptic post from me because I see ur q’s, i’ll tell you this, news is coming (not imminently, give it a few) that I am thoroughly excited to share, though it will not be what you expect… better imo ;) love you".
© Danny FeldFans initially thought it might be new music.
Instead, Bridgit not only revealed a major career pivot as the CEO of a space tech business, but a huge life update as she introduced the world to her adopted four year old son.
So what has Bridgit been up to since her hiatus as a singer-songwriter and actress? Here's everything you need to know…
Adopting her son
The 31-year-old revealed to fans that she had become a mother in the past couple of years. Taking to X, Bridgit shared a photo from afar of herself and the little one exploring the beach at sunset.
She wrote: "The other news I wanted to share is I’m a mama to a sweet 4yo boy", continuing that she: "Started fostering in 2021 adopted near Christmas of 2022. I’m so lucky — being a parent is the biggest gift and most defining experience there is".
Bridgit joined one of the 214,421 Americans fostering children in 2021. However it's incredibly rare that foster parents go on to adopt their foster child.
Getting married
Bridgit has been married to aerospace engineer Griffin Cleverly since 2019. The couple tied the knot in an intimate beach ceremony, surrounded by friends and family.
© @bridgitmendler InstagramSharing photos of the event on Instagram, Bridgit and Griffin walked with their arms around each other across the sand dunes as the sun began to set. The former singer-songwriter opted for a lacy v neck dress with a long tulle skirt straight out of a fairytale for a quintessential Disney princess look.
Bridgit captioned the photo: "Still riding the high of the weekend", adding: "Thank you to everyone for the abundance of love that you showered on griff and I. We are so excited for this new chapter"
She told Extra that the wedding was "magical".
"There was a great sunset and there was actually even this dude who built a sandcastle behind us while we were getting married — in his board shorts, constructing this beautiful, amazing sandcastle", she revealed. "While we are doing our vows, I could just see him in my eye line."
Becoming a space CEO
In a major career pivot, Bridgit went from being one of Disney's flagship stars - with a budding career as a singer-songwriter - to a space CEO.
The 31-year-old revealed that she had co-founded Northwood with her husband Griffin, with the aim of mass-producing ground stations and antennas that connect to satellites, which should make them more accessible for space companies.
© Mindy BestBridgit, who spent time at the Federal Communications Commission's new Space Bureau, revealed that she "completely fell in love with space law" - which led to her joining Harvard's Space Law Society.
"The vision is a data highway between Earth and space," she told CNBC. "Space is getting easier along so many different dimensions but still the actual exercise of sending data to and from space is difficult. You have difficulty finding an access point for contacting your satellite."
Alongside her husband and business partner Shaurya Luthra, Bridgit raised $6.3 million in seed funding for the business.
She teased on X: "We have a lot of work ahead of us but that’s the fun part. If you like building quickly and seeing your work deployed in locations around the globe with real impact, we want you at Northwood."
University achievements
Bridgit attended the University of Southern California in 2013, studying anthropology.
"My plan right now is just to do one class at a time and see how that goes", she told USA Today. "I'm just going to study something that will be interesting and doable from the road and just take care of my general education courses for now. I want to know something outside of what I do."
© @bridgitmendlerIn her time at USC, she studied Medieval Visual Culture and medical anthropology, but most importantly she got a sense of what college life was really like after years as a child actress on Disney Channel.
After completing her degree in 2016, Bridgit decided to carry on pursuing education as she was announced as one of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab's Director's Fellows in 2017.
She also started a graduate program at MIT to focus on how social media could be improved.
"As an entertainer, for years I struggled with social media because I felt like there was a more loving and human way to connect with fans", she said at the time. According to Bridgit's LinkedIn, she is set to complete her Doctor of Philosophy from MIT this year.
As if it weren't enough to have a degree from USC, and a Masters and PhD from MIT, Bridgit also enrolled at Harvard Law School where she became Co-President of Harvard's Space Law Society while completing her JD.
Friendship with Selena Gomez and other Disney stars
After starring in Wizards of Waverly Place together, it looked like Bridgit and Selena Gomez were fast friends. Bridgit even revealed back in 2012 that the Only Murders In The Building star had given her tips for performing live.
© Bruce Birmelin"She told me one night that she has a treadmill down in this one part of her house, because she was gearing up to do her tour a while back", Bridgit explained. "She was talking about how she went through all the songs, sang them all on the treadmill. She's more professional than I am because I hate running."
While the two haven't been photographed together in a while, Bridgit still follows Selena on Instagram.
While she may not have reunited with the Wizards of Waverly Place cast in a while, Bridgit seems to have stayed in touch with her Good Luck Charlie colleagues Leigh-Allyn Baker, Bradley Steven Perry and Jason Dolley.
She was also photographed with Ashley Tisdale, who she co-starred alongside in Netflix show Merry Happy Whatever.
