Why Richard Gere is moving from Hollywood to Spain with his family

Originally appeared on E! Online

Richard Gere is saying adios to Hollywood.

Indeed, the “Runaway Bride” star shared his plans to move to Spain with his wife Alejandra Silva and their family, playfully telling Jimmy Fallon that their relocation is “world news.”

“My wife is Spanish and — is this a problem for anybody out there?” the actor joked on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” Nov. 20 as members of the audience gasped. “Of course I’ll be back!”

The 75-year-old continued, “My wife is Spanish and she gave me about seven years here, so we’re going to spend some years in Madrid.”

The couple, who wed in 2018, share sons Alexander, 5, and James, 4, as well as Homer, 24, whom Richard shares with ex-wife Carey Lowell, and Albert, 11, from Alejandra’s marriage to Govind Friedland. Despite the distance from their home in America, the “An Officer and a Gentleman” alum gave a good reason why the move should be a smooth transition for the family.

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“Our kids are bilingual,” he added, “so they’re gonna flourish there.”

Gere further teased his wife’s big plans for their new home as they’ll be closer to her family.

“My wife, she grew up in a very big Spanish family, like a big Italian family,” he shared. “Her grandmother was kind of the glue that held that altogether, and the grandmother passed away about a year and a half ago, two years ago. So my wife, I can see her morphing into the new grandmother of this extended family. She’s already planning for, you know, 35 people for Sunday lunches.”

Earlier this year, the “Pretty Woman” star shared insight into how he feels about the big move.

“For me, going to Madrid is going to be a great adventure,” he told Vanity Fair Spain in April, “because I have never lived full-time outside the United States. And I think it will be very interesting for my children as well. For Alejandra, it will be wonderful to be closer to her family, her lifelong friends and her culture.”

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