Idris Elba and Wife Sabrina Share Heartfelt Messages For Their 4-Year Wedding Anniversary

Updated on 4/27/2023 at 3:10 PM

Idris Elba may be one of the internet's several husbands, but he's very much off the market. The "Luther: The Fallen Sun" star is married to model, activist, and beauty mogul Sabrina Dhowre Elba, having tied the knot in 2019. The couple recently celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary with heartfelt social media posts dedicated to each other.

On April 26, Elba shared a romantic photo of himself kissing his wife on the cheek as they enjoyed a private dinner on the beach. The table was covered with rose petals, and lanterns led the way to their table. "Happy Anniversary… You You," he captioned the post. His wife wasn't about to let the special day pass either. Dhowre Elba posted an Instagram video of them walking at dusk on the beach and running away from the waves. "Happy 4th anniversary baby, thank you for always helping me try to conquer my fears," she wrote as the caption.

Elba has been married twice before and has three children. The actor has an older son who prefers to remain out of the spotlight, and in 2002, he welcomed a daughter named Isan with ex-wife Hanne "Kim" Nørgaard, from whom he split in 2003. Elba then married American lawyer Sonya Nicole Hamlin in 2006, but the pair separated four months later. In 2014, he became a father to son Winston with former girlfriend Naiyana Garth, before meeting Dhowre Elba at a jazz bar in 2017.

Elba told Vogue in 2019 that it was love at first sight for both of them. "We've been literally inseparable since we met. Inseparable," he told the publication.

If you're melting over the beauty of the pair's romance, read on to learn more about Elba's wife.

Who Is Idris Elba’s Wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba?

Dhowre Elba was born on July 16, 1989. The Somali Canadian model, actor, and philanthropist who grew up in Vancouver competing in beauty pageants. She was crowned Miss Vancouver in 2014.

Dhowre Elba is an IMG model who's appeared on the pages of British Vogue, Elle, InStyle, and more. She's also an actor who appeared in "Three Thousand Years of Longing" alongside Elba and Tilda Swinton, according to her IMDb profile. Dhowre Elba is also a media personality, as she's hosted an Audible podcast with her husband called "Coupledom," where the pair sit down with the world's most interesting couples and partners to discuss "the complexities of living a shared life." The second season of "Coupledom" is currently available on Audible and features notable guests like Rita Ora and Seth Rogen.

Outside of her modeling work, Dhowre Elba and her actor husband are cofounders of S'ABLE Labs, a skin-care company that offers a handful of natural, clean products like cleansers, toners, and moisturizers. Additionally, Dhowre Elba is a UN Goodwill Ambassador and works to advocate for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which addresses food scarcity and poverty in rural areas.

How Did Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre Elba Meet?

The two met in a jazz bar in 2017 while Elba was working on "The Mountain Between Us" in Vancouver and it seemed to be a case of art imitating life. The film, which is about a man and woman who fall for each other while stranded from a plane crash, paralleled his personal life as Elba told People in 2017, "Falling in love while making a movie about falling in love is pretty special."

Dhowre Elba was in the bar celebrating a friend's birthday and even admitted on the Just the Sip podcast that she actually started chatting as a wingwoman for her friend, but they ended up having "the best conversation. We talked all night, all the next day." Since that moment, the couple have been more loved-up than ever.

When Did Idris Elba and Sabrina Dhowre Elba Get Married?

Elba's proposal was the stuff of legends. It was a spontaneous proposal at the Rio Cinema in London during a private screening for his film, "Yardie", just a few days before Valentine's Day in 2018. Speaking on the Ellen DeGeneres show, Elba said: "It was like two days before Valentine's and I had this ring in my pocket, it was burning a hole. And then Valentine's came and she had to fly somewhere, so there was a likelihood I wasn't going to see her on Valentine's Day. So I made this movie, and Sab was on the set every day. She knew the whole crew. So at the screening, it was a private screening for the cast and crew, and I just dropped to one knee. It was very nerve-wracking."

In April 2019, the couple got married in Morocco with a three-day celebration. Dhowre Elba wore a bespoke Vera Wang gown with tulle train, and the wedding ended with an all-white party for the guests.

Sabrina Dhowre Elba's Quotes About Idris Elba

When it comes to her relationship with her husband, Dhowre Elba has no problem being open about what makes their special bond work. On working together on their various projects, she told People in a May 2022 interview, "It's not 100% easy to work with someone you're in a relationship with. But I feel like we've definitely sort of found our way. Now we get to sort of build dreams together and see what that looks like."