This is one way to kick off the new year! Former Olympic figure skater and medalist Adam Rippon has announced in a new Instagram post that he wed fiancé Jussi-Pekka Kajaala on Dec. 31.
"SURPRISE WE ARE MARRIED," Rippon, 32, wrote in the caption (click through to see both photos). "One afternoon JP and I looked at each other and said the very classic *romantic* phrase of 'let's just go do it now'. So we did. It was just the three of us and it was perfect 12/31/21"
The third person mentioned is their shared 4-month-old pit bull mix, Tony, also seen in the pictures.
Kajaala, a Finnish real estate broker, also posted similar photos and a video of the pair (well, the trio, since Tony's in the back seat) riding in a car. He wrote in his caption, "We are married!! the video is from the actual wedding day on December 31st 2021. It was just the three of us and a simple ceremony. Exactly what we wanted. Tony has two happy dads."
"I think everybody knew that we were going to do it and I think nobody knew if we were going to give them a heads up or not," Rippon told People magazine. "And I guess we didn't even know if we were giving ourselves a heads up. Listen, we're unpredictable."
The whole thing was low-key and inexpensive, with the ceremony performed by a marriage officiant in Encino, California.
"We always wanted to do something simple and just the two of us," Rippon continued. Even the date of their wedding was unexpected — they simply asked when Maria, the California marriage officiant who united them, was next available and it turned out to be 1 p.m. on New Year's Eve.
They got hitched in the marriage service's office suite under an archway of fake plants and flowers. "It was like what you would get from the dollar store if you knew you had a wedding in five minutes," Rippon recalled, "but it was perfect."
The pair met in 2017 during a skating competition in Finland, via a dating app. While Rippon was in the country, they got to know each other and then kept in touch afterward. They kissed for the first time in Los Angeles in 2018 when Kajaala traveled to the U.S. to meet his love.
"Maybe everyone’s ideal first kiss isn’t at the LAX International short-term parking lot, but ours was," Rippon, who won a bronze medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, told TODAY. They weren't able to see each other during much of 2020 due to the pandemic, but made up for lost time by getting engaged in 2021.
As for marriage, the now-retired skater (who went on to win "Dancing with the Stars" in 2018) says he's looking forward to having celebratory parties in Finland and in the U.S. once the pandemic ebbs.
"I think that's a telltale sign of being in a good marriage is I'm glad I did it," Rippon shared with People. "That's my official quote: 'How do you feel?' I'm glad I did it."