When COVID-19 hit in 2020, exes Julie Shore and Scott Gaede floated into the same pandemic social bubble.
“It was forced proximity,” Julie, 54, tells TODAY.com with a laugh. “Neither of us were looking forward to spending time together.”
Julie and Scott’s daughters Rachel, 24, and Caroline, 20, also had concerns about how the arrangement would play out. Both Rachel and Caroline recall feeling “relieved” when their parents split in 2014, after 17 years of marriage.
“There was so much tension and conflict in our house,” Rachel, an art director in New York City, says. “After they finally parted ways, we were were like, ‘This is the right move.’”
“The divorce was very contentious for me,” Julie says.
But Julie and Scott, who live in Cincinnati, Ohio, were determined to keep the peace during COVID-19 lockdown for the sake of their children — and their own sanity.
It was rocky at first, according to Rachel. Then in late 2020, she noticed her mom and dad were actually enjoying each other’s company.
"There was one time where mom was getting all blushy and schoolgirly," Caroline told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb during a Jan. 12 appearance with her family on TODAY. "Rachel was like, 'You have a crush on Dad and I know it!' and (our Mom) ran into the other room."
While chatting with TODAY.com, Rachel says her parents were oblivious to the fact that they had romantic feelings for each other.
“They were authentically having a good time together, and it wasn’t a show they were putting on for my sister and myself,” Rachel shares. “But I don’t think my parents noticed what was happening until late 2021.”
What happened next is reminiscent of the story line in the 1961 romantic comedy “Parent Trap” about identical twin sisters, who devised a plan to bring their divorced parents back together. Lindsay Lohan famously starred in the 1998 remake, which was directed by Nancy Meyers.
Julie confesses it took her a beat to realize that she was falling in love again.
"I knew I was laughing a lot more. No one makes me laugh as hard as Scott," she says. Julie's a-ha moment came after Scott experienced two devastating back-to-back losses. She recalls standing next to him at a funeral and being overcome with emotion.
“Everything from the past fell away and I realized that family was all that mattered and the four of us needed to be together again,” she reveals.
By the end of 2021, Scott and Julie were living happily under the same roof.
“It was around that time that the girls were like, ‘You need to propose,’” Scott says. Scott didn’t need to be convinced, and in 2022, he popped the question as Rachel and Caroline watched on with smiles plastered across their faces.
Scott and Julie tied the knot on Dec. 28, 2023. It was an intimate ceremony, but one that has been watched by millions after Rachel posted it on TikTok.
“WAR IS OVERRRRRR,” Rachel wrote on the on the video. “Our parents are officially REmarried and we are no longer children of divorce.”
“Successful parent trap,” she added.
“I’m so happy for you. If my parents remarried I would move out of the state,” one person commented.
Wrote another, “My parents have married & divorced each other 3 times. Currently divorced but living with each other in toxic bliss.”
Julie and Scott aren’t worried about whether or not they’ll make it the second time around. And neither are their daughters.
“Some people are saying, ‘All that drama between your parents was for nothing,’” Rachel tells TODAY.com. “But it wasn’t for nothing. They learned about forgiveness and resilience and growth."
Rachel and Caroline now wear rings crafted from the stones in their mother's original engagement ring. They received the jewelry on Christmas.
"It's a symbol of everything we've been through," Julie explains. "This wasn't just two people getting remarried — it was a family coming back together."
