Days after her 33rd birthday, Ian Somerhalder found a touching way to celebrate and honor his wife, Nikki Reed.
Somerhalder, 42, got candid in an Instagram post on Friday, revealing his gratitude for Reed after helping him get out of a “terrible business situation” years prior.
The former “Vampire Diaries” star shared a selfie of the couple on Instagram as Reed hugged his shoulder while Somerhalder held up a glass of bourbon from his company, Brother’s Bond Bourbon, which he co-founded with his former co-star Paul Wesley.
“This mama. This human. I owe you such gratitude for it all,” he wrote. “What many of you may not know is this woman is the reason I was actually able to build @brothersbondbourbon. I’ve never disclosed this publicly, but this woman worked selflessly for 2yrs to build me out of a terrible business situation I got myself into.”
Somerhalder explained that while shooting “The Vampire Diaries” and before the couple began dating, he started his own company and "invested heavily" while making "huge personal guarantees to banks."
“However due to greed and fraud within that company and fraudulent activities from our biggest customer, not to mention the temporary collapse of the oil and gas industry - I was left in an EIGHT- FIGURE hole," he said.
The actor described it as a “true nightmare” to live through each day, explaining that he traveled weekly to pay for "massive monthly six-figure bank notes." Over the course of two years, Somerhalder ended up in the hospital four times.
It was then that the “Twilight” star stepped in to help her husband get out of financial situation, writing, “This woman here decided that she didn’t want to see her husband ruin his body/mind/spirit and pulled up herbootstraps and got down in the trenches assembling a team to get to the negotiating table to find a way out.”
“She devoted her life to getting me out of that mess and it almost killed her along the way,” he continued. “I am where I am BECAUSE of this woman. Brothers Bond Bourbon is actually here today because of this woman. I was able to start my life over because of this woman.”
Somerhalder still described the experience as “eye opening and truly humbling,” citing Reed as the reason that their family was able to get through.
“It’s unreal. I owe her my health, my life and my sanity,” he said. “Brothers Bond for me, is the physical representation, the manifestation to build a company designed to do good in the world by bringing people together and investing in our collective future to stop climate change and change the mental and physical health of this nation and this world.”
Somerhalder ended his tribute to his wife on a sweet note, saying that he appreciated her “more than anyone I could ever imagine.”
“Happy 33 you incredible angel of a person,” he concluded the post. “The light you radiate into our household and this planet is beyond inspiring. You are a superwoman. You made it possible for me to live, build my dreams, and to start my life over. The world needs people like you. Love, Ian aka Baby Daddy ❤️”
Somerhalder and Reed tied the knot in 2015 and had welcomed their first child together, a daughter Bodhi Soleil Reed Somerhalder, just two years later in 2017.
Over the years, the couple has shown no shortage of appreciation for one another. In December 2017, Reed shared the secret to longevity in marriage within a sweet birthday message on Instagram for her husband on his 39th birthday.
Alongside a slideshow of adorable photos of the couple throughout the years, Reed shared a list of sentimental moments that they’ve been able to enjoy together and ended her caption with the key to enjoying a long marriage.
“I get it now. The secret to our long happy marriage is this: I need to be in bed by 930, and you need to start manifesting all your dreams at 10,” she wrote. “Done. As long as we always find each other for breakfast :) Happy birthday to the best partner and father in the world, 39 looks damn good on you. We love you❤️.”