Maureen McCormick opened up about the secret to her longtime marriage to husband Michael Cummings after celebrating their 40-year anniversary.
The Brady Bunch star, 69, said it was love at first sight when they met and admitted they put in ‘a lot of work’ for their ‘lifetime deal’ to thrive as it has so far.
McCormick and her husband revealed how they deal with their ‘differences’ while attending The John Ritter Foundation’s Evening from the Heart Gala in Los Angeles on Friday evening.
‘You’ve got to have a sense of humor about things,’ her husband told People. ‘You can’t take things too seriously. You got to let things go and just love the one you’re with. It’s a lifetime deal.’
The actress also stressed the importance of ‘celebrating the differences.’
This comes shortly after McCormick enjoyed a rare outing with her longtime partner last week and was seen kissing her male friend goodbye on the lips in front of her husband.
Maureen McCormick opened up about the secret to her longtime marriage to husband Michael Cummings after celebrating their 40-year anniversary
She rose to fame as a child star at just 13 years old as one of the original members of the Brady Bunch family; pictured in December 1971
The longtime couple revealed that they were steadfast and sure about each other ‘right away’ when they started dating in the 80s.
‘I didn’t know who she was, but I liked what I saw,’ Cummings admitted. McCormick said that it was ‘very refreshing for me’ that he was unaware at the time that she was a famous actress because he had ‘no pre-conceived ideas about who I was.’
‘It was really wonderful,’ the sitcom TV star added.
Cummings, who is a theater star and created The Scandinavian Theater Company, chimed in and said: ‘I saw those eyes and just fell in love.’
McCormick added: ‘Ever since I was little, I wanted to get married and find somebody. It’s just the craziest thing, but I looked at his eyes, we were in a concert, and I just felt like he was the one.’
The pair also shared that their priorities these days are ‘our daughter, our family, our friends.’
The couple added: ‘We love walking together. We love nature.’
And about their 40-year anniversary earlier this year, McCormick said: ‘Honestly, we haven’t stopped celebrating, because I think it’s taken a lot of work to be at this place in our relationship.’
She added, ‘It’s better than ever. We feel very grateful and thankful to have found each other.’
The Brady Bunch star, 69, said it was love at first sight when they met and admitted they put in ‘a lot of work’ for their ‘lifetime deal’ to thrive
McCormick and her husband revealed how they deal with their ‘differences’ after celebrating four decades together in March earlier this year; pictured March 2018 in New York City
The longtime couple revealed that they were steadfast and sure about each other ‘right away’ when they started dating in the 80s. They said they fell in love at first sight; pictured September 1998 in Beverly Hills
The couple, who share a 35-year-old daughter Natalie, now live a quiet life outside Los Angeles; pictured August 1997 in Los Angeles
She rose to fame as a child star at just 13 years old as one of the original members of the Brady Bunch family.
She charmed audiences as the pretty and popular Marcia Brady, older sister to siblings Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy — for five seasons before the show went off air in 1974.
She would go on to reprise her role in various Brady Bunch spinoffs after the show’s original run concluded as well as guest starring TV series and movies throughout the 70s and 80s.
But the series’ cancellation also saw her fall into crippling substance abuse which derailed her career and nearly ended her marriage to her husband.
The couple tied the knot in 1985, at the height of McCormick’s destructive cocaine addiction.
She charmed audiences as the pretty and popular Marcia Brady, older sister to siblings Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy — for five seasons before the show went off air in 1974; pictured at the top left of cast portrait in 1972
She charmed audiences as the pretty and popular Marcia Brady, older sister to siblings Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy — for five seasons before the show went off air in 1974. She would go on to reprise her role in various Brady Bunch spinoffs; pictured in 70s portrait
She admitted in her 2008 memoir that her turning point came when Cummings gave her a stark ultimatum to choose between getting sober or a divorce.
She spoke candidly about her life after The Brady Bunch in an eye-opening tell-all, titled, Here’s The Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice, in 2008.
The bestseller chronicled, among other things, her descent into addiction, trading sex for drugs, crippling depression, and a battle with bulimia.
She revealed her decision to get on the straight and narrow was prompted by Cummings — with whom she celebrated 40 years of marriage in March — after he warned her he would leave if she ever did drugs again.
The couple, who share a 35-year-old daughter Natalie, now live a quiet life outside Los Angeles.
For his part, Michael has also enjoyed a stellar career as a TV and movie actor, appearing on popular series including Criminal Minds, Fresh Off the Boat, Miracle on Ice, and Drop-Out Father alongside Dick Van Dyke, to name a few.
McCormick has had much smaller TV roles in recent years, including her 2016 appearance as a contestant in Dancing with the Stars.
