How Lauren Sanchez's ex Patrick Whitesell proved he got the last laugh by marrying a stunning Australian actress after she cheated on him with Jeff Bezos - and don't expect them to be anywhere near the wedding!

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

Patrick Whitesell's ex Lauren Sanchez is set to marry billionaire Jeff Bezos this week, six years after their illicit affair ended her marriage to the Hollywood agent.
But while Patrick, 60, may have been cuckolded by his own friend, 61, and ex-wife, 55, it's the movie executive who got the last laugh.
While Lauren and Jeff prepare to tie the knot in Venice, Patrick will be relaxing with Pia – his new glamorous wife of four years who is a model-turned-actress.
Considered one of Australia's most beautiful women, Pia, 41, has called California home since the pair became engaged in 2020 and she moved into his $57million Bel Air mansion.
Meanwhile, Lauren, the soon-to-be Mrs Bezos, was propelled into mega-stardom when she cheated on Hollywood movie executive Patrick with the Amazon founder.
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It emerged that Jeff had been 'whisking then-married Lauren away on exotic trips' and embarking on 'secret rendezvous' – all while he kept up the façade as the perfect family man and husband to his then-wife of 25 years, Mackenzie Scott.
After bouncing back from his ex-wife's infidelity, Patrick, who has an estimated net worth of $450million, is now halfway to being a billionaire and revelling in his new marriage with his glamorous actress and model wife Pia.
She previously starred in Home & Away, but since moving to LA with Patrick, she has carved out a new low-key identity as an influencer with her own skincare brand.
The American businessman enjoys a private life away from the spotlight with Pia and their blended family.
He shares son Evan and daughter Ellie with Lauren, and Pia has two sons – Isaiah, 21, and Lennox, 18 – with the younger being from her previous relationship with AFL star Brad Miller.
And it seems they have all become one big happy family as Patrick and Pia recently proved how bonded they have become with each other's children.
Patrick and his son Evan were all smiles as they attended Lennox's graduation earlier this month, looking every inch the proud step-family as they posed with Pia and her sons for the milestone celebration.
Pia and Patrick married in a private ceremony in May 2021 in LA, after their engagement in November 2020, and enjoyed a luxury but low-key honeymoon in Mexico shortly after their union.
Patrick, the CEO of Hollywood talent agency WME, has clients including Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Michelle Williams, Idris Elba, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, John Krasinski, Jude Law, Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington.
He had only just separated from Lauren when he was introduced to Pia by mutual friends in 2019.
At the time, Pia was trying her luck in Hollywood after a successful stint on the Australian soap opera Home and Away.
Pat was also throwing himself into work to distract himself from the headlines about Lauren and Jeff.
By early 2020, the pair were photographed together for the first time on a sun-soaked holiday in Malibu.
Later that year, Patrick proposed with an enormous emerald-cut diamond ring, with Pia declaring herself 'the luckiest girl in the world'.
They didn't waste time getting married, making things official in a private ceremony held in May 2021, not long after Pia had packed up her life in Sydney to move across the world to live with Patrick, bringing her sons with her.
More than four years later, the Whitesells remain blissfully happy, with a source telling Daily Mail Australia in 2024: 'Pat's having the last laugh, 100 per cent.'
'He's living the f***ing dream with Pia and he knows it. I doubt he thinks about Lauren or Jeff or that whole debacle at all,' they added.
Sources close to both Lauren and Patrick say they are incredible co-parents who are raising amazing children together.
The same source said Pia and Lauren are also friends who get along very well.
Patrick was the one who introduced his first wife to the billionaire she would eventually have an affair with.
While it's unclear when exactly they started seeing each other, Lauren and Jeff's romance was first exposed by the National Enquirer in January 2019 when they were both still married.
Soon after the affair made headlines, the billionaire divorced his wife of more than 25 years and the mother of his four children, Mackenzie.
It turned out to be one of the most expensive divorces in history as Jeff handed over $38billion to ex-wife MacKenzie.
At the time, the bombshell report from the Enquirer claimed Lauren and Jeff had been involved in an eight-month affair, which included him sending her raunchy messages and erotic selfies, and having secret rendezvous at palatial private estates.
The outlet said it had tracked them 'across five states and 40,000 miles, tailing them in private jets, swanky limos, helicopter rides, romantic hikes, five-star hotel hideaways, intimate dinner dates and "quality time" in hidden love nests'.
After the Enquirer's accusations, Jeff fired back by writing a lengthy essay to the publication's CEO, David Pecker, in which the e-commerce mogul accused the company of blackmailing him.
'Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I've decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten,' he wrote.
'[After] intimate text messages from me were published in the National Enquirer, I engaged investigators to learn how those texts were obtained, and to determine the motives for the many unusual actions taken by the Enquirer.
'We were then approached with an offer. They said they had more of my text messages and photos that they would publish if we didn't stop our investigation.'
He shared alleged emails sent to him by Enquirer staffers, in which they described the racy images they had 'obtained during their newsgathering' in detail.
'If in my position I can't stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can?' Jeff continued.
'Of course I don't want personal photos published, but I also won't participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks, and corruption. I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out,' he added.
As for how Jeff and Lauren met, Lauren's husband Patrick was apparently the first to introduce the two at an Amazon Studios party for the movie Manchester by the Sea in 2016.
Her production team was then hired to film footage for Jeff's rocket company, Blue Origin, in 2018.
'Patrick and Lauren have socialised with Jeff Bezos and his wife for a few years, because both [former] couples have houses in Seattle,' a source told Page Six after their affair was brought to light.
'Then Lauren was hired to work on one of Jeff's projects, Blue Origin, a space-launch company. She has been shooting aerial shots for Jeff.'
After four years of lavish getaways, private jet rides, dinner dates at the most sought-after restaurants in the world, designer shopping trips, yacht rides, and invites to parties amongst the top stars, Jeff and Lauren became engaged in May 2023 and plan to wed later this month.
Jeff and Lauren are tying the knot this week in Venice, Italy, during what's expected to be a lavish, multi-day celebration.
It's safe to assume their wedding will be attended by a slew of Hollywood stars, business moguls, and political figures.
However, it's unlikely many - if any - of the couple's famous exes will be in attendance.
Before meeting Jeff, Lauren had a roller-coaster quest to find love, filled with a divorce, cheating scandals and three failed engagements.
Lauren has gone through a string of famous romances to finally find her one, and she was linked to a slew of star-studded names over the years, including an actor and famous athletes, in addition to Patrick.
Some of the relationships ended in explosive drama - like her romance with NFL star Anthony Miller, for example, who went on to accuse her of cheating in a shocking sit-down with DailyMail.com.
His claims were disputed by a source close to Lauren - but even so, it's safe to say he probably won't be at her and Jeff's wedding.
But Lauren has actually stayed close to some of her exes, like footballer Tony Gonzalez, who has jetted off on vacation with Lauren, Jeff, and his new partner on multiple occasions in recent years.
The Amazon founder, for his part, has had a much less tumultuous dating history, having been with MacKenzie for 25 years.
Jeff and MacKenzie met in 1992 when they were both working at the investment firm D.E. Shaw & Co. in New York City.
Things moved very quickly for the pair. They were engaged three months after their first date and married three months later.
After tying the knot in 1993, the couple quit their jobs and moved to Seattle, Washington, so Jeff could launch Amazon.
MacKenzie stood fiercely by his side as his online bookstore was transformed into a massive, multi-billion-dollar company.
Over the years, they welcomed three sons together and adopted a daughter from China.
But in early 2019, what seemed like a picture-perfect marriage was completely shattered when Jeff and Lauren's affair was brought to light.
MacKenzie went on to remarry a science teacher named Dan Jewett in March 2021; however, they split less than two years later in September 2022.
While Jeff has been vocal about his support for MacKenzie since their separation, it's unlikely she'll be spotted at the wedding of the woman who had an affair with her husband.
As for Patrick and Pia – time will tell if they show their face at the nuptials, but it would be more apt for them to enjoy the quiet life lounging in their multi-million-dollar home or sunbaking on a private yacht.