Josh Duhamel recounted how he met wife Audra Mari, revealing that he initially thought she was “too young” to be dating him due to their 21-year age gap.

The couple married in 2022 and welcomed their son Shepherd in January 2024.

Audra Mari and Josh Duhamel on Sept. 29, 2023.Credit : Ethan Miller/Getty

Josh Duhamel initially held back romantic interest in his wife Audra Mari due to a 20-year age gap between them — until they started getting to know each other.

Duhamel, 52, spoke to his relationship with Mari, 31, on the Wednesday, May 14 episode of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast while promoting his recent Netflix series Ransom Canyon. The pair, who share 1-year-old son Shepherd, began dating in 2019 and married in Fargo, N.D., in September 2022.

“She’s from Fargo, I’m from Minot, which is like four hours away. I’d followed her because she’d had some success in pageants and things like that so I always root for anybody who’s from North Dakota,” Duhamel explained of his and Mari’s homestate connection to podcast host Amanda Hirsch.

As Duhamel recalled, he and Mari first connected over the internet simply because they were both from North Dakota. “It was truly platonic for like years before that, because I was like ‘Nah, she’s too young, I’m not even going to go there,’ and then we started DMing back and forth,” the Transformers star said.

Josh Duhamel and Audra Mari on Sept. 21, 2022.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

“I invited her to a barbecue, still thinking it was totally platonic, just as a friend [from North Dakota], there aren’t too many people from there,” the actor added, after noting that he and Mari were further connected when one of Duhamel’s friends met her in Santa Monica and noticed they followed each other on social media. “But she did come and I was like, ‘Holy s—, this girl is beautiful — No, I can’t, she’s too young I can’t do it.’ But then she’s more mature than I am, and that’s really how we started dating and it’s been a beautiful thing.”

Duhamel and his ex-wife Fergie also share son Axl, 11; the couple was married from 2009 until 2019

Duhamel honored Mari with a glowing Instagram tribute to her on May 11 to celebrate Mother’s Day. “Audra, I am so lucky to have you in my life. Thank you for being such an incredible mother to our little dinkernugget, Shepherd,” he wrote in the caption, which accompanied a number of photos of Audra and the rest of his family. “And thank you for loving Axl like he is your own. We are all so grateful for you. We adore you. I love you babe. And HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all of you!!!”

Josh Duhamel and Audra Mari wearing Halloween costumes on Oct. 29, 2022.BACKGRID

Duhamel most recently appeared on the big screen in the 2024 movie London Calling in addition to his recent Netflix series Ransom Canyon. He told PEOPLE in April that Mari made a cameo in the series, but it was ultimately cut.

The actor will next appear on screen in the upcoming movies Off The Grid, which releases June 27, and Not Without Hope, which releases Sept. 11.