Photo: Stephane Cardinale/getty

VENICE, ITALY - AUGUST 31: Don Cheadle and Bridgid Coulter attend the “White Noise” and opening ceremony red carpet at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2022 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

Don Cheadle’s wedding to his longtime partner, interior designer Bridgid Coulter Cheadle, was an extremely intimate affair.

In the new issue of PEOPLE, the 58-year-old star of the Netflix movieWhite Noiseshares some details about the “small” celebration, which took place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was just me and her and our kids and our dogs and the pastor in the backyard,” says Cheadle, who shares children Tai, 28, and Imani, 26, with Bridgid, 54.

The best part of being married? “The tax break,” Cheadle jokes. “Our accountant proposedto us, really. It’s like, ‘You guyshaveto do this. Please do this.'” Despite his quips, Cheadle adds, “I’m fortunate to be in this relationship.”

The Oscar- and Emmy-nominated actor first revealed his marital status during a June 2021 appearance onThe Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Guest hostWanda Sykesprompted the conversation when she said she owed the actor an apology. “You texted me at the top of the year, I guess, and you told me that you just got married,” the comedian said. “And I was like, ‘Oh damn, the pandemic got to Don and Bridgid.'”

“I was like, ‘What the hell happened, man?'” she continued, before noting that her response to Cheadle was less than enthusiastic. “I think I just text something back, like, ‘Hey, if you’re happy, I’m happy for you.’ … I was like, ‘Cheadle went Hollywood.'”

Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

don cheadle

After Sykes explained to Cheadle that she wasn’t aware that he and Coulter weren’t already married, theBlack Mondaystar said that he could understand why she came to that conclusion. “Yeah, I mean, that’s understandable given that we’ve been together 28 years before we got married,” Cheadle said. “I hold you blameless.”

“I’m very fortunate to be close with my ‘adult-ren’—I don’t even call him kids anymore,” he says. “They’re very grounded and un-Hollywood, and I’m glad about that.”

White Noisestreams on Netflix Dec. 30.

For more on Don Cheadle, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.

source: people.com