Donny Osmond opens up about his anxiety: How his wife helped him overcome “the dark years” of his career

“She was the hot babe cheerleader in town, and she dated my brother Jay [Osmond] before she dated me,” Donny Osmond said about their relationship in a Facebook post from 2016. “It took me 3 whole years to win her heart and convince her to marry me.”

Donny and Debbie finally began dating. He planned something special for her 17th birthday in 1976, including a ride in a limousine and a romantic dinner. The singer indeed wanted to impress his date.

“Debbie was playing hard to get, and I wanted to plan something really, really special for our first kiss,” Donny told the Utah Valley Magazine.

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When they had enjoyed their romantic dinner, Donny had planned a scavenger hunt for Debbie. Eventually, they ended up at Utah Lake – where they shared their first kiss.

“She came back to the limo and read that she could get her final clue from Donny if she gave him a kiss. And it was fireworks, let me tell you!” Donny Osmond recalled.

Donny Osmond’s father didn’t accept his son’s marriage

When Donny was 20 and Debbie 19, only three years after meeting each other for the first time, the couple tied the knot at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 8, 1978. But while Donny Osmond and Debbie – and many of their friends and family – were over the moon about their union, not everyone was happy about it.

Speaking with The Guardian in 2017, Donny Osmond revealed that his father, George, didn’t want his son even to have a relationship with a woman. According to him, it was hurting Donny’s career.

“While the world knew me as a teen idol, and the Osmonds’ fame was at its height, I began secretly dating Debbie Glenn,” Donny explained. “By the time I was 19, I knew I was in love and had to do something right for me. When I told my dad, he said, ‘Well, there goes your career, but this is ushering in your personal life.'”

“My dad was right about my career after I got married. But Debbie is an amazing person to be with. If I hadn’t married her, I’d have been a mess. Now, I had someone who understood me and with whom I could build a future together.”

Donny Osmond continued, “I learned a lot from my parents about loving your children, treating them with respect, and allowing them a voice. Our religion teaches that we are bonded together in eternity, so relationships are very respectful. We value kindness and forgiveness. Debbie and I are religious but not over-fanatical so we have a firm respect for deity, which holds true in our home. I based my parenting style on my dad at first, whom I grew very close to over the years. I think I lightened up as a dad as time went on.”

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Donny and Debbie welcomed their first child, son Donald Clark Osmond Jr., in 1979, just a year after getting married. Over the years, they had four more children: Don (born in 1979), Jeremy (1981), Brandon (1985), Christopher (1990), and Joshua (1998).

“She is the glue that holds us all together”

Having a superstar like their father could’ve affected Donny Osmond’s children in a negative way. However, he credited his lovely wife for giving their children a normal childhood.