By Mark Gray
8:00pm PDT, Sep 9, 2023
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Five years after her marriage to a man who was more than 35 years their senior, Courtney Stodden — who came out as nonbinary in 2021 and uses she/they pronouns — is "finally free."
The former teen bride turned 29 on Aug. 29 and is feeling "stronger" than ever, she shared on social media.
Due to Courtney's incredibly unorthodox marriage, she's been in the public eye for over a decade. Now, after years of reflecting on her still-young life, the "Celebrity Big Brother" alum is settling into the person they want to be.
Keep reading to see what else she's saying about life these days..
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In late August, Courtney Stodden took to Instagram to share a video of herself jumping on a couch and playing with her dog.
"Feeling free. 28, I needed you. You pushed me to become a stronger woman. Ringing in 29 with fierce independence in my own place, on my own — for the first time in my life," Courtney wrote in the caption. "I have so much gratitude in my soul and immense excitement for what's to come. I'm going to wrap up the decade of my twenties with boss moves only and additions that make ME happy."
They also shared a childhood photo along with the caption, "I will continue to make you proud, little Courtney. Happy birthday to my inner child." They concluded by adding hashtags for "29," "inner child," "healing" and "birthday."
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A few weeks before their 29th birthday, Courtney Stodden told their 310,000 Instagram followers that they'd celebrated a big moment in their life.
"Today is a milestone for me. For the first time ever, I move into my very own home," Courtney wrote on Instagram. "I'm stepping into my healing era. Solace and peace is what I am craving and thru my independence I shall find happiness. Thank you to my true friends — you know who you are."
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Courtney Stodden burst onto the pop culture scene in 2011 when she married "The Green Mile" actor Doug Hutchison in Las Vegas. At the time, Courtney was 16 and Doug was 51.
A few years later, the duo split. They later reconciled. Then, in 2018, they officially divorced. Courtney said their age gap played a role in their breakup.
The reality TV star told Fox News, "I am a really empathetic, sensitive person, and I always have been. But my experience has made me so strong. If it didn't happen, I feel like my whole outlook on life would be so different. Experiences that are traumatizing can either break us or we can utilize them to shape us into a stronger individual. And that's really one of the main reasons why I'm speaking out is because I want past victims and survivors to really tap into that part of themselves. We are so strong. It's just really made me very fearless."
Courtney went on to later tell Fox she was "groomed" by Doug.
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After Courtney Stodden's divorce from Doug Hutchison, she found love a second time — this time with entrepreneur Chris Sheng. The duo got engaged in May 2021.
"We have both grown so much since we first met, and the fact that we have both been able to grow into better, stronger, more secure individuals while still being in a relationship together makes me have faith that this partnership will last a lifetime," Chris wrote on Instagram at the time. "For the first time we're both experiencing unconditional love."
In the summer of 2023, however, the news broke that Courtney and Chris had split and called off their engagement.
