Don Johnson looks like a mid-size king standing next to his wife at a red carpet

Don Johnson, 76, and his wife, Kelley Phleger, 56,  have been married for 26 years and are the perfect example that women can be taller than their husbands. The actor and former kindergarten teacher are no strangers to the red carpet, and yesterday they attended the YES Scholars 25th Anniversary Gala in Los Angeles. 

The couple, who share three children, happily posed on the red carpet, which was actually blue, with Phleger rocking a tiny kitten heel, adding an inch or so to their height difference. Johnson looked shorter than he actually is. The Nash Bridges star is 5’11, which means Phleger is probably over 6 feet tall.

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She rocked a leopard-print cap-sleeve dress, holding a red Hermes purse, while Johnson rocked a black perfectly tailored suit. 

A love as strong as their height difference

The couple met at then-San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown’s birthday party in the mid-90s and began dating in 1997. “Don came up to me at Willie’s birthday party and said that the minute he laid eyes on Kelley, he knew he was going to marry her,” producer Jo Schuman Silver told  PEOPLE in 1999. Silver went on to introduce them, they started dating, and then got married in April 1999.

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Meeting Kelley was a turning point for Don. He’s been open about his past with partying, drugs, and alcohol, and how he shifted gears in his 30s. By the late 2000s, he sold off his cars and Colorado ranch and even secured a $19 million settlement for a share of Nash Bridges’ profits, a show he co-created with Hunter S. Thompson.

The couple built a big, blended family over the years. Don shares children with Kelley and his ex-wife, Melanie Griffith, including Dakota Johnson.

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His oldest, Jesse Wayne Johnson, 42, is from his relationship with Patti D’Arbanville, and then there’s 25-year-old Atherton, 23-year-old Jasper, and 19-year-old Deacon, all with Kelley.

Don also reportedly adopted Alexander Bauer, Griffith’s son with Steven Bauer. Stella Banderas, Melanie, and Antonio Banderas’ daughter, is part of the family circle too.