After The Blind Side star Quinton Aaron suffered a stroke, he learned that his wife Margarita DeLeon was still legally married to her ex-husband.
In an interview with ABC News on Monday, Aaron explained that after he woke up from a four-day coma in February, his family told him the truth about DeLeon, who had maintained throughout their relationship that they had been divorced for more than 10 years.
“She even told the person we were getting married to, ‘Yes, we have all the paperwork. We’ll email you the divorce decree,'” said Aaron, who “married” DeLeon in a Los Angeles chapel in 2024.
The 41-year-old actor said that while in the hospital, her lawyer found evidence that DeLeon was still legally married to the man she married in 1992.
Aaron’s family subsequently removed DeLeon from the authority to make legal medical decisions on his behalf.
Aaron later admitted that not fact-checking DeLeon’s divorce himself was his “biggest mistake.”
During the interview, DeLeon defended herself, telling ABC News that she had no knowledge that the divorce had not been finalized.
“When I told Quinton this back in the hospital bed, and I want to be honest about this, I felt like I needed to say this in the hospital and get it out there. I said to him, ‘Bibi, this information that your family has gathered on me, you know, I didn’t know.’ I said, ‘Here’s what I found out.’ That’s true,” DeLeon recalled.
DeLeon’s ex-husband, who also remains anonymous, similarly told ABC News that he thought the filing was formalized years ago.
He filed for divorce in February, the outlet confirmed.
Following his bombshell about relationships, Aaron told the outlet that he plans to approach relationships differently from now on.
“If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would have done my due diligence. I definitely would have done a lot more research,” he said.
Aaron, best known for his role as former NFL player Michael Oher in the Oscar-winning 2009 film starring Sandra Bullock, suffered a spinal stroke earlier this year that left him in a coma and on life support.
On January 26, it was initially reported that Aaron collapsed at his home in Atlanta and was taken to a hospital.
A GoFundMe page set up for Aaron said he was “fighting for his life” and described the incident as “sudden, scary and overwhelming” for his loved ones.
Aaron told ABC News he is currently undergoing intensive rehabilitation and managing his diabetes, which contributed to his stroke.
He also admitted that his ability to walk has not yet returned.
“Doctors predicted it could take months, it could take a year, it could take up to a year,” he said. “And I said, ‘I’m not going to insist on that deadline. I’m going to walk a lot faster than you think.'”
Aaron added, “You know, that’s the way I believe. That’s the way between me and my faith and my relationship with God.”
It’s unclear if Aaron and DeLeon are still together.
