Melissa Joan Hart got ‘lucky in Kentucky,’ says husband was love at first sight

Sometimes, you just get lucky.

That was the case for actress Melissa Joan Hart and her former rocker husband, Mark Wilkerson, who crossed paths in Kentucky in 2002. In May, she posted a photo of Wilkerson to Instagram from that fateful evening, adding a teaser hashtag to the end of her post. 

"22 years ago right now.... I saw this tall guy with a shaved [head] across a stage and after a shot of vodka (don't ask) and this photo was taken, I knew he was my forever! #KentuckyDerby #GettinLuckyinKentucky." 

Married for 21 years — a rarity among Hollywood couples — Hart is spilling details about their chance encounter and whirlwind romance.

MELISSA JOAN HART TURNED DOWN ACTING JOBS TO STAY WITH KIDS BUT STILL EXPERIENCES 'MOM GUILT'

Melissa Joan Hart and husband Mark Wilkerson attend a Grammy Awards viewing party in February 2024. The couple, who met in 2002, have been married 21 years. (Araya Doheny/Getty Images for Janie's Fund)

"We were in Kentucky at the Derby. I was with a friend. He was with his band. He was performing. And we were at a gala the night before. It was called the ‘Mint Jubilee,'" she told Fox News Digital of the day they met.  "It was just a big party."

She added that she'd been asked to introduce one of the bands performing. Wilkerson was the lead singer and guitarist for the now defunct band, Course of Nature.

"I went up there, and I met the band. And I saw this really handsome guy. And I went to my publicist who happened to be in the room and said, ‘I need to meet him.’ And she goes, 'Oh, we're already on it.'" 

A 2004 photo of Melissa Joan Hart and her rocker husband Mark Wilkerson. The two met at the Kentucky Derby. (Mike Guastella/WireImage/Getty Images)

"I went up there, and I met the band. And I saw this really handsome guy. And I went to my publicist who happened to be in the room and said, ‘I need to meet him.’ And she goes, 'Oh, we're already on it.'" 

— Melissa Joan Hart

After the concert, Hart said Wilkerson detoured from his usual exit out the back, appearing in the front, something she later learned was abnormal for him. 

"He came out front after, which he would normally — now I know — he would have normally gone back, gotten on his bus and, you know, gone back to the hotel for the night and performed the next day [in] the next city. But he stuck around," she recalled. 

"He walked past my table three times, and I had to stop him," she said with a laugh. "We chatted for a few minutes, took a picture together. And then I went back to his bus, met his mother, said goodbye. He drove off."

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But Hart knew what her heart wanted.

"Three days later, I called his tour manager," the Sayville, New York, native said, admitting she and Wilkerson "talked endlessly for two weeks" trying to coordinate the next time they could be together. "We met up in New York. He saw where I lived and grew up."

"Then we went down to Alabama, saw where he lived and grew up. He performed in, I think, Tampa. We flew to San Francisco. His tour bus drove me down to LA, dropped me off after a show at The Palladium, and, like, a week later, I was miserable without him. And I jumped on a plane and went to spend the rest of my summer with him.

"And seven months later, we were engaged."

The actress said she was on hiatus from her hit series, "Sabrina The Teenage Witch," at the time. "We were going into season 7 that fall, so I had that summer," she explained. "I feel like it's the one summer I didn't do a movie, and I ran off with Mark. And went on a tour bus."

"Sabrina the Teenage Witch" ran for seven seasons. (Randy Holmes/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

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Decades later, the 48-year-old recognizes how special her story is. 

"I would say it was love at first [sight]. I mean, I literally even told someone the next day I met the man I'm going to marry," she told Fox News Digital.

Although their fast-tracked romance seems akin to a storybook tale, Hart said she and Wilkerson have experienced some bumps along the way. 

"I think with every couple, as you get into new stages with your kids, you find new problems that you would solve differently than the other person would," she explained.

The couple have three boys — Mason, 18, Brayden, 16, and Tucker, 12.

Melissa Joan Hart and husband Mark Wilkerson have seen their relationship evolve through parenting their three kids. (Melissa Joan Hart Instagram)

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"I do think that Mark and I have — we've really had to come to a place of understanding: Do you want to be right or do you want to be in [a] relationship?"

"We really are a team," she added. "That's not always been the case, but we've worked really hard the last few years to be on the same team and to let the kids understand, 'You can't go to dad with something when I say no, and vice versa, because we're on the same team.' And it's no longer like, 'I don't know, go ask your dad.' Now it's, 'I'm going to check with your dad, and we'll get back to you.'"

Hart said she and Wilkerson, who settled their family in Nashville, have had to navigate the same obstacles any family might have with their children, including manipulation. 

"You know, with teenagers, it can be so tricky to walk that line. And so we've just come up with some great ways, and we understand now how they try to put us against each other. And, you know, they try to get away with what they're going to get away with, and we just stay united as a team." 

"We've really had to come to a place of understanding: Do you want to be right or do you want to be in [a] relationship?"

— Melissa Joan Hart on her relationship with husband Mark Wilkerson

Melissa Joan Hart and her son Brayden made hygiene kits with World Vision. (World Vision)

Hart is also a part of another team. She's an ambassador for the humanitarian aid organization World Vision. Before she headed out to West Virginia earlier this fall to film, Hart used her time at home to give back alongside her son and his football team.

"The wonderful thing about working with World Vision is they're always prepared," she explained to Fox News Digital shortly after hurricanes struck southern parts of the nation and other countries. "I think a lot of people think of World Vision as more of an international Christian humanitarian organization, which they are. But what's wonderful, too, is that they work domestically as well. So, here in the U.S., when we need them, they're there.

"Since I have a partnership with World Vision, I asked them if there was some way we could involve the football team, and they told me about their hygiene kit program. So, we were able to pack 400 hygiene kits that day. We spent about an hour or two with the boys. Most of the football team was there that day. They walked through the line, they did the assembly of the kits and it was awesome. And, at the time, we weren't sure where they were going. … They happened to be in the correct place and time for the Hurricane Milton relief."

Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer and LinkedIn. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..