You probably remember the ending of Eat Pray Love. Julia Roberts is on a boat in Bali, looking radiant, having finally found "the one." That man was José Nunes, the Brazilian importer the world came to know as Felipe. It felt like the ultimate literary mic-drop. She’d done the work, she’d eaten the pasta, she’d found the God, and now, she had the guy.
But life isn’t a 108-bead mala. It’s messy.
If you're looking for the current "Elizabeth Gilbert and husband" update, the answer is a bit complicated: She doesn't have one. In fact, she hasn't been married in years. Her journey through the institution of marriage has been a public, often painful, and radical deconstruction of what it means to be a "partner."
The "Felipe" Era: When Marriage Was a Sentence
When Elizabeth Gilbert and José Nunes first got together, they didn't actually want to get married. Both were "divorce survivors" who were perfectly happy just being companions. Then, the Department of Homeland Security stepped in.
Because of visa issues, Nunes was basically barred from the U.S. unless they tied the knot. Gilbert famously described them as being "sentenced to wed." This became the backbone of her follow-up book, Committed. They lived a seemingly quiet life in Frenchtown, New Jersey, running a massive Asian import warehouse called Two Buttons.
It lasted nearly a decade.
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Then, in 2016, the "perfect" Bali ending dissolved. Gilbert announced their separation on Facebook, stating the reasons were personal. But it didn't take long for the real "why" to surface.
The Rayya Elias Truth
The thing most people miss about Elizabeth Gilbert's love life is that the biggest catalyst wasn't a man. It was her best friend, Rayya Elias.
In 2016, Rayya was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic and liver cancer. Gilbert realized in that moment of "stark and utter realness" that she wasn't just Rayya's friend—she was in love with her. She left her marriage to Nunes to spend Rayya’s final months by her side.
They held a "ceremony of love" in 2017. It wasn't legally binding, but for Gilbert, it was the most significant commitment of her life.
The Darker Side of the Story
Lately, the narrative around Gilbert's partners has taken a much heavier turn. In 2025, she released a memoir titled All the Way to the River, which basically blew the lid off the "spiritual guru" persona.
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Honestly, it’s a tough read.
She details a harrowing period of co-dependency and drug relapse. While Rayya was dying, both women spiraled. Gilbert admitted to enabling Rayya’s return to heroin and cocaine, even helping her find veins and buying drugs from dealers.
Most shocking? Gilbert confessed to a period where she actually planned to kill Rayya—not out of mercy, but out of sheer, exhausted desperation. She called it a "premeditated and cold-blooded" murder plan that she eventually abandoned when she felt Rayya suspected her.
Where She Stands Today
After Rayya passed in 2018, Gilbert had a brief relationship with a photographer named Simon MacArthur, who had been a close friend of Rayya’s for decades. It felt like a "rebirth," but it was short-lived.
Since then, Gilbert has been increasingly vocal about her "sex and love addiction" recovery. She’s moved away from the idea that a husband—or any partner—is the final destination for a woman’s happiness.
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Quick Facts on Gilbert’s Marriages:
- Michael Cooper (1994–2002): The first husband. The "Coyote Ugly" years. The divorce that started the whole Eat Pray Love journey.
- José Nunes (2007–2016): The "Felipe" of Bali. The man she married for a visa and stayed with for nine years.
- Rayya Elias (2016–2018): Her "person." The relationship that redefined her understanding of love and addiction.
What you can take away from this:
If you’re following Gilbert’s life as a template for your own, it’s worth looking at her evolution. She’s gone from searching for "The One" to admitting that her search was often a form of escape.
If you're interested in the nuances of her journey, skip the movie and look into her recent work on recovery and boundaries. It’s less "Italian pasta" and more "brutal honesty," which might actually be more helpful for real-life relationships.
Keep an eye on her 12-step advocacy—it seems to be where her focus has shifted entirely as of early 2026.