Scrubs star John C. McGinley tied the knot last weekend with yoga instructor/doula Nichole Kessler with the help of his son Max, 9. Max, who has Down syndrome, served as John’s best man and took his duties seriously. After he walked Nichole down the aisle, he rushed back inside their Malibu home. John says,
I barked out orders to make sure Max was okay. You don’t usually have the groom [yelling] at the altar, but I couldn’t concentrate unless I knew Max was squared away.
Max eventually reemerged with Haley, one of their two chocolate labs, and directed her to sit alongside their second one, Hudson, by his dad. Nichole says she loved the image of Max walking Haley down the aisle.
The sweetest thing was Max walking back with Haley, then sitting down, thinking, ‘Okay, now I’m done.’
Max, who introduced the couple at the beach, spent the rest of the ceremony watching a DVD of The Wiggles in the limo, but his presence was still felt among everyone. John broke down during his self-penned vows, in which he mentioned his son and soon-to-be wife.
I start talking about Nichole and Max in the same sentence and I’m gone. It was the most private thing I’ve ever done in public.
Says their friend Jan Barton,
I’ve never seen a man love his son more.
John plans to share that love with more children. Coming from a large family, as the second of five kids, John wants to outdo his parents and have seven, which is fine with Nichole. She says,
Bring it on!
Source: People, April 23 issue, pgs 93-94
