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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteStar Jones is married to Ricardo Lugo, a Chicago attorney. The couple married on March 25, 2018, aboard Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas during a Bahamas cruise, and a 2024 profile reports that they renewed their vows in 2023. Lugo is a private figure, so most of what is public comes from Jones’s own interviews and a few profile articles, and this guide separates those sources clearly.
Who is Ricardo Lugo?
Lugo is described in coverage as a Chicago attorney. In a 2022 interview with TV Insider, Jones summed up both of their careers this way: “He is a criminal defense lawyer who is an administrative judge now, and I’m a former prosecutor who is a television judge.” That is Jones’s own description from 2022, not a current employment record, so it should be read as a snapshot of that year rather than his present title.
A 2024 People profile, republished by Yahoo, adds more background. According to that profile, Lugo grew up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green and Humboldt Park neighborhoods, was one of 12 siblings, attended Benedictine University and the University of Wisconsin Law School, and has held several public-sector and legal jobs. These details come from the profile’s reporting and have not been checked against a primary institutional biography. No official biography, court listing, or employer page confirming his exact current position turned up in the coverage reviewed, so the article does not name an agency or formal title for him.
How the relationship developed
The couple’s public history is easiest to follow as a sequence. The table below uses the date of each report, which matters because some milestones were announced by the couple and others were reconstructed later by journalists.
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| When | What happened | Source type |
|---|---|---|
| July 2016 | Jones and Lugo appeared together at the Children’s Museum of the East End Family Affair in Bridgehampton, New York. Jones introduced Lugo and his son as her family and said they were together but not yet married. | Contemporaneous event coverage |
| October 2017 | At the Angel Ball, Jones confirmed their engagement to Us Weekly, saying: “He’s wonderful. I’m happy and that’s all anybody outside of my family needs to know.” | Contemporaneous interview |
| March 25, 2018 | The couple married during a Bahamas cruise aboard Anthem of the Seas. Us Weekly and E! News both reported the wedding, and E! said Jones’s representative confirmed it. | Contemporaneous wedding reporting |
| 2023 | The couple renewed their vows during a cruise stop in Santorini, Greece. | 2024 People profile, republished by Yahoo |
| May 2025 | Jones marked their seventh anniversary with a public tribute. | Dated social-media-era coverage |
The meeting story is the least certain part of the record. The 2024 People profile says the couple met through an online dating platform, spoke for about eight weeks, and then had their first date. That account appeared years after the wedding, and it is best treated as later-reported background rather than a detail from the couple’s early public comments.
The 2018 wedding
The ceremony took place on a cruise, which is the setting most often repeated in coverage of the marriage. Wedding reports from that period identify the ship and the Bahamas itinerary, but they do not offer a verified guest count or other details that would be meaningful beyond the event itself. The E! News report is significant mainly because it shows that the marriage was confirmed through Jones’s representative rather than only through leaks or social-media posts.
Lugo’s son, Jake
Lugo has a son named Jake from a previous relationship. Jones became Jake’s stepmother through her marriage to Lugo, and she has described him in warm terms since the couple’s early public appearances. In 2019, she told Us Weekly about Lugo: “He’s a wonderful man, he’s kind and gentle.” She also said of Jake that she considers him her son and is present in his life.
In her 2022 TV Insider interview, Jones explained the relationship with a line that has been widely quoted: “I didn’t give Jake the gift of life, but marrying Ricardo gave me the gift of Jake.” It is her description of the bond from her own perspective, and no comparable statement from Jake or from Lugo has been located.
Renewed vows and later anniversaries
The 2024 People profile reports that the couple renewed their vows in 2023 during a cruise stop in Santorini, Greece. The renewal is documented in that profile rather than in event-day coverage, so the date is best read as the profile’s account. Jones’s seventh-anniversary tribute in May 2025 is the most recent dated item confirming that the marriage was still public and ongoing. Coverage dated after May 2025 was not found, so the current status of the marriage should be checked against newer reporting if you need it.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is confirmed and what is not
- Confirmed by contemporaneous reporting: The engagement announcement in October 2017, the March 25, 2018 cruise wedding, and Jones’s description of Lugo as a criminal defense lawyer in 2022.
- Attributed to a later profile: The dating-platform origin story, the Cabrini-Green and Humboldt Park upbringing, his 12 siblings, his university and law school details, and the 2023 vow renewal in Santorini.
- Not independently verified: Lugo’s current professional title and employer, and any statement from Lugo himself about his career or family.
Lugo’s personal life is largely shaped by the choices he and his family have made about privacy, and this article does not extend beyond the public record to fill that gap.
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