Who Is Jesse McCartney's Wife? All About Katie Peterson

Mar. 15, 2025

Jesse McCartney and Katie Peterson attend the 2018 Billboard Music Awards on May 20, 2018 in Las Vegas.Photo:Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Jesse McCartneyfound a beautiful soul in his wife, Katie Peterson.

TheAll My Childrenactor met his now-wife at a bar in 2012. A few days after Jesse “left [his] number on a napkin” for Katie while she was bartending, they had theirfirst dateat CUT in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The “Beautiful Soul” singer eventually proposed to Katie in 2019 at the scene of their first date. They went on to get married in Carmel in 2021.

“For somebody who’s so busy and always on the go, he just has this generous way of prioritizing me,” Katie told PEOPLE ahead of their wedding. “We just make each other laugh. I feel the most comfortable being myself when I’m with him, which I think is really the true tell of when you found your person.”

In February 2025, the couple announced that they arecurrently expecting their first child.

So who is Jesse McCartney’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Katie Peterson and her relationship with the actor and artist.

She is an actor

Jesse McCartney and Katie Peterson attend the 56th GRAMMY Awards on January 26, 2014 in Los Angeles.Steve Granitz/WireImage

Steve Granitz/WireImage

Like her husband, Katie is also an actor, having been featured in several television shows and movies.

She’s best known for her starring roles inStep Up RevolutionandGirls Gone Dead,though she’s also made appearances in projects includingVictorious,The GladesandGraceland.

She graduated from college in 2010

Katieattended the University of Mississippiand graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. Though she graduated more than a decade ago, Katie still shows her off school spirit on Instagram.

They met at a bar

Jesse McCartney and Katie Peterson.Jesse McCartney Instagram

Jesse McCartney Instagram

The married couple first crossed paths when Katie was working at a bar where Jesse was celebrating his best friend’s birthday. While Jesse tried to “sweet talk” Katie on the night of their meeting, it wasn’t until a few days later when they would have their first official date.

“I found her incredibly attractive and was just trying to charm her, but she wasn’t having it,” Jesse told PEOPLE. “I eventually left my number on a napkin and she said, ‘You didn’t write your name down on it!’ And I was like, ‘Oh, of course, she probably got a million of these tonight.’ I had to write my name down on the napkin and then eventually the rest is history.”

After their first date at the Cut steakhouse in Beverly Hills — the same location where he would eventually propose to her — Jesse was sure that Katie was the one for him.

“It started with just her sense of humor and our compatibility,” he said. “I knew that we just had this effortless way about each other, and everything that we did just seemed like it was so easy … We just have a good flow. She knows when to push, she knows when to pull, and vice-versa.”

Jesse proposed to Katie in 2019

After visiting the Cut steakhouse in Beverly Hills for their first date, Jesse brought Katie back to the infamous location for theirproposal. After dating for roughly seven years, Jesse popped the question in an intimate moment when the couple was out to dinner with friends.

“The couple was with a group of friends as McCartney got down on one knee,” a source told PEOPLE at the time. “The whole restaurant fell silent as he asked her to marry him and went into a loud applause and cheered when she said yes!”

“SE🖤EN YEARS, and also forever,” Katie captioned her post.

They created an online video series during the pandemic

Katie Peterson and Jesse McCartney on the all-new unscripted series ‘CELEBRITY WATCH PARTY’.FOX/Getty

FOX/Getty

“We figured while we are going to be in such close quarters together, we might as well make light of it and try to give people a good laugh,” Jesse exclusively told PEOPLE. “We really enjoy being creative, so this was the perfect opportunity to do that organically.”

They got married in 2021

Jesse and Katie tied the knot on Oct. 23, 2021, in a rustic ceremony held at theSanta Lucia Preservein Carmel, California. The couple chose their venue as they had previously visited Carmel to celebrate Katie’s birthday and fell in love with thescenery.

“It’s breathtaking. It’s extremely whimsical and like a fairytale, truly,” Katie said. “You’re in the middle of the redwoods and these trees are like 800 years old and they’re massive. It’s a very special place.”

Ahead of their wedding, Jesse expressed his excitement and anticipation for the big day.

“I cry watching a Subaru commercial. That kind of sums it up for you,” Jesse told PEOPLE at the time. “So I don’t know how I’m going to get through this … I get dewy, as they say.”

Their ceremony was extra special for the couple as their dog Bailey served as the flower girl.

“She’s a very curious dog. I’m hoping she makes it down the aisle without stopping to, god forbid, pee [somewhere],” Jesse joked ahead of the ceremony.

At their reception, Jesse and Katie danced toTaylor Swift’s “Lover” as their first dance. Though that wasn’t where the romanticism stopped, as Jesse later sang his own track “Party for Two” for his wife.

Jesse wrote “Party for Two” about Katie

Ahead of their wedding, Jesse released a new song entitled “Party for Two,” which he wrote about Katie.

“It talks about the things that are special to us and the things that we do just the two of us,” he told PEOPLE of the song’s lyrics. Notably, Jesse sang the song for Katie on the night of their 2019 engagementandtheir 2021 wedding.

“I did want to have a love letter for her when the time came, so this was it,” he added.

She was in one of his music videos

In 2020, Jesse released his song “Friends,” equipped with an animated music video. The video showcased several visuals of Jessereuniting with hisGreekcostarsScott Michael Foster, Jacob Zachar and Paul James, in addition to his wife Katie and dog Bailey.

Jesse toldHollywood Lifethat the track was written ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, though the video served as an innovative way for Jesse to align his friendships with the meaning of the song.

“I just wanted to write a song that was romantic about friendship,” he explained. “It was just kind of a new idea of talking about how great it is to have friends in your life. And then when I took on this whole new meaning with the pandemic, it then became nostalgic for people like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I can’t see my friends again.' ”

Jesse McCartney and Katie Peterson in 2025.Anna Sokol

Anna Sokol

Katie and Jesse’s family is growing! The couple will welcome their first child together in August 2025.

“Our lil Valentine arriving 8/8,” the soon-to-be parents wrote onInstagramin February 2025 alongside a sonogram photo.

source: people.com