Is Jean Shrimpton still married to Michael Cox? Iconic supermodel’s life after retirement explored as she trends amid Terence Stamp’s death

Veteran English supermodel and actress Jean Shrimpton is trending on social media platforms, including X, after her former boyfriend and iconic British actor Terence Stamp passed away on August 17, 2025, aged 87.

Shrimpton, 82, famously dated Stamp for three years in the 1960s. The two were one of the most photographed couples of the time, often called the Swinging Sixties or Mod London. According to The Telegraph, she broke up with Stamp after he reportedly took a portion of her salary for her promotional work.

She later married photographer Michael Cox at the register office in Penzance, Cornwall, in 1979 when she was four months pregnant. They have remained together ever since and are parents to a son named Thaddeus.

Jean Shrimpton has also previously dated English fashion photographer and director David Bailey between 1960 and 1964.

All you need to know about Jean Shrimpton’s career and life after retirement

Often regarded as one of the world’s first supermodels, Jean Shrimpton was nicknamed ‘The Shrimp’ since the beginning of her career through the 1960s and early 1970s.

Upon the advice of American filmmaker Cy Endfield, Shrimpton joined a modelling course at the Lucie Clayton Charm Academy in the UK. In 1960, when she was 17, she began modelling and soon rose to fame while working with David Bailey.

Since then, she appeared on the magazine covers, photoshoots, advertisements, and more for big brands including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Elle, Ladies’ Home Journal, Condé Nast, Newsweek, and TIME Magazine.

In 1965, she wore a Colin Rolfe-made white shift minidress to the Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, which made headlines and is now deemed a turning point in women’s fashion. In 1967, Jean acted in the film Privilege alongside Paul Jones.

Later, when she was in her early 30s, Jean Shrimpton retired as a supermodel. One of her last well-known photoshoots was with photographer Clive Arrowsmith for British Vogue in 1971.

Since then, Shrimpton has been a hotelier, innkeeper, book collector, and antique dealer/ shop owner in Marazion. She and her husband, Michael Cox, have owned the Abbey Hotel in Penzance since 1979. Their son, Thaddeus, has managed it since 2011.

During an April 2011 interview with The Guardian, she noted that “Fashion is full of dark, troubled people” and its “high-pressure environment” takes a toll and burns people out.

“It's hypocritical to pretend that fashion is normal, that people in it are role models,” she said at the time.

The former supermodel, who was the inspiration behind the 1986 song Behind the Wall of Sleep by The Smithereens, further told the outlet that she was a “recluse” and didn’t live her life through “the prism of the past.”

When asked about the 2012 BBC Four film We’ll Take Manhattan, which was based on her love story with David Bailey, Jean Shrimpton added she “vaguely” knew about it and wasn’t “bothered” who played her (Karen Gillian did). She added not looking back at her life and having "no interest" in the past.

Around the time, the Shrimp briefly appeared in Channel 4’s Country House Rescue. Over the years, she has also penned two books: My Own Story: The Truth About Modelling in 1965 and Jean Shrimpton: My Autobiography in 1990.

"I needed some money to renovate the roof of the hotel. I didn't want the book to appear. I've hated publicity all my life. I didn't even like it when I was a model… I never liked being photographed. I just happened to be good at it," she explained about her memoir.

About working with American photographer Richard Avedon for the US Vogue, she mentioned being good and natural at her job, adding that all “best models” had the skill to “turn on and off again” until the photographer was “happy.” According to Jean, it was an "automatic reflex."

Jean Shrimpton also recalled her rural upbringing, happy childhood, living for animals, and being a “reserved” person all her life. She remembered David Bailey as a “larger-than-life character” who “made a lot of money out of me.”

"I'm not bitter. But I'm irked. That's all. Bailey was very important to me. I'm sure today's models are a lot more switched-on than we were. Image rights didn't exist back then. What happened – the creation of the fashion industry – just happened," she stated.

About being in a relationship with Terence Stamp, Jean Shrimpton noted that they first met during a Vogue photoshoot, followed by a wedding. She recalled finding Stamp “good-looking” yet “ill at ease, self-conscious and standoffish.”

"Terry has said that I was the love of his life, but he had a very strange way of showing it. We lived together in a flat in Mayfair, but he never gave me a set of keys,” Jean mentioned.

She continued that one day when she walked into Terence’s room, he “simply turned his back on me, swivelling his chair to stare silently out of the window.” She shared it was "typical" of him to behave in a "peculiar" way, noting that his "otherness was a challenge."

The ex-supermodel and mother of one mentioned that they were “two pretty people wandering around thinking we were important” and visited the best restaurants in London and other cities for dinner, “just so that we could be seen.”

“It was boring. I felt like a bit part in a movie about Terence Stamp,” she went on, adding that both Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson approached her, but she declined.

Jean Shrimpton later dated British poet, dramatist, actor, and activist Heathcote Williams and writer Malcolm Richey. When asked whether she regretted leaving the life of a supermodel, she said, “No.”

"I am a melancholy soul. I'm not sure contentment is obtainable, and I find the banality of modern life terrifying. I sometimes feel I'm damaged goods. But Michael, Thaddeus, and the Abbey transformed my life," she noted.

Trending

Terence Stamp died on Sunday morning. His family shared a statement with Reuters. They remembered the veteran actor-writer for his “extraordinary body of work,” adding it will “continue to touch people for years to come.”

The Oscar nominee is best remembered for her role as General Zod in the original Superman films. He also acted in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Far From the Madding Crowd, and Valkyrie, among others.

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