Samantha and Jacob have a fairytale marriage and a baby on the way. The only problem? She’s a straight woman and he’s a gay man
Young and attractive with successful careers and a baby on the way, Samantha Wynn Greenstone and Jacob Martin Hoff are living a life many would envy.
Nine years ago, in a meet-cute worthy of a Richard Curtis movie, the pair crossed paths while auditioning for a theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof.
Jacob, now 32, heard what he calls an ‘insane cackle’ from across the room at the end of a song. He instantly felt a connection to Samantha, now 38, who was auditioning for the role of the witch Fruma-Sarah.
‘I just thought, “whoever just made that noise doesn’t give a f*** what anyone thinks about them”,’ Jacob recalled to the Daily Mail.
Bravely, he approached Samantha and told her ‘if they don’t give you that part they’re crazy’.
Luckily, they were both cast, and, by opening night, they had become inseparable.
Fast forward to 2024 and Jacob and Samantha tied the knot in an Old Hollywood inspired ceremony in Florida.
They now have a baby on the way and call each other soulmates.
Sounds perfect. The catch? Jacob is a gay man, Samantha is a straight woman.
On paper, Samantha Wynn Greenstone and Jacob Martin Hoff’s love story is a dream fairytale, having gone from the best of friends to romantic soulmates, and now, parents-to-be. Pictured, the couple on their wedding day
At first, the pair, from Los Angeles, were ‘platonic best friends’.
‘We would hang out till four in the morning and then wake up and do something the next afternoon,’ Jacob, who insists he isn’t bisexual, said.
Then, 18 months into their friendship, Samantha started to feel something more.
Confused and unsure what to do. She decided to go to an ‘energy healer’ in San Diego, where she was living at the time.
The healer told Samantha she and Jacob share ‘a spiritual umbilical cord’.
She took this as an affirmation to pursue a romantic relationship.
‘Someone had found the words to explain our connection and package it in a way that made me finally understand what we had between us,’ Samantha said.
That night, she text Jacob to ask him if he felt anything beyond friendship for her.
Much to her surprise, and delight, Jacob said yes.
A week later, Jacob went to see Samantha perform in a play called Animal Crackers.
Afterwards, they had dinner at a friend’s house, stayed over, and shared a bed.
The next day, they became a couple.
At first Jacob was concerned about a sexual relationship with a woman. But these fears didn’t last long.
‘It immediately worked out. The fears melted away,’ he said.
Documenting their ‘mixed orientation’ marriage on social media, the self-described ‘soulmates’ (pictured) are regularly trolled by critics – even those from the LGBTQ + community – who accuse Jacob of ‘bi-erasure’, which is the act of ignoring, explaining away, or otherwise dismissing bisexuality in culture
But hitting back at the disparagers, Jacob (pictured alongside his wife) told The Daily Mail: ‘I feel fully satisfied in our relationship and being able to verbalise and share my feelings with the world gives me the peace and comfort to feel completely myself in this relationship’
When the show closed three weeks later, Samantha moved to LA to live with Jacob and in 2018, they moved to Beverly Hills.
‘We both always had the personal boundary of wanting monogamy in a relationship,’ Jacob added, insisting he doesn’t sleep with anyone outside of his marriage.
‘I feel fully satisfied in our relationship and being able to verbalise and share my feelings with the world gives me the peace and comfort to feel completely myself in this relationship’.
‘She is my soulmate,’.
As for conceiving a child, the couple didn’t opt for IVF.
‘Yes, we did it the old fashioned, “birds and the bees” way,’ Jacob said.
‘I would say we made love and it was lovely,’ Samantha added. ‘We make love because we are in love’.
Samantha and Jacob, pictured on their wedding day in Florida. They tied the knot in front of 34 guests
In November 2024, they were wed at the Kabbalah Center in Boca Raton in Florida
But before the baby, came the marriage.
In December 2023, Jacob proposed to his soulmate on the red carpet at the entrance to the Beverly Hills Hotel.
They had just been out for a meal at Sugarfish, a sushi restaurant in the area. The hotel was decked out with Christmas decorations, a setting, Jacob says, couldn’t have been more romantic for him to pop the question.
Samantha said yes, and the pair celebrated the union by having champagne and chocolate soufflé at the Polo Lounge of the celebrity-love hotel. The pianist played a Fiddler on the Roof medley in honour of where they first met.
In November 2024, they were wed at the Kabbalah Center in Boca Raton in Florida. They had a traditional Jewish ceremony in front of 34 guests before sharing in an intimate reception at a hotel.
‘We often get messages from people in similar relationships or people who say their parents or even grandparents were in a mixed-orientation relationship,’ said Jacob.
‘It’s really helped us feel that there is a community out there that is waiting to break through the surface and enter the mainstream if given the chance, but a lot of cultural fears and pressures have kept a lot of these relationships behind closed doors.’
They have also had messages from people reaching out to say they are in love with their gay best friend – but they are quick to send these followers a word of caution.
‘We try to really pump on the brakes with these people and explain to them that a soulmate connection is much different than a crush and we don’t want them making their gay friends uncomfortable if the connection isn’t really there,’ Samantha said.
‘Our relationship was rooted in a very strong bond that we want to make sure people have before exploring a mixed orientation relationship.’
In photos worthy of Old Hollywood, the couple tied the knot in a tiny ceremony
The couple say it’s offensive to describe Jacob as ‘bisexual’
Their families are ‘thrilled’ by the relationship and totally accepting – including Jacob’s ‘very conservative Christian’ father
The couple describe their relationship as a ‘mixed orientation marriage’
However, the monogamous couple (pictured after their engagement), from LA, who started dating in 2017 before tying the knot in 2024, have insisted they feel ‘fully satisfied’ in their relationship – and are even having a baby ‘the old fashioned way’ after ‘making love’
Samantha added she feels ‘completely secure’ in her marriage and never questions Jacob’s love – or attraction – for her.
‘Time and experiencing the way Jacob has shown up for me and our family in this relationship has completely ironed over any anxieties I once felt,’ she added.
Their families are ‘thrilled’ by the relationship and totally accepting – including Jacob’s ‘very conservative Christian’ father.
‘Our fiercest critics often come from other members of the gay community that misinterpret our message as conversion therapy or think we are threatening the gay community by saying gay people can change,’ Jacob said.
‘If Jacob was bi he would happily admit it,’ Samantha added.
‘Labelling a gay person as bisexual after they reiterate they are not is actually quite offensive.
‘Sexuality is a personal experience and isn’t for other people to put labels on, it’s for us to identify how we feel and express to others so they can better understand us.
‘We are so comfortable with ourselves and our relationship that the majority of criticisms barely elicit an eye roll out of us.
‘Occasionally something will get under our skin but it doesn’t take long to shake it off and remember that these people don’t know the real us and are making these criticisms based on their own lack of understanding or sometimes bigotry and that’s not worth getting upset over.
‘And to any other detractors we say just keep watching us and you will see we are a normal loving couple.’
