Josh Duhamel dismisses 21-year age gap with wife Audra Mari

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Josh Duhamel says Midwest lifestyle allows him to teach kids lessons they can't learn in LA

Josh Duhamel told Fox News Digital that his cabin in Minnesota forces his son to "get his hands dirty," which he doesn't do in Los Angeles.

When it comes to the 21 years between Josh Duhamel and his wife, Audra Mari, age is just a number. 

During an appearance on the "Not Skinny But Not Fat" podcast last week, the "Ransom Canyon" star, 52, opened up about his relationship with his wife of nearly 3 years and explained why their age gap plays no part in their partnership. 

"It was truly platonic for years," Duhamel said, before telling himself, "'I'm not even going to go there.'"

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Josh Duhamel, 52, and Audra Mari, 31, have been married for nearly 3 years.  (Arnold Jerocki/WireImage)

After inviting her to a backyard barbecue, Duhamel - who saw Mari as "just a friend" at the time - quickly realized their compatibility. 

"She's more mature than I am," he said. "That's how we started dating."

The couple started their relationship in 2018 and married in 2022. They share a 1-year-old son, Shepherd, together.

In 2022, the couple poked fun at their age gap with clever Halloween costumes. Duhamel dressed up as late oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall for the annual Casamigos Halloween party in Beverly Hills, while Mari channeled her inner Anna Nicole Smith.

Josh Duhamel and Audra Mari, in 2022, dressed as J. Howard Marshall and Anna Nicole Smith for the Casamigos Halloween party in Beverly Hills. (Getty Images)

Last month, the actor opened up about his decision to relocate his family from Los Angeles to a small cabin in Minnesota. 

"I think it's really about the memories that we make as a family. My parents love coming out here to hang out. My wife's parents love hanging out here. My son, Axl, my 11-year-old … L.A., there's a lot of good things about L.A., but it's good for him to get his hands dirty and come out into the woods and help dad with whatever," he told Fox News Digital.

Duhamel shares son, Axl, with ex-wife, Fergie. 

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Josh Duhamel prefers to raise his sons in Minnesota over Los Angeles. (Getty Images; Josh Duhamel/Instagram)

"Shepherd is 15 months, he's going to be doing the same thing, and I think that these things just help contribute, because we're 40 miles from anything here, there's nothing. We have to pretty much fend for ourselves when we're out here. So these kids need to learn how to do this stuff, and they're not going to get to do that in L.A.," he continued.

"So, for that reason alone, I think it's great. Plus they just love it. They have buddies out here, they get to, you know, go jet skiing and tubing and all those things that you do on a lake," he added. 

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Since Duhamel has spent time off the grid in Minnesota, he has been able to become detached from a lot of things. 

The actor relocated his family from L.A. to a small cabin in Minnesota in an effort to live a life of simplicity.  (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

"Something happens as soon as I get out here, my blood pressure drops. It's not about my phone. It's not about anything else other than making sure we got what we need to survive. It's not like we're living hand to mouth. We make sure we have enough groceries and stuff. Yesterday, we came out here, the septic tank was frozen. We had to figure out how to get it unfrozen so that we had water. I can't just call up some dude to come out and do it. It's just us. So we got to figure it out," Duhamel said.

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He continued, "I think it's those kinds of things that I really like about it because it's back to the basics. It's making sure you got enough food, enough water, you're warm enough and then, from there, we just start to have the fun. So it's not taking advantage of or taking for granted those luxuries and amenities that I think we all grow accustomed to."

Fox News Digital's Larry Fink contributed to this post.