Nicolas Cage Says A Mutual Love of Flying Squirrels Led Him To His Fifth wife

Ahh, squirrels. Adorable North American rodents, the “quirky” staple of approximately every single college across the nation, and the catalyst for Nicolas Cage's marriage? In a meet-cute story that is truly nuts, it seems that the actor's attempts at squirreling for love finally panned out when he learned his now-wife, Riko Shibata, was the proud owner of two flying squirrels. 

"We met in Japan and I thought she was stunning when I met her. We had a lot in common," the star told Entertainment Tonight at the premiere of his new movie, Pig earlier this week (alas, not everything can be squirrel-themed in the world of Nic Cage). “She likes animals, too, so I asked her, 'Do you have any pets?' And she said, 'Yes, I have flying squirrels.' She had two sugar gliders,” he recalled. 

Yet it seems this answer proved to be more than merely a commonality, rather a catalyst that ultimately led to the pair tying the knot last February at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. "I thought, 'That's it. This could work out.'"

Their mutual love of squirrels is far from the only unconventional fact about their relationship. Last year, the star stopped by his brother Marc “The Cope” Coppola's radio program detailing how, exactly, he popped the question. “She left New York and went back to Kyoto, Japan, and I went back to Nevada,” the actor explained in August. “I hadn't seen her for six months, and we really happy together,” he continued. “Really excited to spend that time together. So I finally just said, Look, I wanna marry you,' and we got engaged on FaceTime."

However, no proposal is complete without a ring, even when both parties are an ocean apart. "Her favorite color is black, so she wanted the black gold, and the black diamond," Cage explained. "So I found it and customized and personalized it. And I actually sent it to her Fedex. So we're engaged!"

So folks, take it from Nic Cage – diamonds may be forever, but a mutual love of squirrels is truly infinite. 

Top Image: Shutterstock/Shutterstock

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