Meet Maria Cahill: David Henrie’s wife is close with Selena Gomez, his Wizards of Waverly Place co-star, and was a pageant queen – she had her first child after a blessing from Pope Francis
Cahill was an avid dancer growing up and went on to win beauty pageants; she suffered 8 miscarriages but had her first child 9 months after receiving a blessing from the Pope – now she’s a mum of 3
In real life, Dadnapped star Henrie is married to Maria Cahill, with whom he shares three children – Pia, 5, James, 3, and Gemma, 2. The family of five walked the red carpet at the new show’s premiere last week, but all eyes were on Pia, who carried an OG piece of Wizards of Waverly Place merchandise – a purse with Alex Russo on it. The eldest Henrie kid looked proud of her accessory and made sure it was front and centre for photographs.
She grew up an avid dancer
Cahill was born in 1991, in Newark, Delaware, to Darlene Diefendorf and John Cahill as the second of seven children. She took up dancing as a child, starting with jazz and ballet. She learned Irish dancing for 14 years and won two medals at the World Irish Dance Championships.
She’s a pageant girl
Cahill won the Miss Rehoboth Beach pageant in 2010 and went on to win Miss Delaware in 2011. Her goal with the latter was to change how “pageant girls” are perceived. She studied marketing at Wilmington University and after her Miss Delaware win, pursued a degree in studio production and political science. She also competed in the Miss America pageant and America’s Next Top Model.