George Clooney was happy being a bachelor. A phone call from his agent changed everything.

Before George Clooney met his wife Amal, he was convinced he'd live out the rest of his days as a bachelor. 

Then at 52, a phone call from his agent changed everything. 

His agent said: "I met this woman who is coming to your house, who you’re going to marry." 

That woman was human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin - and Clooney's agent was right.

"It really worked out that way," Clooney said on Netflix's My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.

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But before Clooney found his happy ending, he had a string of failed relationships and a short-lived marriage.

The Ocean's Eleven star dated fellow actor Kelly Preston from 1987 until 1989. At one point, Clooney described their relationship as "the most important thing in my life." 

Preston, who went on to marry John Travolta, died in July 2020 following a two-year battle with breast cancer.

George Clooney and Kelly Preston, 1988. Image: Getty.

Later, in December 1989, Clooney married another fellow actor, Talia Balsam. The couple divorced just three years later. George took responsibility for the demise of their relationship, telling Vanity Fair he felt he never 'gave Talia a fair shot.'

"I probably - definitely - wasn't someone who should have been married at the point," he said, adding: "I was responsible for the failure of that marriage."

Around that time, he told Barbara Walters he wouldn't marry again because he 'wasn't very good at' being a husband.

George Clooney and Talia Balsam, 1990. Image: Getty.

There were plenty of other high-profile relationships though, from French law student Celine Balitran, whom he met when she was waiting tables in 1996, to an on-and-off relationship with British model Lisa Snowdon from 2000 to 2005. During one of his 'off' periods with Snowdon, he dated his Confessions of a Dangerous Mind co-star Krista Allen from 2002 to 2004. 

In 2007, George met model Sarah Larson while she was working as a cocktail waitress. Theydated briefly, breaking  up in May 2008. 

The following year he was spotted with Italian actor Elisabetta Canalis, but their relationship ended in 2011. He went on to date WWE champ Stacy Keibler from 2011 to 2013.

George Clooney and Stacy Keibler, 2012. Image: Getty.

By now, Clooney had accepted his life as a bachelor. 

But that's when his agent called, saying they'd met Clooney's future wife. 

Recalling the first time he met Amal who visited his house in Italy’s Lake Como with a mutual friend in 2013, the 61-year-old said: 

"It was the wildest thing, a mutual friend was stopping by and asked 'can I bring my friend’, and I said ‘of course'.

"We just talked, we stayed up all night talking," he went on. "And I got her email address because she was going to send me some pictures of my parents."

Amal and George Clooney, 2022. Image: Getty.

Clooney's mum Nina, who was staying with her son at the time, also recalled the moment she met Amal.

"Amal introduced herself and we talked," Nina told People. "She was obviously very charming, gorgeous and so clearly accomplished, but by the time we had supper that night, it was clear there was a kindness to her and an inclusiveness."

That night, Clooney discovered Amal had been working as a high-profile barrister specialising in international law and human rights. 

She’d taken on high-profile clients too, such as the founder of Wikileaks Julian Assange, and the former prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko.

"We started writing. I didn’t know if she wanted to go out with me - I just thought we were buddies," he explained. "And over a period of time, it became clear we were more than just friends."

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They had their first date in October 2013. 

"It was the first time that everything that she did and everything about her was infinitely more important than anything about me," he told CBS Sunday Morning, discussing the early days of their relationship.

Just six months later, the pair were engaged.

"We never talked about marriage when we were dating," Clooney told CBS Sunday Morning. 

"I asked her out of the blue, took her a long time to say yes. I was on my knee for like 20 minutes, I finally said, 'Look, I'm gonna throw my hip out.'"

The couple wed in a lavish ceremony in Venice in 2014. 

Three years later, the couple released a hilarious statement announcing the birth of their twins.

"This morning Amal and George welcomed Ella and Alexander Clooney into their lives," People originally reported. "Ella, Alexander, and Amal are all healthy, happy, and doing fine. George is sedated and should recover in a few days."

The twins, who are now five years old, speak three languages and are the ultimate pranksters.

"You’ve taught [Alexander] all of these lessons," Amal told George while chatting with CBS Sundays. "And he’s now pranking his dad back."

When asked what his kids might choose to do for a career, George told Entertainment Tonight: "They can do whatever they want.

"My guess is that they’re a little smarter than me, so, they’ll probably do something - they already speak three languages... I’m still working on English."

Image: Getty / Mamamia.