At the ripe old age of 82, and after 38 years in a relationship, Jim Nabors has finally married his long term partner Stan Cadwallader. 

As same sex marriages are rolled out legally across the USA, now legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Washington, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia. The legalization in Washington State only came into effect this month, so Nabors and his partner, who currently live in Hawaii came over to Seattle and were married on January 15th at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel.

As Nabors said he and his partner "had no rights as a couple" prior to marriage. Adding: "[Y]et when you've been together 38 years, I think something's got to happen there, you've got to solidify something... And at my age, it's probably the best thing to do." 

Nabors and his partner met in 1975 in Honolulu. Mr Cadwallader is an ex-firefighter and Mr Nabors found fame as a singer and actor, his career hitting a peak in the 1960s. He has never officially come out as gay before, but as he told Hawaii News Now he never wanted to make a "public spectacle of it." Adding, "I've known since I was a child, so, come on. It's not that kind of a thing. I've never made a huge secret of it at all... My friend and I, my partner, we went through all of this 38 years ago. So I mean, we made our vows and that was it. It was to each other, but nevertheless, we were a couple."

Enormous congratulations to the happy couple from ContactMusic!