JAMIE Walters has become one of Los Angeles’ most beloved firefighters, rushing out on calls to deal with everything from burning buildings to women giving birth in unexpected places.
However, Jamie has a secret celebrity past his colleagues love to rib him about when he’s back at the station in Van Nuys – he used to be a teen idol on Beverly Hills, 90210.
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And not only did he play bad boy heartthrob Ray Pruit, the love interest of Donna Martin, played by Tori Spelling, he was engaged in real life to an A-list star: Drew Barrymore.
Jamie spoke exclusively to The U.S. Sun about his relationship with the Oscar-nominated actress, and how he’d love to reconnect if the pair crossed paths again.
He explained they first met after sharing an agent and she invited him to a party, during which they hit it off and quickly started dating when she was just 17 and he was 23.
“I was living in an apartment in Hollywood, and then I met Drew Barrymore, and she and I ended up living together and were engaged for a little while,” he revealed.
Recalling how he popped the question, Jamie recalled, “I was really into old cars back then. I still am, but back then I actually had the time and money to do that because now I need to have practical cars that run that my kids can drive.
“Back then I was into like old Chevys. So I think I was in a really cool 1967 [Chevrolet ] Chevelle with and nice black interior.
“I remember we were in the car and that’s where I popped the question. I gave her a ring.”
He said the pair broke up months later because they were so busy with their careers and “too young” to get married, but he has “fond memories” of their time together.
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“Over the years, a few times we’ve run into each other and she’s always like super, super nice and we’re always happy to see each other,” he said.
“I’d love to reconnect with her but I think both of our lives [are busy] once you start having kids,” the ex-actor said.
The U.S. Sun found dozens of old photographs of the pair from snaps at the Cannes Film Festival in France to a loved-up shoot in a park for a magazine spread by famous photographer, Bruce Weber.
The 52-year-old even admitted the pair got matching tattoos of each other’s names during their whirlwind romance.
And although it’s unknown whether Drew still has hers, he never had his ink removed.
While he tries to keep his top while training recruits at the fire station, he revealed, “I still have the tattoo, although it is quite old now and hard to make out. It’s on my back. Upper right shoulder blade. It’s a cross with her name on it.”
Jamie said he was touched when the actress spoke highly of him on The Drew Barrymore Show last year, saying, “People were sending me the clip and I couldn’t believe it. It was really nice.”
While chatting on the sofa with his ex Beverly Hills, 90210 co-star Tori, Drew, now 48, exclaimed, “Oh my god, Jamie Walters! My boyfriend at the time,” as they realized the link.
Tori joked that Drew was the “OG Donna Martin” and praised her former co-star, describing him as “such a good guy,” which Drew agreed with.
CO-STAR PRAISE
Jennie Garth, who also appeared on the talk show and starred on 90210, gushed he “still is,” and remembered his cameo for the reboot in 2019.
“He looks exactly the same,” she added. “He has a family, a daughter who plays soccer.”
Before 90210, Jamie appeared in the movie Shout with John Travolta, followed by a stint on the TV show, The Heights, during which he released a hit song, How Do You Talk To An Angel.
After deciding he didn’t have enough control over his career as an actor and leaving 90210 after a fan backlash over his character’s domestic abuse storyline, he went in a different direction.
He’s now been working as a fire-fighter paramedic saving lives with the Los Angeles Fire Department for more than 20 years.
Jamie admitted it’s a tough, competitive job involving long hours but he finds the role highly rewarding and loves the camaraderie with his colleagues and training recruits.
“When I took the test for the fire department it was like 20,000 people at the Los Angeles Convention Center,” he recalled, “And they were going to hire 500 people over five years.
“I didn’t grow up in the acting world. My mom was a school teacher, my dad was in business. I was kind of the black sheep of the family when I decided, ‘Hey, I’m gonna go check out this acting music direction.’”
NEW CAREER
Jamie continued to reveal more about his childhood and career path.
“I had grown up with this idea, get a job, go to work, do your 30 years and you retire, you know?” he added.
“I started having second thoughts about this career path, and I’d always been interested in becoming a firefighter.”
Jamie and Drew’s lives may be very different these days, but he is familiar with life as a single parent as he has three daughters and a son.
Drew also has two daughters, Olive, 11, and Frankie, 9, with ex-husband Will Kopelman, and has spoken about how she’s yet to find love again since their divorce in 2016.
Ironically, Jamie revealed he also got divorced the same year and is now co-parenting with his ex-wife, Patty, whom he split from after 12 years together.
“I have four kids and they stayed with me, they live with me,” Jamie revealed to The U.S. Sun.
“They have a good relationship with their mom, she moved to Arizona, so they don’t get to see her all that much, but they have a good life here, and it’s very stable.
“My youngest is 17, she’s a junior in high school. My next is 18 and she’s a freshman in college and she plays soccer and that’s kind of been her path, she loves it, and she got recruited to go play soccer.”
FAMILY LIFE
Jamie also spoke about his older daughter.
“And then my 20-year-old daughter, we have a lot of similarities, and so she’s got into modeling. She’s been able to travel throughout Europe. And she kind of lives back and forth between New York and LA right now,” he said.
He also has an older son from a previous relationship who is working as a camera operator.
“He just recently got married. And he works all the time. I’m very proud of him. He does a lot of music videos and commercial work.
“And he co-wrote and co-directed a short film with his wife that they’re entering in a lot of film festivals this season, so I’m hoping that they get some good attention off of that. I like that he’s on that side of the camera,” he said.
Asked how he feels about his children going into the industry, he said, “It’s hard to argue. They’re like, ‘Well, dad, you did it!’
“I push my kids, ‘Hey, go to college, learn how to do something well, follow your dream,’ but always kind of, you know, just have something to fall back on.”
He added, “I’m supportive of whatever they want to do, there are some mistakes I made [in Hollywood], so I give them advice and I’m very involved.”
For more information about joining the Los Angeles Fire Department, visit https://www.joinlafd.org.
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