George Clooney feels incredibly lucky to have found lasting love with wife Amal Clooney. The couple recently celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary and, by all accounts, their bond has only deepened over time.

A source close to the George Clooney star says he still cannot believe Amal, a high-profile human rights lawyer, agreed to marry him nearly a decade ago.

The source said George “adores Amal,” and “still pinches himself that she agreed to marry him.”

“Eight years! And they said it wouldn’t last,” George joked while speaking to Entertainment Tonight ahead of his anniversary in September 2022. “Everything about my wife is sort of magical, as I think everybody has come to realize as they see her and hear her and hear what she stands for.”

“There’s just not a downside to her,” the Ocean’s Eleven star gushed.

The pair met through mutual friends in 2013 and tied the knot the following year. Ever since, George has been overt in his admiration for Amal.

The feelings are clearly mutual – when receiving TIME‘s Person of the Year award, Amal thanked her inspirational and supportive husband.

Together, Amal and George have built a happy home in Lake Como, Italy, raising 6-year-old twins Ella and Alexander. According to an insider, the couple “are more in love than ever, and they can’t picture their lives with anyone else.”