Shotgun Marriage between Hamasaki Ayumi and a younger Austrian actor!

Singer Hamasaki Ayumi (32) will marry this month. This was announced on New Year’s Day by Hamasaki herself, in a message dedicated to fans on her official fanclub site 「TeamAyu」. Her groom is Manuel Schwarz (30), an Austrian actor based in Los Angeles 2 years younger than her. They met in August last year on a film set and started off from there. After 5 months, the couple has decided to have a shotgun marriage.

An established songstress, Hamasaki performed in the important NHK Kouhaku Utagassen event dressed in a wedding dress, with a 30-metre long veil attached. It seems like we will be seeing her don the dress in her personal life soon too.

According to sources, the couple met in late August. Hamasaki went to Los Angeles to film the music video for wedding song 「Virgin Road」. After that, Hamasaki returned to Los Angeles again for a month, from October~November, to produce her album and shoot more videos with Schwarz. They had plenty of free time in the evenings, and spent the time getting to know each other more. She seemed to make her decision to marry in early December, and announced it to avex CEO Matsuura in mid-December.

Schwarz was a local actor who participated in the audition for the casting of Hamasaki’s video, in which the final pick was made by Hamasaki herself. In the video for 「Virgin Road」, the two held a wedding ceremony, perhaps a foretelling of events to come. A Keanu Reeves lookalike with his good features and beard, Schwarz is a good-looking Caucasian standing at about 180cm tall. Sources tell that “The staff members think well of him too. Because he knows he does not match what the Japanese people may feel to be Hamasaki Ayumi’s type, he has also talked about it frankly with Hamasaki.” They mostly converse in English.

Hamasaki has announced to her fans that [TA entry here]. The registration for marriage seems to be set for this month, and it may take place either in Japan or the US. She is not pregnant and will continue working. The wedding ceremony has not been planned. Even though Hamasaki plans to spend 3-4 months in Los Angeles to prepare for her future works, the two do not plan to settle down together, and will travel between Japan and the US to see each other.

In July 2007, Hamasaki broke up her 7-year relationship with 「TOKIO」’s Tomoya Nagase (32). Though they have survived many downs in their relationship, Hamasaki made a decision in the end, talked the whole thing through with Tomoya and separated from him. After that, there were rumours that she had an affair with a US-based designer.

From Sponichi Entertainment news.