Whatever Happened To Kelly McGillis' Ex Melanie Leis After Their Split?
Hollywood is full of tragic tales of romance; one such story is that of an '80s icon. Actor Kelly McGillis is best known for her role in "Top Gun." While she may have been lucky landing roles, her love life is another story. A tragic detail of McGillis' life was that none of her marriages seemed to last. Her first marriage lasted only two years, and her longest marriage was to Fred Tillman, the father of her two daughters. The couple was together for thirteen years before they split.
McGillis' third marriage is distinct from her previous two because it was her first with a woman. McGillis came out in 2009, after dating Melanie Leis for seven years. In 2010, the couple finally decided to come together through a civil union, since same-sex marriage was not legalized at that time.
This marriage did not last either, with reports saying they split between 2011 and 2013. Neither McGillis nor Leis made a public statement. Since the divorce, Leis has pursued a career out of the public eye. According to her LinkedIn, Leis worked in director of sales and sales manager roles at companies specializing in live events, like Tappit and Vendini. In 2025, Leis became the head of music and entertainment at WMT, a company that creates digital platforms for sports leagues and other live events.
Kelly McGillis was in recovery when she met Melanie Leis
Not much is known about Melanie Leis' personal life following her divorce, which isn't too surprising since Leis was a private person before and during her relationship with '80s star Kelly McGillis. The pair met when Leis was working at a restaurant run by McGillis and her ex-husband, Fred Tillman. The two initially kept their relationship a secret.
When they met, they were both in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. McGillis told Philadelphia Gay News that she tried to deny her sexuality for most of her life, but that led to a drug and alcohol addiction. McGillis eventually went to rehab and has been sober since 2001.
"And we had problems because we had drank together, we did drugs together, and then we got clean together, and it was crazy," McGillis told Philadelphia Gay News. "We needed to grow up and learn how to have an adult relationship."