Tragic Details About Hallmark Star Alexa PenaVega's Life

Trigger warning: The following article mentions eating disorders

Alexa PenaVega (born Alexa Vega) seems to have it all. The former child star, known for her starring role as Carmen Cortez in the "Spy Kids" franchise, seems to have escaped the child star curse. Far from falling into obscurity or squandering her hard-earned money on a party lifestyle, she continued with her career and became a beloved Hallmark mainstay before signing a deal with their competitor, Great American Family. Aside from her successful acting career, she has a happy home life and has been married to "Big Time Rush" star Carlos PenaVega (born Carlos Pena) since 2014. The two combined their last names and have three children: Ocean, Kingston, and Rio.

But no life is perfect, and PenaVega knows that all too well. The Hallmark star has dealt with many tragic challenges over the years, from struggles with her body image to a devastating loss that shook her world. To cope with the challenges she's faced, whether it's conflict within her marriage or negative attention from the public, PenaVega relies on her Christian faith. "I think that is honestly where a lot of my patience comes. ... I look to my relationship with God and really try to slow down with everything I do," she told The War Cry.

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

Although Alexa PenaVega had what she described to Fox News Digital as "pretty decent experiences in the industry," she wasn't immune to the toxic beauty standards of Hollywood. As a young star, she developed an eating disorder after movie producers criticized her weight. Compounding the stress was her belief that if the public found out she had bulimia it would harm her image. "I was living with this secret that I was really, really ashamed of ... I was being praised whenever I looked skinnier," she explained on "Duck Dynasty" star Sadie Robertson's podcast, "Whoa, That's Good," in 2022. "And if I didn't look as skinny one day, nobody would compliment me or nobody would talk about how beautiful I was, or anything like that."

It wasn't until she was competing on "Dancing With the Stars" in 2015 that she finally opened up about the six years she lived with bulimia. In a contemporary dance set to Ed Sheeran's "Make It Rain," she and her partner, Mark Ballas, portrayed the story of PenaVega's eating disorder and recovery. "It's very beautiful and intense, but I think it will be strangely beautiful because you're gonna watch something that hurt me but watch me pull through it," she said in a pre-recorded package ahead of her performance (via YouTube).

Today, PenaVega is open about her bulimia in the hopes of helping others. "I share it because I want people to know that you could overcome it," she told Fox News Digital.

Alexa PenaVega's first marriage was a short-lived one, although nowhere near as short as the shortest celebrity marriages. She tied the knot with her first husband, Sean Covel, on October 10, 2010. PenaVega was just 21 when she married the 34-year-old film producer, and 23 when she divorced him less than two years later.

Per TMZ, PenaVega chalked up the end of her first marriage to "irreconcilable differences," but she wrote in her 2022 memoir, "What If Love Is the Point?," that it was the 13 years between her and Covel that made them ill-suited, despite seeking counseling. "What I think the counselors and friends and Doc didn't want to say to us was, 'You guys shouldn't be together. There's a big age difference. You're in different worlds,'" she recalled.

The press had a field day with the "Spy Kids" star's quickly dissolved marriage, but PenaVega didn't dwell on the failed marriage and was engaged to Carlos PenaVega by 2013. In an interview with People following the announcement, she said that she remained on good terms with Covel and that her doomed romance taught her a lot about what she wants in a marriage. "If I've learned anything it's that relationships are about compromise," she said. "But there are compromises like where you want to eat, what color you want to paint the wall ... but not who you are as a person. Never compromise yourself."

Despite recovering from bulimia, Alexa PenaVega carried guilt over her eating disorder for a long time, especially after deciding she wanted to be a mom. The star was worried that she had caused irreparable harm to her body that made it difficult for her to conceive. "We tried to get pregnant for a good six months without luck," she told Fit Pregnancy and Baby in 2016 (via People). "When it's not working, you think, 'Is there something wrong with me?' ... I was worried that I wasn't getting pregnant because of some long-term damage from what I'd put my body through. Even though my doctor said I was healthy, I felt so guilty about it."

PenaVega welcomed her first son, Ocean, later that year. He was followed by another son, Kingston, and a daughter, Rio. But heartbreak struck in 2024 when her fourth child, a daughter named Indy, was stillborn.

She and her husband were understandably devastated by the loss. "This season, obviously, is the most traumatic thing that we've ever had to go through as a family but alone, like, I don't think I've ever experienced anything quite like this," she said in an Instagram video. "And I hope to never, ever have to experience anything like this again."

It's clear that Alexa PenaVega is devoted to her family, especially her kids. She even left Hollywood to provide them with a more normal lifestyle. The family relocated to Hawaii in 2017, sold their property there during the COVID-19 pandemic to live on a boat, then made an abrupt move to Tennessee in 2023. "When we were living in California, there was never actually a break," she explained to People. "The industry happens 24/7. And we thought, we need a place to go and reconnect and that needs to be our home." And while both PenaVegas are still involved in the industry, they often collaborate on projects — including several Hallmark movies such as "Enchanted Christmas" and "Love at Sea" — so that they can keep the family together. 

But social media loves a villain, and it will create one out of the flimsiest materials. PenaVega learned that when she was berated by the public because her son, Kingston, lost part of his finger in 2021 after PenaVega accidentally closed a door on the 2-year-old's hand in the mayhem of getting her kids ready for bed.

People accused the actor of deliberately slamming the door out of anger (although they didn't think she meant to harm her kid), prompting PenaVega to post an Instagram video explaining what happened, saying that she gently closed the door but Kingston's unluckily got caught in the hinges. "I know I will never be able to please everyone and people will be ugly to be ugly... and for those people all I can do is pray for them," she wrote in the caption.

Celebrity marriages are often notoriously short-lived, but there are some couples who beat the odds. It takes a lot of hard work, though, as does any relationship. Alexa PenaVega and her husband, Carlos PenaVega, have a seemingly unshakeable bond, but things haven't always been easy for them. At one point, the Hallmark stars were on the verge of a split. "I've always told people, I'm like, 'The truth is marriage is this beautiful, holy thing,'" PenaVega told Us Weekly in 2023. "'It's a sacred thing. And you go through bumps.' There was a time in our marriage where if we were not married, we would have broken up." She added: "Life gets tough. It's really, really hard."

Fortunately, things worked out for the two and PenaVega says they are stronger for it. "We continued to just get closer and closer," she told The War Cry of reconnecting after they overcame their biggest marriage struggles. The two have even co-written a memoir, "What If Love Is the Point?," which details their love story and how they keep their marriage strong.