When Michele Morrone became a global name overnight as Massimo Torricelli in Netflix’s 365 Days, the world suddenly wanted to know about the woman who had been married to him before any of it happened. That woman is Rouba Saadeh — and unlike most celebrity ex-spouses, she arrived at the story with a career that needed no introduction from his.
Saadeh is a Lebanese fashion designer who rose through the ranks of Elie Saab — one of the world’s most prestigious fashion houses — to become its ready-to-wear studio manager, and she founded her own designer concept store in Beirut long before her ex-husband’s name was on any marquee. But there is much more to the story than a résumé.
This is the complete, carefully verified account of Rouba Saadeh: the Beirut education, the step-by-step climb at Elie Saab, the two-ceremony wedding, the divorce that nearly ended Michele Morrone’s acting career, and the quiet co-parenting life she leads today with their two sons. Where the internet speculates, we say so plainly — and that alone sets this apart from the gossip-farm coverage.
| Full Name | Rouba Saadeh |
| Known For | Fashion designer; founder of Le Paradis Des Fous; ex-wife of actor Michele Morrone |
| Date of Birth | April 15, 1987 |
| Age | 39 (as of 2026) |
| Birthplace | Beirut, Lebanon |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Parents | Mother: Manolia Mano Saadeh; father not publicly identified |
| Siblings | Two, including sister Abir Saadeh |
| Education | Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour; Lebanese American University (graphic design); Istituto Marangoni, Milan (fashion design); Central Saint Martins, London |
| Profession | Fashion designer; ready-to-wear studio manager at Elie Saab |
| Spouse | Michele Morrone (married 2014, divorced 2018) |
| Children | Two sons: Marcudo (Marcus) Morrone (b. September 24, 2014) and Brando Morrone (b. 2017) |
| Current Residence | Beirut, Lebanon |
| Current Status | Working at Elie Saab; co-parenting two sons |
Who Is Rouba Saadeh?
Rouba Saadeh is a Lebanese fashion designer and entrepreneur whose name the world learned as the ex-wife of Michele Morrone, the Italian actor and singer who starred in the Netflix phenomenon 365 Days. Their marriage lasted from 2014 to 2018, and they share two sons, Marcus and Brando.
But reducing Saadeh to a celebrity ex is exactly the mistake most coverage makes. She was a trained designer with a decade of professional experience before the divorce, she founded a concept store that put emerging international designers in front of Beirut’s fashion crowd, and she now manages the ready-to-wear studio of Elie Saab — a job that puts her at the operational heart of one of fashion’s most respected houses. For more profiles of women building careers in and around the spotlight, see our celebrity stories.
Early Life and Education in Beirut
Saadeh was born on April 15, 1987, in Beirut, Lebanon, and grew up with two siblings, including a sister named Abir Saadeh. Her mother, Manolia Mano Saadeh, raised the family in Lebanon; Saadeh has rarely spoken publicly about her father or her childhood in detail.
Her education was unusually serious for someone who would end up in fashion’s commercial trenches. She attended Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour in Baabda, one of Lebanon’s most rigorous private schools, graduating around 2004. From there she went to the Lebanese American University, where she earned a degree in graphic design with an emphasis on digital media around 2008 — some sources also report a later business-management master’s from the same institution.
Then came the fashion training proper: a postgraduate diploma in fashion design from Istituto Marangoni in Milan, one of the world’s leading fashion schools, and a summer course in fashion design at Central Saint Martins in London. By the time she entered the industry, she had credentials on three continents and fluency in Arabic, French, English, and Italian — a toolkit that explains a great deal about what happened next.
From Graphic Design to Elie Saab
Saadeh’s career unfolded the unglamorous way: she started as a freelance graphic designer in 2008 and worked her way toward fashion. In 2009 she joined Alfa MIC1 as a graphic web designer, a role she held for nearly three years, building the visual-design discipline that would later shape her fashion eye.
The turning point came in September 2013, when she became an assistant to the head of the design team at Elie Saab — the Lebanese couturier whose gowns dress royalty and red carpets worldwide. In that same year, she launched her own designer concept store, Le Paradis Des Fous, in Beirut — a curated boutique gathering talent from around the world, which she built alongside her day job rather than instead of it.
After the divorce, she went back to Saab and climbed steadily: ready-to-wear coordinator from 2019, studio supervisor in 2021, and ready-to-wear studio manager from 2022 to the present. It is the kind of slow, earned ascent that no scandal can manufacture — thirteen-plus years in the industry, with the last several spent running a studio inside a global fashion house.
The Marriage to Michele Morrone
Saadeh married Michele Morrone in 2014, when he was a struggling Italian actor years away from any fame. To honor both of their cultures, they held two wedding ceremonies — one in Italy and one in Lebanon — each intimate, with around twenty guests.
While Michele was still fighting for acting work, Saadeh was the steady professional in the household. The couple’s first son, Marcudo — called Marcus — was born on September 24, 2014; Saadeh announced his arrival on Instagram with a photo of the newborn and the caption, here goes my heart. Their second son, Brando, followed in 2017.
One small, telling detail: Morrone learned Arabic because of his wife and children, who were rooted in Beirut. He has described his own language mix — Italian, English, and the Arabic he picked up for his family — as a weird combination, which says something about how deeply the Lebanon years shaped him.
Why the Marriage Ended
In 2018, after four years of marriage and two small children, the couple divorced. There was no scandalous tabloid headline, no cheating story — by all accounts they simply grew apart. But the split hit Morrone devastatingly hard, and he has been unusually honest about it.
In February 2020, Morrone posted a raw note on Instagram: a year and a half ago, he wrote, he was about to leave everything — he did not want to act anymore, and he was in a severe state of depression after divorcing his wife. He has said he was so broke after the split that he moved to a tiny village of about a thousand people and worked as a gardener for a year, digging in the dirt and trying to figure out what his life was supposed to look like without his wife and kids beside him every day.
Then the call for 365 Days came. The gardener became an international sex symbol almost overnight — one of the most extreme reversals in recent celebrity history. Morrone has also said he dedicated his 2014 song Rain in the Heart to Saadeh, and that despite everything, she deserves to have a song dedicated to her. He has consistently described her as a fantastic woman, even after the marriage ended.
Co-Parenting and Life After the Divorce
Saadeh and Morrone have kept an amicable relationship since the divorce as they raise their sons together. After the 2018 split, Marcus and Brando’s primary residence shifted to Beirut with their mother, while Morrone travels the world for projects and stays as connected as his schedule allows.
The evidence of goodwill is public and touching. Saadeh kept old photographs with Morrone on her Instagram page even after the divorce, including posts where she sent love messages to her then-husband — an unusual choice for an ex, and a deliberate one. Morrone, for his part, has posted warmly about the boys for years: recreating a childhood beach memory with Marcus in 2020, sharing the trio’s nature trips through Italy, and in September 2022 posting a musical work he wrote for his sons, Angels, which he called a prayer for them and an apology for not always being there.
A September 2026 People magazine profile confirmed the basics of the arrangement: Marcus, 11, and Brando growing up in Beirut with their mother, their father a regular long-distance presence. Saadeh herself has stayed out of the commentary business — she lets the co-parenting speak for itself.
Life Today in Beirut
Today, Rouba Saadeh lives in Beirut with her two sons and runs the ready-to-wear studio at Elie Saab — a demanding, high-responsibility role at one of fashion’s flagship houses. She maintains a low public profile: her Instagram, @roubasaadeh, exists, but she is not a fame-chaser, and she has never leveraged her ex-husband’s stardom for a public career.
One figure deserves a correction here, because it appears in nearly every profile of her: the published net worth estimates, usually $500,000 to $2 million. No verified financial disclosure sits behind those numbers. What is verifiable is far more impressive anyway — a thirteen-plus-year career built school by school, job by job, ending at the studio-manager level of Elie Saab. For more on the people behind fashion’s biggest names, browse our celebrity stories.
Bottom Line
Rouba Saadeh’s story runs in the opposite direction from most celebrity-ex narratives. She was not discovered by fame; fame briefly borrowed her name and she handed it back, unchanged. What she built instead is quieter and more durable: a real design education across Beirut, Milan, and London, a concept store of her own, a management career at Elie Saab, and two sons she is raising in the city she comes from. Michele Morrone’s gardener year and his public gratitude toward her only confirm what the résumé already said — that during the hardest years of his life, the steadiest person in the room was the one who never wanted the spotlight at all.
FAQs
Who is Rouba Saadeh?
Rouba Saadeh is a Lebanese fashion designer and entrepreneur, currently the ready-to-wear studio manager at the fashion house Elie Saab. She is the founder of the Beirut concept store Le Paradis Des Fous and the ex-wife of actor Michele Morrone.
When did Rouba Saadeh marry and divorce Michele Morrone?
They married in 2014, holding two intimate wedding ceremonies — one in Italy and one in Lebanon. They divorced in 2018 after four years of marriage.
How many children do Rouba Saadeh and Michele Morrone have?
Two sons: Marcudo (Marcus) Morrone, born September 24, 2014, and Brando Morrone, born in 2017. Both boys live primarily in Beirut with their mother.
What does Rouba Saadeh do for a living now?
She works at Elie Saab as the ready-to-wear studio manager, a position she has held since 2022. She previously served as studio supervisor (2021) and ready-to-wear coordinator (2019) at the house, and she founded the concept store Le Paradis Des Fous in 2013.
Is Michele Morrone married now?
No. Morrone is not currently married. He has been linked to various women since the divorce, including Swiss model Moara Sorio, and in December 2024 his team publicly debunked rumors of a romance with Megan Fox, confirming they are only co-stars and friends.
Why did Rouba Saadeh and Michele Morrone divorce?
There was no public scandal behind the split — the couple simply grew apart. Morrone has said the divorce left him in a severe depression and nearly ended his acting career; he worked as a gardener in a small Italian village for a year before landing 365 Days.