NEWSThe Love Boat's Jill Whelan Reveals Why She Left Los Angeles: 'It Was Time to Be With Family'
'The Love Boat' star Jill Whelan shared why she left Los Angeles behind to start fresh in Arizona.
May 31 2025, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
Jill Whelan, known for her role on The Love Boat has embarked on a new chapter away from the glitz of Los Angeles. The actress recently shared her motivations for relocating and the details of her new Arizona home.
Whelan decided to leave L.A. when her son chose to attend college in another state. She moved to be closer to him and the rest of her family.
Whelan and her husband, Jeff Knapple, packed their belongings and settled in Arizona, near where her son goes to school.
Jill Whelan said the decision to leave L.A. came after her son left for college in Tucson, Ariz.
"My sister and her husband also decided to move to Arizona, so they stayed with us and they're just about to move out into their place," she told People in May. "My son is in school in Tucson, and so that's pretty magical. We got my mom settled in Arizona, so it's been a convergence by the Whelans."
The California native has also revealed that her new home has undergone renovations. As of the time of the interview, she expressed that the residence was "starting to feel like home."
'The Love Boat' alum said her Arizona place now 'feels like home.'
"It's been awesome," Whelan added. "We are really happy here. It's a beautiful place."
One of her favorite activities in Arizona is hitting the gym, which features a steam room, sauna and cold plunge. However, she wasn't too comfortable with the cold plunge at first.
"But then I said, 'You can't be such a baby. You need to get back in there. You got to be in there for one minute,'" the Fantasy Island alum said. "So I went back in, dunked in and for about two seconds and was like, 'Nope, not ready yet.' But I have to say, it was actually really awesome and I do plan on getting to that one-minute goal in the cold plunge at some point."
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Beyond her fitness routine, Whelan and her family enjoy dining out and exploring new restaurants in Arizona.
In a February conversation with a news outlet, Whelan gushed about her marriage, highlighting the joy she finds in spending time with her husband and family.
Jill Whelan and her husband, Jeff Knapple, enjoy exploring Arizona’s restaurants.
"We really get along so well and enjoy each other's company so much and respect each other so much. And we make each other laugh, so we're really, really lucky," she said. "This is not the first marriage for either one of us. It took us a minute to find the right person, but we did eventually. We could spend every moment together and not see another person and be totally fine."
Before marrying Knapple, the actress was previously married to Brad St. John from 1993 to 2001 and Michael Chaykowsky from 2004 to 2014. She shares a son, Harrison, with her first husband and another son, Grant, with her second.
Jill Whelan has been married three times.
"When we started dating after both of our divorces, we both went, 'You know what? I'm just going to be myself and if they don't like this self, then that's fine,'" she reflected. "No harm, no foul, but that's not going to be the person for me. It's either take me at face value or don't take me at all. Because at some point the chickens are going to come to roost and it is going to get sticky and ugly and complicated. It's a lot easier [to be yourself]."
