American Valentine's Day is finally here. The day when we show love, a sense of belonging. We shower each other with small items, flowers, chocolate. In the LP-Life.com editorial office, we thought not only about how to please our counterparts this Sunday, but also about the times that aren't in favour of love as much now. The online era and constantly evolving technology should make it easier for us to find a counterpart, but sometimes the opposite is true. We asked how our star couples met each other "back in the day"...
We didn't have to go far for our first answer. So how did Cinderella catch her prince? Eva Hrušková and Jan Přeučil have been inseparable since time immemorial. They can't live without each other. And besides - even after all these years they are still laughing, holding hands, Přeučil, like a proper gentleman, always treats Eva gallantly. A pleasure to look at them. And so they both reminisced on how they'd actually met.
"We've known each other for a long time, we kept meeting in the hallway of our house, but we usually exchanged only a few words back then,"
Eva Hrušková confided to LP-Life.com and Přeučil agreed, adding where he'd invited the future love of his life to their first date:
"Eva and her family moved into our building in 1982, in the summer. I invited Eva to a restaurant nearby. She didn't go out at all back then, so she was happy to join me."
But our Cinderella sees it a little differently:
"We had our first date many times because we were getting to know each other during the rehearsals for Sleeping Beauty. And we took it really slow."
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Eva Hrušková a Jan Přeučil. Source: archiv Evy Hruškové a Jana Přeučila
But they both agree that today's online world wasn't for them, and if they were single during this time, they probably wouldn't use dating sites.
"I probably wouldn't use a dating site, there is such a rich selection around me that technology isn't needed,"
Eva smiles mischievously.
"I probably wouldn't use a dating site because I don't think I'd find the lady of my dreams on the internet,"
Přeučil thinks.
Never say never
Popular actress Dana Morávková and Petr Malásek have been together for 25 years and married for 24 years. They are the so-called perennial stars of the Czech entertainment industry.
They met while working on the musical Cabaret at the Na Zábradlí Theater. Peter already liked Dana very much at that time, and it was thanks to the fact that the actress participated in the choreography of the musical, that didn't refuse the work offer. When they met in the studio to record the music, he already knew he would stay with her, and he really did. Right after work, they went with the whole ensemble to the Pohádka pub, and at the end of the evening, the two of them were the only ones who stayed at the table, talking.
The next day, Petr asked Dana for her hand in marriage. She married him a year later, on the same exact date, at Vyšehrad. And since then they have been together without any hiccups.
"If I were single during this time, I don't think I'd use any dating sites, but... never say never,"
Morávková smiles happily.
They were introduced by her then-boyfriend
Actress and host Eva Decastelo can also be proud of her stable marriage. It's interesting that she met her husband René, with whom she has been for twelve years, thanks to her then-boyfriend Matěj Ruppert.
"He took me to a business meeting with Patrik Hezucký and René. It was in the confectionery in Dolce Vita in the centre, which I think back then was owned by Peter Hapka. There, Matěj introduced me to René, it was roughly 17.5 years ago. We went on a date 12 years ago,"
Eva confided in us, remembering it as if it happened yesterday.
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Eva Decastelo s manželem Reném a jejich dětmi. Source: archiv Evy Decastelo
René asked her to be the host of a book release party back then, and Eva took her mother along.
"In jest, I said, 'Rene, meet your future mother-in-law.'"
She says she liked René very much, and he liked her back, but she couldn't tell and still can't until this day, because her husband always has a poker face on.
Eva is quite clear on online dating.
"I wouldn't use a dating site, not because I'm not into modern technology, but I know very well that in this virtual world, anyone can pretend to be anyone. I still believe in "recommendations". When my friends want to introduce me to a man, they give me the whole history of him - who he dated, was he married, if he has a job and what kind... while on the internet you have no one to ask, if you don't have common friends, and the man can come up with anything he likes and you might not be able to find out the truth for a very long time, if at all,"
she confided her fears and added that her girlfriends use dating sites a lot and that, with two exceptions, none have had a good experience with it.
Love at first sight already in school
Václav Vydra and Jana Boušková have also been together since forever. Václav loved Jana already in school, where they met. But he had to wait for her a while.
"We were 'only' friends for a long time, so the first 'date' didn't take place until sometime in 1983, when I threw a stone at Jana's window at a relatively late hour and she invited me in,"
Vydra recalls with a smile and adds that the online world is definitely not for him.
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Václav Vydra a Eva Boušková. Source: PETR_NOVOTNY / CNC / Profimedia
"I'd rather wait to see what fate brings me."
The date was spontaneous
Monika Leová has been with her husband Martin Košín for 11 years now, she married him in the summer of 2018. Apparently, her friend introduced them at a bar.
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Monika Leová s manželem Martinem Košínem. Source: archiv Moniky Leové
"Our official first date was when I up and went to Brno, where he was studying at the time. He showed me the city, we wandered around the castle walls, we went to dinner, to a bar where we danced, and then he took me to the student apartment, it was a real mancave,"
Monika recalls, adding that she believes in online dating:
"If I couldn't find a partner for a long time, I would try it out. I have a couple of friends who have found life partners through it so why not.”
Maxová on a date with a shark
Top model Tereza Maxová met her husband Burak, whom she married in 2016, on New Year's Eve in South Africa, where she was spending the Christmas holidays with her mother and son. The first date was very unconventional.
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Tereza Maxová s manželem. Source: archiv Terezy Maxové
"The first date was in a wetsuit, in a cage while diving with the sharks. It was sort of a blind date and my mom and Tobiáš watched everything from the boat,"
beautiful Maxová remembers with a smile. Her answer to the question of whether she would ever try online dating, her answer is definite:
"No, I wouldn't even dream of it."
And what about you? Where did you meet your partner and if you don't have one, would you go on a date with someone from a dating site?
