Salma Hayek Says She Was "Dragged" to Her Surprise Wedding: "Like an Intervention"
The Oscar-nominated actor said that she didn't believe in marriage at first.
Salma Hayek is a household name, having established herself in Hollywood over her decades-long career. Hayek's latest role is in the third installment of the Magic Mike franchise, Magic Mike's Last Dance, in which she plays a housewife reevaluating herself after discovering her wealthy husband's infidelities. In real life, however, her marriage to French businessman François-Henri Pinault is much different, Hayek recently revealed in an interview with Glamour—even if it didn't exactly start off on the right foot. Read on to find out why Hayek had to be "dragged" to her surprise wedding, which she compared to an "intervention."
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Hayek said she didn't believe in marriage.
Hayek was candid about her relationship with Pinault during the interview, published Feb. 8, explaining that she "didn't believe in marriage" and wasn't interested in marrying him at first.
"He tried for a long time, and I would say yes, and then I wouldn't show up," she told Glamour. "And he didn't go away when I didn't show up, he had to stick around until we got it done. And I was terrified."
According to Page Six, Hayek actually turned down Pinault's first two proposals. "I am ashamed to admit how many times he had to ask me," she told the Press Trust of India in 2015. "Three times! That was the biggest fear I'd ever overcome."
But when the pair did eventually tie the knot—on Valentine's Day in Paris in 2009—Hayek said that she wasn't informed about her nuptials ahead of time.
Her family had to force her to attend her own ceremony.
Considering her fears about marriage, Hayek needed a little push to finally make things official.
"I didn't even know I was getting married that day," she told Glamour. "It was like an intervention. I don't think I ever told this story. No, they just took me to the court. My parents, my brother, they were all ganging up on me. I had a phobia of the marriage thing."
When she realized what was happening, Hayek said she was nervous, but she couldn't say no. "My mother-in-law, who's the most tasteful person when it comes to entertaining, had already been doing the lunch. I had no choice," she told the outlet. "I had said yes to the marriage, but I just wouldn't actually show up on the day or do it."
Once all was said and done, though, she changed her tune. "Afterward I said, 'Oh, it's OK. I don't feel any different' And then a bit later I said, 'OK, this is kind of exciting.' And he's like, 'Can we have a party now?'" Hayek recalled.
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The happy couple did end up having a larger celebration.
Two months later, Hayek and Pinault had a second ceremony in front of friends and family, Parade reported. The star-studded event was held in Venice, Italy, the city where the couple first met in 2006. Now, they celebrate both anniversaries.
"When it comes to anniversaries, it's fun and a surprise," Hayek told Glamour. "I can cook, so he likes it when I cook. But I make it a surprise, something different, like the way I decorate. Or he takes me somewhere, or he hides the presents."
When asked about the "most romantic gift" Pinault has given her, she had a simple response: "a daughter." Per Page Six, Pinault and Hayek welcomed their little girl, Valentina Pinault, in Sept. 2007 before they were married.
Hayek speaks highly of her husband.
While she may have been afraid of marriage, Hayek has nothing but admiration for her husband. "I found a man better than any man I could ever in my life imagine existed. He found me, actually. I wasn't even looking," she told Latina magazine in 2011, per the Daily Mail.
She reiterated these feelings to Glamour, saying that her relationship is much different than that of her character in Magic Mike, Maxandra.
"I have nothing in common with her, because I married a man who is very supportive, who saw things in me that I never even saw in myself," Hayek said. In the film, Maxandra tells Mike (Channing Tatum) that her relationship didn't work "because marriage," but that also couldn't be more different from Hayek's own experiences.
"I think that it's very easy, when you've been with someone for a long time, to take each other for granted Having a good marriage is one of the hardest things," she said during her interview with Glamour. "I get a little bit nervous because for me it hasn't even been that hard. It's kind of like when something good happens to you and you're waiting for the hit."
Hayek added, "So, in a way, it's good to be waiting for the shoe to drop because you're like, 'Better wake up, be on your game, and make it a little bit extra fun,' or something. It keeps you on your toes."
