Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves are well-loved celebrities, so it should be no surprise that the romcom star and model's love story is also super iconic. The couple met unexpectedly at a bar in 2006, and 17 years later, their relationship is stronger than ever.
The duo, who featured in the 2022 Hello Kind List, currently live together with their three children in an incredible Spanish-Mediterranean mansion in Texas. On Sunday night, Matthew will take center stage an awards presenter at the 96th Oscars and HELLO! has all the details on what you need to know about the star's wife and family life...
Who is Matthew McConaughey's wife Camila Alves?
Camila Alves McConaughey is a Brazilian model and designer from Itambacuri. The star began her career in modeling when aged 19, after she moved from Brazil to New York City.
© Getty ImagesAfter establishing herself as an in demand talent, Camila - who remains signed to Barcelona-based agency Uno Models - appeared on the covers of magazines including Vogue, Town & Country and Ocean Drive. She also has worked with fashion brands including Valentino, Carolina Herrera and Mango.
Her designing talents were revealed when she worked on a range of Muxo handbags in 2010. Camila has also starred on TV as a host of the reality show Shear Genius and is entrepreneurial, having started the lifestyle brand Women of Today in 2016. The same year, she announced her own organic food company for babies and toddlers called Yummy Spoonfuls.
How did the couple meet?
The American actor first met his wife by chance at a bar in Los Angeles while he was mixing some cocktails for his friends.
© Pascal Le SegretainCamila confessed in an Access Hollywood interview in 2012: "The first interaction, I did not know who he was. At the time he had a really long beard, and he had this rasta hat. He was all covered up, and I didn't really realize who he was".
But eventually the model was convinced to join Matthew and his friends. After inviting Camila over to their table, the rom-com actor revealed during a 2017 Howard Stern interview: "That night I spoke 25 minutes of the best Spanish I've ever spoken in my life… She spoke Portuguese. I don't think I ever understood Portuguese as well as I did that night. I was focused. It worked."
© Getty ImagesWhile the two hit it off, it took Matthew a few attempts before he was able to secure a second date with the Brazil-born designer. But once he did the two became inseparable.
When did they get married?
The duo married in June 2012 in a private Catholic ceremony featured in HELLO!. Matthew and Camila tied the knot in the company of their family and close friends, including actress Reese Witherspoon.
Speaking before their wedding, Camila admitted the couple felt they had "been living a married life for over six years now". She went on to say: "We have homes together, we have family together, we have kids, we've built a life together. So, we've been living a married life this whole time."
© Photo: Getty ImagesLess than a month after their wedding, the beautiful pair had more good news to share, as they announced Camila was expecting a third child. "Happy birthday America, more good news, Camila and I are expecting our 3rd child. God bless, just keep livin!" Matthew tweeted.
Matthew was initially unsure about marriage. He and Camila had settled and had two children before he decided he was ready to make the next step in their relationship.
Speaking to GQ in 2014, the Dazed and Confused star explained: "I had to get to the point where I saw it as more than just the thing to do. I wanted to really want to…. [So] we talked about it spiritually. We did a lot of reading and talked to a lot of people that had been divorced, a lot of people that had been happily married. We talked to our pastor.
© Photo: Getty Images"In the end, our understanding was, 'Let's go make a covenant, with you, me, and God'. And let's understand that this is not a destination, this is the beginning of an adventure that we're taking together. Once that clicked with me and I didn’t have to intellectualize my way into it, I started to feel the excitement."
Although the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days actor later revealed he did need some convincing from Camila too: "Some of it had to do with her putting it on me. It took her going, "C'mon, Big Boy, Mr. Easygoing-We'll-Get-to-It-When-We-Get-to-It. Either [expletive] or get off the pot."
How many children do the pair share?
The A-lister couple share three children: 15-year-old Levi, Vida, 14, and Livingston, 11. In 2020, the previously Hollywood-based couple moved back to Matthew's home state of Texas so that they and their children could be closer to Matthew's 90-year-old mother.
© Photo: Getty ImagesWhile the family tend to keep sons Levi and Livingston and daughter Vida out of the spotlight, they sometimes do take to social media to offer an insight into their happy domestic life and son Levi has now opened up his own Instagram account. Last year, Camila celebrated their son Livingston's tenth birthday with a cute photo on Instagram captioned: "December 28th was Livingston's birthday!!! All he wanted to do was go to Altitude, the trampoline park in Austin, and eat ice cream cake!
"May your heart, my son, maintain its simplicity as you grow in this complicated world!! You challenge me and teach me daily and for that I am grateful! What a blessing you are!"
The couple's children also made the news in 2022 when they joined their parents' work to campaign for better gun reform in America following the devastating shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde Texas, where Matthew grew up.
Read more HELLO! US stories here
Like this story? Sign up to our HELLO! Mail newsletter to receive all the latest royal and celebrity news straight in your inbox.
