Salma Hayek, the versatile star of Black Mirror and House of Gucci, recently regaled her fans with a quirky account of her first kiss.
Sharing with W magazine, the 56-year-old recalled: "In Coatzacoalcos, my little town in Mexico. It was very memorable. I wanted to taste good, so I kept putting honey on my lips."
The end result? An unfortunate infestation of ants and a burnt mouth. "Something that started real romantic turned out to be kind of disastrous," Salma recounted with her trademark wit.
Fast forward a few years and Salma's love life took a decidedly more glamorous turn. It's a whirlwind romance that even Hollywood would find hard to script.
The Oscar-nominated actress met François-Henry Pinault, the dynamic CEO of Kering, in 2006.
And while she’s been famously reserved about their early days, she once hinted to Town & Country in 2019: "It’s such a romantic, amazing story, but it is mine. I don’t want to vulgarize it by making it into a story to make myself interesting.”
Their love story progressed quickly, with the couple announcing both their engagement and expecting their first child in March 2007.
Their daughter, Valentina, was born later that year, joining François's children François and Mathilde from a previous marriage and his son August from a relationship with model Linda Evangelista.
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However, the journey to their Valentine’s Day nuptials in 2009 wasn’t without its hitches. Salma, known for her fiercely independent spirit, confessed in a 2023 interview with Glamour: "It was like an intervention. My parents, my brother, they were all ganging up on me. I had a phobia of the marriage thing."
Yet, despite her initial apprehension, two months after their intimate February ceremony in Paris, the couple celebrated their union with a star-studded affair in Italy.
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Celebrating their 14th anniversary in 2020, Salma took to social media with heartfelt words for her husband: "Today 14 years ago I met my soul mate. After the test of time and even the test of the quarantine, I feel very blessed that I've found you, and the more I discover you the more my love grows. Happy anniversary Mi Amor."
Addressing the occasional whispers and misconceptions surrounding their marriage, Salma had an empowering response on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast in 2021. "When I married him, everybody said, 'Oh, it's an arranged marriage. She married him for the money.' I’m like, 'Yeah, whatever. Think what you want. Fifteen years together.’ And we are strong in love."