Hargitay and Peter Hermann have been married for nearly 20 years after falling in love at first sight. Hargitay’s co-star and actor Christopher Melani, who played detective Elliot Stabler on the show, tells how the idyllic love story came to be.
Hermann had joined the show as a guest actor and was portraying defense attorney Trevor Langan when Hargitay, who plays the brave Lieutenant Olivia Benson, first saw him, she fell in love.
He knew she had never acted that way because of anyone else because he had known her for such a long time, notwithstanding Meloni’s allegations that she started acting like a schoolgirl.
Although she made an effort to conceal them, everyone viewing her could sense her feelings for Hermann. Meloni continues, “Oh my God, it feels like I’m back in high school, or even elementary school.
They soon started dating, and according to Hargitay, their first date was “too good to be true.” She was in the middle of relocating that day, so Hargitay hesitated when he asked her to go with him to church.
But after some nagging, the actress agreed to accompany him to church. He assumed that she was crying because the sermon had affected her when she did so during it.
It turned out, however, that she was crying because she knew right away that Hermann was the man she would marry. She broke down in tears at the simple thought of having found her spouse because destiny was at work.
After their first date, the two began dating and even discussed getting married and starting a family. She disclosed the following in a People interview:
“We knew that we wanted to get married.”
However, after a while of dating, Hargitay one day appeared at work looking defeated. She told Meloni that after a lengthy conversation with Hermann, she came to the conclusion that their relationship would not endure.
She acknowledged that they had both started crying as they talked. While Hargitay was telling him about her struggles, Meloni could only imagine how they would eventually meet and get married.
They also did. The pair reconnected once their differences were resolved. Hermann knew he wanted to stay with her forever a few months later, on Hargitay’s 40th birthday. He recalls:
“I think I caught a glimpse of what she would look like when she is planted and placed in the soil she was designed to be placed in. I wanted to inhabit that planet. that kind of thing!”
After dating for three years, the pair got married on August 28, 2004, in Santa Barbara, California. They both believed that they had found “the one,” but they had no idea how perfect their relationship would turn out to be. They were content that they had taken the time to look for and marry the ideal match.
