Lucky Blue Smith, Luka Sabbat, Kunal Nayyar, Nico Tortorella and More Open Up About the Loves of Their Lives
Julia van Os, 21, right, with boyfriend Max Papendieck, 30, and their Boston terrier, Sid
Max Papendieck nearly missed meeting Julia van Os at New York City nightclub the Blond two years ago. “It was one of those nights you’re like, Ah, I’m not sure if I’m going to do anything,” the Australian photographer says. Spoiler alert: He went. She approached. They kissed. “You don’t really meet people you get serious about in a nightclub. We’re, like, the exception,” says Os, a model from the Netherlands. “I would say that Max is my best friend.”
Alex Crush, 23, left, with girlfriend Amilna Estevão, 18
For Alex Crush and Amilna Estevão, it all started in a karaoke bar. “She had a lot of life. She smiled a lot,” says Crush, a gender-fluid model. “In this industry it’s hard if you’re different, and I’m very different. Amilna’s always been supportive in everything I do or want to be.” As for Estevão, who was born in Angola and became a model at 14, “Alex taught me that I’m the prettiest black girl in the world,” she says. “People told me that before, but Alex made me believe it.”
Pyper America Smith, 20, right, with brother Lucky Blue Smith, 19
“Lucky’s superpower is that he makes people feel like they’re on top of the world,” says actress Pyper America Smith. “You feel like you literally have wings.” According to little bro Lucky—model, actor, and new father—the feeling of awe is mutual. “Pyper doesn’t realize how cool she is,” he says. “I genuinely don’t think she comprehends it.”
Kunal Nayyar, 36, with wife Neha Kapur Nayyar, 34
“The first time I saw Kunal, he was wearing a trucker hat, cutoff gloves, hipster glasses, and a scarf,” fashion designer Neha Kapur Nayyar recalls of meeting the Big Bang Theory star in 2009. “It took me a while to find him among all that.” Though she wasn’t impressed with her future husband’s accessories and was oblivious to his fame—“I had never seen the show,” she admits—Kunal was already a goner. “My first thought was, This is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he says. “My second thought was, She’s way out of my league.” The two married in New Delhi two years later. The cutoff gloves stayed home.
Maria Dueñas Jacobs, 34, with daughters, from left, Isa, two, Luna, four, and Silvi, two
“‘Despacito’ is the girls’ favorite song right now,” says Maria Dueñas Jacobs, director of brand development at Stitch Fix (and a former editor at Glamour and Elle). “It’s pretty much inappropriate for their age, but they love that it’s in Spanish, their first language. To them it’s about love, kissing, and slowing things down, despacito…. Having them as daughters is the biggest love I’ve ever felt.”
Samira Wiley, 30, right, with wife Lauren Morelli, 35
Actress Samira Wiley and television writer Lauren Morelli first met on the set of Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black in 2012. “The first time I saw Lauren, I thought, Whoa—she’s really young to have this job. She must be really f-cking talented,” Wiley says. (Says Morelli: “I remember feeling like she was magnetic.”) Five years and four Emmy wins later, the pair, who exchanged vows in Palm Springs last spring, are still each other’s biggest fans. “I know Lauren loves me when she texts me during the day and tells me she misses me,” Wiley says. “It’s so wonderful to feel wanted and needed.”
Luka Sabbat, 20, right, with girlfriend Adriana Mora, 22
It was the summer of 2015 in New York City when model-stylist-actor Luka Sabbat—wearing head-to-toe red—caught Adriana Mora’s eye. “I thought, Who is that?” the Costa Rican–born model says with a laugh. “And what is he wearing?” (The ensemble was Raf Simons and Supreme, if you must know.) His first impression of her? “That she was fire,” he says, “and she was mad weird—and mad interesting.”
Bethany C. Meyers, 31, right, with partner Nico Tortorella, 29
“We met playing beer pong in college,” Younger star Nico Tortorella says of his love of 11 years, fitness entrepreneur Bethany C. Meyers. (FYI: Her seam tattoo runs from her ankle to her armpit to her wrist!) The duo has been what they call “twin flames in a polyamorous, queer relationship” ever since. So do they have their own romance language? “A few different dialects,” jokes Tortorella. Adds Meyers: “I know his love patterns better than he does. Nico falls in love very deeply—people come into his life and sweep him away. I can usually see a bigger picture of how long it will last.”
Moj Mahdara, 40, right, with fiancée Roya Rastegar, 36
A mutual friend tried to set up Moj Mahdara and Roya Rastegar 11 years ago: “She was like, ‘I found your future wife,’ ” recalls Mahdara, the CEO of beauty industry fest Beautycon. They didn’t hit it off. “We were in two different parts of our lives,” says Rastegar, a writer and film producer. Seven years later that same friend, who had briefly dated Rastegar in the interim, intervened once more. “She was like, ‘You guys should be together,’ ” Mahdara says. It was true. “You have all these ideas of who you want to be with,” she says. “Most of the time, the best person for you is someone you’ve put into a bucket of ‘no.’ ” The couple are expecting their first child.
Camilla Stærk, left, with best friend Helena Christensen
“For some strange and magical reason, even though we’re so different, we agree on everything,” supermodel Helena Christensen says of fashion designer and collaborator Camilla Stærk, whom she met at a photo shoot in Denmark in 2000. Stærk agrees: “There are very few people you can spend a lot of time with and never feel like you need some space,” she says. “I always call Helena my girlfriend, but then people think we’re a couple. I’m like, ‘Well, we basically could be by now!’”
Frida Aasen, 23, left, with best friend Herieth Paul, 22
Herieth Paul met Frida Aasen “in a model apartment when we were, like, 16,” she says. “We were different ages. We spoke different languages. It was hard.” (Paul was born in Tanzania; Aasen hails from Norway.) But after bonding over a mutual love of clothing—“I learned how to dress better from her,” Aasen says—the former roommates, who both walked in the 2017 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, became each other’s missing piece. “I’m a little more of an introvert, and she’s outgoing,” Aasen says. “It’s really nice to have someone to push me a bit.” Adds Paul: “We help each other. We do.”
Jaxyn Harlem, nine, left, with father Benny Harlem, 28
“When Jaxyn was born, I was 19 years old; I wasn’t ready to be a father,” admits model Benny Harlem, whose Instagram (@bennyharlem) is a touching tribute to big hair…and bigger love. “My daughter has taught me to be a better helper, a better healer, and a better listener. Period.” Jaxyn, who often appears on her dad’s feed, says the lessons are mutual. “The best thing I’ve learned from my dad is to love myself,” she says. “Before I can love anybody else, I have to be proud of myself, learn from my mistakes, and be thankful for all my imperfectness.”