32 AUGUST 19, 2019 OK!

LOVE LIVES

UNTOLD

LOVE STO

 O

ne look at the

#couplegoals vibe

between Mariska

Hargitay and Peter

Hermann — cuddly

dates at tennis and

football games;

Instagram posts

addressing each other

as “my heart, my love”; breezy vacation

pics captioned “happiness” — and it’s

easy to believe the pair just started

dating, like, yesterday. But nearly two

decades after falling for each other on

set — in a town where romances often

burn out as spectacularly as they begin

— Mariska, 55, and Peter, 51, have only

gotten closer, even through trying bouts

of heartbreak and loss.

A LONG ROAD

The first meeting between the pair was

pure Hollywood: In 2002, Peter

guest-starred on Mariska’s longtime hit

show, Law & Order: SVU (in which

she’s played shrewd detective Olivia

Benson for two decades). Though

Mariska’s insisted there weren’t exactly

fireworks — “He didn’t think I was

funny,” she’s said — they soon bonded

over their faith. During an early date to

Peter’s church, Mariska was overcome

by the feeling that she’d found her

husband. “I just started sobbing,” she’s

said, adding that Peter thought she

was moved by the service. “But I was

just overwhelmed, realizing he was

The One.”

A lavish 2004 wedding in Santa

Barbara followed, with the couple

saying their I do’s in front of 200 guests:

“I recited my vows so loudly you could

have heard them in Oregon,” Peter’s

recalled. And the love has endured,

with the couple often swooning over

each other (“She’s the embodiment of

laughter, of joy,” Peter’s said of Mariska)

and cheering on each other’s careers

(“#ImSoProud,” Mariska posted of

Peter’s run on the hit show Younger).

But an insider tells OK! that while it

“might seem like Mariska and Peter

have it all, they’ve gone through some

very tough times — the kind that would

break a couple who was anything less

than 100 percent committed.” Though

they have three healthy children,

MARISKA & PETER’S

HOW MARISKA

HARGITAY AND PETER

HERMANN OVERCAME

PRIVATE HEARTBREAK

AND BUILT ONE OF THE

MOST SOLID MARRIAGES

IN HOLLYWOOD