Hollywood actress and screenwriter Nia Vardalos, writer and star of the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" movies, has stepped into the limelight with her 'secret' boyfriend Spiros Katsagans. The duo made their public debut at The Hollywood Reporter's Women In Entertainment Gala held at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills on Thursday, an event attached also by stars such as Adele and Camila Cabello.
Vardalos, a comedian, actress, and producer, displayed her affection for Katsagans as they held hands on the red carpet.
Katsagans, a resident of Athens, Greece, caught the eye of the 61-year-old actress a year ago, just as she wrapped up filming for "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3." The couple's connection blossomed in the ambiance of a full moon evening at a Greece-based open-air restaurant “in the most romantic way possible”
"It's like I wrote a movie and then walked in it," shared the Hollywood star.
The pair had made a low-key appearance at the 3rd Annual Academy Museum Gala on December 3, 2023, in Los Angeles, where they were side by side but appeared more like friends than a romantic duo. Vardalos did not want to name Katsagans at that time.
“I've learned to keep things private,” she said.
“I try to keep the relationship I am in now as private as possible to preserve its specialness.”
In September, Vardalos hinted at her newfound love in an interview with People, emphasising her commitment to keeping personal matters private.
Vardalos also humorously touched upon maintaining a relationship while filming, saying, "“I think when you're filming you have to be like a Barbie doll, like you just have to lie there smooth,” she joked.
'You have no sexuality at all. No.
“When you're filming a movie, you just walk through it and do your job. There is no crying. So I don't believe in relationships while making a film."
The romance comes five years after Vardalos’s split from her husband of over two decades, actor Ian Gomez, with whom she shares a teen daughter, Ilaria.
Vardalos and Gomez, who met through improv comedy, were married in 1993 and their relationship served as inspiration for Vardalos's fictional romance in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Gomez converted to Greek Orthodoxy for the marriage, a detail later incorporated into the 2002 rom-com, which Vardalos wrote and starred in.
After the split, she took time off from dating.
“So I just tried not to think about myself that way because no teenager wants to hear or know what their mother is doing. I think a teenager should be self-centred and only think about themselves all their life,” Vardalos said.
Vardalos, who wore a stunning mini dress with a red rose print on a black background at The Hollywood Reporter's Women In Entertainment Gala, completing her look with red pumps. In contrast, Spiros donned a black suit with a white shirt. The couple's red carpet appearances and public outings mark a new chapter for Vardalos, who has learned to balance fame with the desire to keep her current relationship as private as possible.
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