Yahoo Lifestyle Hilaria Baldwin Reveals Husband Alec's Secret Key to Their Marriage (Exclusive)
The couple and their adorable children are at the center of the new TLC reality series 'The Baldwins'
With seven children, life can get a little hectic for Alec and Hilaria Baldwin.
The couple and their adorable kids — they are parents to Carmen, 11, Rafael, 9, Leonardo, 8, Romeo, 6, Eduardo and Marilu, 4, and Ilaria, 2 — are at the center of the new TLC reality series The Baldwins (premiering Feb. 23), and in this week's PEOPLE cover story, Hilaria, 41, reveals how she and Alec maintain their bond after 12 years married.
"We'll find time to go for dinner," she says. "It gives us a chance to reconnect, sometimes just sit in silence. It's just like, 'Okay, 'we're here.'"
She adds, "He always said, 'We're married, you're my wife, you're the mother of my children, but you always need to be my girlfriend.'"
"Yeah, I just couldn't have it any other way," Emmy-winning 30 Rock star Alec, 66, says.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
Alec and Hilaria BaldwinWhen the pair met by chance at a New York City restaurant 14 years ago, Alec wasn't looking for a partner.
"I had been married, got divorced. I dated another woman for off and on for quite a while. I'm like, 'I don't want to have a girlfriend. I don't,'" Alec recalls of 2011, when he and Hilaria first entered each other's lives.
Alec was previously married to actress Kim Basinger from 1993 to 2002, with whom he shares daughter Ireland Baldwin, 29.
"And so when I met [Hilaria], I was really like, 'Oh, God. I don't want to do this. I don't want to do this,'" Alec remembers. "But I mean, I fell madly in love with her. And I told my friends, and they were like, 'Oh, Jesus Christ. It's like a miracle.'"
The Baldwins captures lighthearted moments between the two and their large family, as well as the emotional fallout over Alec’s legal drama after the accidental shooting on the set of his movie Rust.
"We're like an old couple," says Hilaria when asked about their adorable banter that's a funny highlight of the show. "We're half of an old couple," Alec quickly interjects.
As Hilaria remembers it, Alec took his time to make first move, making her wait six weeks before they kissed. "He shook my hand, which was fine," she recalls matter-of-factly. "No hug, nothing."
"Well, no, I had been dating someone," Alec explains.
"Listen, I'm older, I'm from a different civilization," he continues. "And in my mind, when I was younger, if you sleep with someone, you have a bond with them. And I bonded with people that I did not want to bond with, but I did that. And then with her, the same thing. I'm thinking, 'Oh, I don't want another girlfriend.'"
"He was very respectful," says Hilaria.
"I just didn't want to make her like ... She's a beautiful woman, I'm sure she's had people all over her," jokes Alec.
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The couple's relationship has been put to the test over the years, having been picked apart for their age difference, their decision to have a large family and everything in between. The Baldwins offers them the opportunity to reclaim their narrative and upend unfair misconceptions (she’s a gold-digger; he’s a grump).
“Telling your story is one thing, and showing your story is something else,” says Hilaria. “It felt authentic, it felt human. It felt very empowering.”
The Baldwins premieres on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 10pm E.T. on TLC.
For more on Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE.
Read the original article on People
