Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett in Los Angeles on Dec. 6, 2023.Photo:Leon Bennett/Getty
Leon Bennett/Getty
Angela BassettandCourtney B. Vance’s love has stood the test of time — once it got started!
While promoting the newest season of9-1-1, Bassett said Wednesday onLive with Kelly and Markthat her romance with her longtime husband didn’t begin with an instant spark.
“For me, when I saw Mark, it love at first sight,“Kelly Ripatold Bassett, 65, of husband and co-hostMark Consuelos, whom she married in 1996. “Was it love at first sight for you two?”
“No,” the Emmy-nominated actress said, explaining, “We met at drama school, and he came with and left with a girlfriend. So I was like, ‘Wow, the commitment of that guy. Oh, amazing!' "
Courtney B. Vance and Angela Bassett in New York City on Dec. 9, 1996.Patrick McMullan/Getty
Patrick McMullan/Getty
“The girlfriend’s gone!” said Consuelos, 52.
“Yeah, gone,” theBlack Pantheractress continued. “I had a party I was like, ‘Oh, invite the girlfriend!’ He’s said, ‘She’s gone!’ "
After a few years of dating, Bassett and Vance married in 1997. They welcomed fraternal twins,daughter Bronwyn and son Slater, on Jan. 27, 2006.
Slater Vance, Bronwyn Vance, Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance in Beverly Hills, California, on March 12, 2023.Lionel Hahn/Getty
Lionel Hahn/Getty
After meeting at the Yale School of Drama in the ‘80s, Bassett reconnected with Vance when she was 38 and had achieved success, from her Oscar-nominated turn playingTina TurnerinWhat’s Love Got to Do with It?to starring oppositeWhitney HoustoninWaiting to Exhale.
“When I met Courtney, I had known him in drama school, was very enamored of his talents, his gift on stage, and just him as a person, just a real sweetheart, found him to be supportive,” Bassett recently told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview.
But there was a different spark this time around. “What I really loved so much about him was how supportive and engaging he is of everyone,” she explained. “That’s something that really sort of opened my eyes, and Iwent from friend to being enamored with himin a different kind of way.”
Bassett added, ““From the beginning, he was always just a very supportive partner and he continues to be to this day. And our communication continues to be strong, But it always comes back to, he’s always been thoughtful about me. His core burns pure.”
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9-1-1season 7 premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
source: people.com
