Strictly Ballroom sensation Paul Mercurio still shudders when recalling the time he decided to cook his beautiful wife Andrea a romantic dinner in the nude – only to wind up with agonising burns to his private parts!
“We were newlyweds and we both love cooking, so my plan was to surprise her with a decadent dinner – candles, flowers, champagne. It was a warm night, so I thought I’d be cheeky and perform the culinary honours naked,” remembers Paul, 53.
Paul won hearts when he played Scott in the Aussie classic Strictly Ballroom.
“Big mistake. Lesson learned is never deep-fry in the buff, especially without an apron. We spent the rest of the night applying ice packs to certain sensitive bits!” he laughs, embracing his wife of 29 years.
Welcoming Woman’s Day into their Melbourne home, Paul and Andrea agree that plenty of laughter – and dancing – is the secret to their beautiful romance.
“Nothing fazes us. Even on our wedding day, which was planned as a gorgeous garden ceremony at Melbourne’s Rippon Lea estate, when it started raining we just laughed, thinking, ‘Is this an omen?’”
WATCH: Paul is unstoppable in Strictly Ballroom
“With that, the clouds cleared, the sun sparkled and the birds twittered,” recalls Paul, who is a doting father to their three daughters, Elise, 27, Emily, 24, and Erin, 20.
Paul and Andrea’s love first blossomed in the mid-1980s, when they began dancing together for Sydney Dance Company.
To read the full story on Paul and Andrea’s inspiring love story, be sure to pick up the latest issue of Woman’s Day, on sale now!
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