Happy with hindsight. Eva Longoria reflected on finding love with husband José Bastón later in life after her two past marriages didn’t work out.
The Desperate Housewives alum, 47, opened up about her relationship ups and downs during a recent episode of her “Connections with Eva Longoria” podcast. While chatting with author Isabel Allende, the Texas native recalled having to overcome jealousy with past partners.
“I think jealousy takes up such an amount of energy,” the former soap opera star explained. “I remember being so jealous and your stomach is inside out. It’s the worst feeling. Why would anybody want that feeling?”
Longoria was previously married to Tyler Christopher from 2002 to 2004 and to Tony Parker from 2007 to 2011 before exchanging vows with Bastón in 2016. The Dog Days actress met the businessman on a blind date that was set up by a mutual friend — and Bastón initially didn’t recognize the TV star.
The Brooklyn Nine-Nine alum told Allende that getting divorced twice made her reconsider what she prioritizes in romantic relationships. “I think that’s why, with my second marriage — no wait, my third — finding love at 40, I found [my husband] when I was 40 – and he was 50 – it was just like, ‘Can we just enjoy this life together?'” Longoria added. “I mean, I do yell at him for [leaving out] the toothbrush or something like that, still.”
Before finding love with the Televisa president, the Harsh Times actress hinted at feeling finished with marriage as a whole. “I’ve been married twice. Been there, done that!” she told Access Hollywood Live in 2013. “I’m not one of those women who are like, ‘I must procreate!’ I think kids are a product of love. So if you find the right person and you want to have a family with that person, then that’s when the time is right. But … if I’m 50 and single, I’m not going to go do it myself.”
When she welcomed son Santiago with Bastón in June 2018 — when she was 43 — Longoria said the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. “He was meant to be with me at this stage,” she gushed to Parents Latina in August 2019. “I’m more patient, and I don’t work as much even though it doesn’t seem that way!”
The media mogul shares three kids with ex-wife Natalia Esperón, but there were still some aspects of parenthood that came as a surprise after Santiago joined the family. “[He’s] explorational and wants to do everything and jump on everything in every moment,” Longoria exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2021, teasing that her son was in the “stressful threes” phase of his life. “I should have enjoyed [the newborn] stage more. That was the easy stage. Like, they’re not mobile. They’re not talking. Now, he’s, like, all over the place.”
Despite the harder parts of raising a toddler, Longoria still called it her “favorite” age. “Every stage that comes up is more enjoyable [than the last],” she told Us. “It was challenging [before, but now], I’m not as tired. I’m more like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’ve got to be present because his little mind is informed.'”
