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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Katie Rosseinsky

Idris Elba opens up on falling in love ‘at first sight’ with wife Sabrina Dhowre

Idris Elba has revealed that he fell in love “at first sight” when he met new wife Sabrina Dhowre.

The actor, who married the Canadian model in Marrakesh earlier this year, opened up on married life in an appearance on The View.

“It’s been an interesting year, a lot happened,” he told the show’s hosts. “I have been married before and I famously said I wouldn’t get married again. But I met someone that opened me up.

“I’m actually the happiest I’ve been in a long time. It was love at first sight.”

Love at first sight: Sabrina Dhowre and Idris Elba (VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)

The Hobbs & Shaw star went on to tell the story of how he and Dhowre met on his “only day off” while filming The Mountains Between Us in Vancouver.

“I went out of my only day off, true story, it was a Sunday night, I went to this party and there she was,” he said. “The rest is history.”

Elba recently hailed his wife as a “champion” for planning their lavish three day wedding while he was filming.

Newlyweds: The pair tied the knot earlier this year (Gareth Fuller - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

“We had an amazing wedding,” he told Lorraine’s Christine Lampard this week. “My whole family, friends, work network, we were all there and we had a good time.

“My wife, she was a champion. She took a lot on her shoulders because I was working a lot but it was a great day.”

The couple’s extended wedding celebrations are thought to have included a ‘colours of the Souk’ themed dinner at the Amanjena resort and a party at the Mandarin Oriental.

Elba was previously married to Hanne Norgaard from 1999 until 2003 and to Sonya Nicole Hanklin in 2006.

He shares daughter Isan with Norgaard and is also father to four-year-old son Winston with ex-girlfriend Naiyana Garth.

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