Office romances are showing no signs of slowing down despite the normalisation of hybrid and remote working. In fact, quite the opposite is true. And while most workers have heard of (or experienced) unsuccessful romances in their own offices, the aim of this article is to consider Cupid’s successes. In the true spirit of Valentine’s Day, let’s celebrate the fairytale ending!
- The Obamas. The former US president, Barack Obama, met the beautiful Michelle in a law firm in 1989. He had just joined as a summer associate while she was already a young, practising lawyer there. As his adviser, she kept refusing his advances. Finally, when he offered to quit his job to secure a date, she relented. Their romance flourished and four years later they got married.
- The Gates. BiII Gates met Melinda French for the first time at a press event and proceeded to ask her out twice the same day. Also working for Microsoft at the time, she refused, claiming that dating the CEO of her employer company had got to be a bad idea. But eventually, they got together and, six years later, they tied the marital knot.
- Declan Donnelly (of Ant and Dec) and Ali Astall. Ali Astall was Ant and Dec’s manager for over a decade before she got together with Dec. They got married in 2015, with Ant as best man, of course!
- Holly Willoughby and Dan Baldwin. Holly Willoughby, the nation’s favourite presenter, met her now husband, Dan Baldwin when she worked on Ministry Of Mayhem back in 2004. Dan was one of the producers of the series and they were friends for six months before they started dating. They are now married and have three children together. Awww!
For more examples of couples who met through work, please see an extensive list published by Hello Magazine. However long the list of failed workplace romances, Cupid certainly serves up some great romantic triumphs! We hope you enjoyed reading about them, and wish you a very Happy Valentine’s Day 2023!
