Priyanka Chopra Jonas has found her fairytale with husband, Nick Jonas, and daughter Malti Marie. As she soaks up the current season of her life, she can’t help but reflect on the moments that got her there.
LISTEN NOW: Priyanka Chopra Jonas on meeting Nick at The Met Gala and their baby's NICU journey
Moving to the Unites Staes from India at the age of 13 made for some big challenges for the 2000 Miss World winner, especially when it came to quality connections. Always flying solo and not having a support system to turn to made it all the more special when she met Jonas who made her feel seen in one of her most overwhelming moments.
“When my first Met [Gala] was happening and I was going with Ralph Lauren, I was very excited,” she reflected as a guest on Glennon Doyle’s We Can Do Hard Things podcast. “I don’t know why — I don’t think it’s a normal thing to do — they asked Nick and I individually, [since] we were both going alone, if we both would go together on behalf of the brand.”
Sharing Nick was the perfect gentlemen as they walked the carpet, Chopra Jonas says it wasn’t until they walked into the exhibition that her attraction deepened.
“I turned around the bend and just saw a sea of people that I had only seen on television — I did not know anyone,” she recalled. “I was spinning out in my head about what my next step is going to be… I had these big eyes and I was just staring into the room for — to me — what felt like 10-15 minutes. I suddenly heard Nick’s voice and my eyes focused on his face and he just showed me his hand and said, ‘Shall we?’”
The pair went on to not only have an unforgettable night, but ended up building a beautiful life together after getting married in 2018 and welcoming their daughter, Malti Marie Jonas, in January 2022.
After welcoming their daughter prematurely via surrogacy, Chopra says it was the same support Jonas showed her on the night they met that got her through the 110 days their baby girl was in the NICU. “It was just terrifying,” Priyanka shared of the time Malti spent in the NICU. “I couldn’t move when I hear [the news]. I needed him [Nick] to come in and physically come and pick me up.”
“Once you see your child in a neonatal intensive care unit, it changes you forever,” she said. “All I remember saying is, ’let’s just go to one more day, one more day…. It was the hardest thing Nick and I have ever done. It was COVID times so there was no one else allowed except him and I. When I had a bad day, he held me up, when he had a bad day, I held him up — we took shifts… we made sure that every single day she was never without one of us.”
Hear more about Priyanka’s journey as a NICU mom, the advice she has for others in the same situation and more by tuning into her entire conversation with Doyle above.
Glennon Doyle’s We Can Do Hard Things podcast features raw discussion with Doyle and her sister, Amanda, about some of life’s biggest struggles. In an effort to come together and help each other through the pair share their own hardships as they help others so each listener can live lighter, braver, and less alone.
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