At this point, comedian-slash-actor-slash-Real Husbands of Hollywood star (yes, some of us are *still* hoping for a sixth season, TYVM) Kevin Hart is a household name. And through all of the ups and downs of his longstanding career, one person in particular has stood by the his side through it all: Kevin’s wife, Eniko Hart (née Parrish). Here’s what to know about Eniko, from how she began her career as a model to the sweet story behind her and Kevin meeting.
Eniko began her career as a model
Back in 2013, Eniko appeared on BET’s Rip the Runway, which was a program hosted by Kelly Rowland that focused on the merging of fashion and music. The show featured tons of celebrity appearances, including Rick Ross, Meek Mill, Omarion, and even Jaden Smith, who presented his forever-iconic clothing line MSFTS (a Jaden/King Kylie era staple) during an episode.
In the time since, Eniko has forged a path of her own, boasting over 3.4 million Instagram followers and amassing tons of collaborations with brands!
She met Kevin at a nightclub in Washington D.C.
Kevin’s 2019 Netflix special Don’t F**K This Up follows the comedian over the span of a year and gives viewers an intimate look behind the scenes at the way he juggles his life as an entertainer, a husband, and a father.
During the docuseries, Eniko makes an appearance and reflects on the first time she met Kevin at a Washington D.C. nightclub in 2009. Turns out, the comedian practically fell in love with the model as soon as he saw her. No, like, seriously…he bolted straight to the DJ booth to serenade her.
Watch ‘Don’t F**K This Up’ Now
“One thing led to another, and it just happened,” Eniko recalled. “We couldn’t resist each other. It was nonstop.”
Despite the fact the couple met in 2009, their first public appearance together wasn’t until 2011, after Kevin’s divorce from his first wife, Torrei Hart, was formally finalized in 2010. But rest assured, there was no actual overlap in the relationships; Kevin has since addressed any speculation in his Netflix special: “The biggest misconception is that Eniko was the home-wrecker. This woman came in and destroyed this man’s family. Reality is, I was done with my first marriage. We were done. In separate homes.”
Kevin proposed on Eniko’s birthday
Yep, turns out the comedian officially popped the question on Eniko’s 30th birthday in 2014, and the surprise proposal was caught on video. 🥺❤️
“On this perfect day I chose to make the most perfect decision,” Kevin said during his proposal before getting down on one knee and pulling out a ring.
Eniko uploaded the video to Instagram and wrote the cutest caption to celebrate the special moment: “I said YES!!!!! To the most amazing man in the world.. 😘💍Thirty has been GREAT to me thus far, I wouldn’t trade it for anything..Thanks to my dearest friends, fam, and the LOVE of my life..for making this day a memorable one! You all hold a special place in my heart! xO🎉❤️ #nikosdirty30.”
^^@ my future husband, if you’re reading this, take notes!
After being engaged for two years, Eniko and Kevin officially became husband and wife on August 13, 2016. The couple tied the knot in a stunning ceremony in California surrounded by family and friends, including Kevin’s two children from his previous marriage with Torrei, Hendrix and Heaven Leigh.
They partner together on business ventures
Clearly the couple that collaborates together, stays together! Back in 2021, Eniko and Kevin joined forces and partnered with Fabletics—the *chef’s kiss* fitness apparel line co-founded by Kate Hudson—to release two lines of activewear.
While discussing her and Kevin’s first collection during a convo with InStyle, Eniko gushed that she “had a good time” working with her husband to create the line. “It was the first time ever doing something together, so I wanted to jump on [the] opportunity immediately,” she shared.
Kevin added that they culled inspiration for the collection from their own relationship: “[It’s] a representation of our love, our connection, our bond, our story. You know, ups, downs. There’s hard, there’s good, there’s bad, but the idea is to stay with it and stay true to it.”
During a convo with the Hollywood Reporter, the comedian specifically opened up about how “having an opportunity to make a real impact was top of the list in terms of priorities.”
“With Fabletics, I’ve been able to get in at the ground level where I have input on the direction of the men’s line, the quality of the product, and the relationship with the customer. I’ve worked with a lot of brands but no one has had the ability to connect directly with the customer base like Fabletics. I love how I am able to build a dynamic with not only the brand team, but also our customers because we are direct-to-consumer,” he said.
They have welcomed two kids together
Over the course of their 7-year marriage, Eniko and Kevin have welcomed two kids: a son named Kenzo Kash in November 2017 and a daughter named Kaori Mai in September 2020. The cutest pics from when each bb was born, incoming:
Eniko and Kevin share tons of content featuring their family, including this post from when Kaori Mai was a newborn:
And this iconic Christmas pic that definitely rivals my early 2000s JC Penny ones:
They got through a cheating scandal together
In September 2017, Kevin took to Instagram to explain a “bad error in judgment” in a cryptic video where he suggested that someone was threatening him for their own financial gain.
At the time, Eniko was pregnant with Kenzo. Soon after, it was revealed that a secretly-filmed video and photos taken in Las Vegas of Kevin and a model were being used for extortion (reportedly for the sum of $10 million, per the comedian’s Netflix docuseries).
Three months later, the celebrity came clean about the ordeal when he sat down with the Breakfast Club:
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But that wasn’t the last time Kevin opened up about the scandal, and he even enlisted Eniko to share her own thoughts on the matter during his Netflix special. In it, the model revealed the way she initially found out about the infidelity was through an anonymous message on Instagram: “They sent me an edited video of Kevin and, you know, another woman. I was about seven to eight months pregnant and I was having breakfast and I opened my phone and immediately I just lost it. I called him, I’m crying, I’m like pissed. Right then and there, I just kept saying, ‘How the fuck did you let that happen?'”
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The couple said the aftershock of it all was difficult to navigate, but they stuck together throughout the situation and even welcomed their son Kenzo in November that year. During an appearance on The School of Greatness podcast, Kevin elaborated on his wife’s decision to stand by him: “[Eniko] came to an amazing conclusion of, ‘I like the fact that we have a family, that we have a household, and I like the fact that we now got a job to do to get better.'”
“And she held me accountable,” he added, saying the model is “the strongest person in the world.”
Eniko was by Kevin’s side after his car accident in 2019
On September 1, 2019, Kevin was involved in a terrible car accident after the vehicle’s driver crashed into a wooden fence on Mulholland Highway and down a ditch in a Calabasas neighborhood. The actor was subsequently left with back injuries and rushed into emergency surgery.
Eniko never left her husband’s side during the entire ordeal, and Kevin later on reflected on the experience during an interview with Men’s Health.
“It all boiled down to four walls,” he began. “And in the space of those four walls was my wife and my brother, my kids and my friends, all on rotation. And I got a chance to think about what matters, and it’s not fame. It’s not money. It’s not jewelry, cars, or watches. What matters are relationships. You know, the people that were helping me get up and out of the bed.”
The celeb also discussed how the accident gave him a new outlook on life—one that included prioritizing his family: “Now I’m doing a lot of little things that are important.”
“There were times where he was here but not really here,” Eniko confessed to the outlet. “Not to say he wasn’t a family man before, but he’s expressed that the accident made him make up for some of the time missed because of work.” It’s called growth, people!
And that’s pretty much all we know about Eniko and her ‘ship with Kevin, but we’ll keep you updated with the latest!
Assistant news editor
Gretty Garcia is the assistant news editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers all things news, entertainment, and pop culture. Before joining Cosmo, Gretty was a social strategist for Mrs. Dow Jones and a features and special projects editor at Editorialist. She holds an MS from the Columbia Journalism School and studied art history at Harvard College.