Paulina Porizkova, the 61-year-old former model, married screenwriter Jeff Greenstein in Italy in July, after three years together. She said he was the first man she had ever chosen for herself, having spent most of her life waiting for others to choose her instead.
Porizkova shared a video on Instagram reflecting on the disappointments she went through in her 50s and the shift in attitude that eventually led her to meet and fall in love with her now-husband. In the video she appears inside a car wearing the House of Gilles wedding gown she chose for the ceremony, looking out of the window at the passing scenery as she narrates the course her personal life has taken.
She said that on her wedding day she was 61, and that at 51 she had believed she was finished with love. She said that at 55 she was so lonely that she opened her heart to someone who ultimately shattered it completely, and that this turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to her, because the collapse forced her to rebuild everything from the beginning, this time with the knowledge she had gained over half a decade.
A change of outlook at 57
Porizkova said that by the age of 57 she had completely changed the way she viewed relationships. She said she no longer looked twice at the kind of people who used to attract her, comparing it to eventually losing one's appetite for fairy-tale dresses and sweets. She said she now knew she had to look for substance instead of fantasy, for something that would nourish her rather than something toxic.
Meeting Jeff Greenstein through Raya
She said this change in mindset ultimately helped her meet Greenstein, whom she encountered at the age of 58 through the exclusive dating app Raya, in January 2023. She said that for the first time in her life, she chose him instead of waiting to be chosen.
She said that when he asked her to marry him, it was his way of showing her that he had chosen her too. She said she likes to feel chosen, but that marriage had always felt to her like being trapped, like a legal commitment, and she questioned why on earth she would want to go through that again, adding that, in truth, she did not want to.
Porizkova's modelling career and first marriage
Porizkova is a Czech-American former model best known for appearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She was previously married to Ric Ocasek, frontman of the rock band The Cars, until his death in 2019.
Deciding to marry in the second half of her life
Porizkova said that although she was initially against the idea, she eventually changed her mind. She said that everything she had learned over the years contributed to her decision to marry, as she put it, in the second half of her life.
She said she had learned to understand her own worth, and that this led her to make different choices, choosing a different path toward a different, new world in which she promised to do her best, this time truly understanding what that meant.
She said she could now make a binding promise with complete certainty, in front of the people she loves most, to the person she loves most, through the easy times and the hard ones.
