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PEOPLE is looking back at a 1992 cover story featuring John Tesh and his wife, actress Connie Sellecca
Tesh recently spoke to PEOPLE about his cancer journey and the role Connie took in ensuring he got the proper care
In 1992, the two spoke about their relationship and forthcoming nuptials
John Teshrecently opened up to PEOPLE about his cancer journey and the role his wife, actress Connie Sellecca, took in ensuring he got the proper care. The couple's love story is one marked by the challenges of his illness, an early courtship where they touted waiting until marriage and a sweet PEOPLE cover story.
Speaking to PEOPLE in an exclusive interview, Tesh, 73, noted that it had been 33 years since he and Sellecca posed for the cover of the magazine.
That April 1992 PEOPLE cover story took place just 10 days before their April 4 wedding, with Sellecca and Tesh — both born-again Christians — noting that they had opted not to consummate their relationship until it became an official union.
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Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic
As the story detailed, the two met in Palm Springs in a hotel gym, with Tesh later interviewing the actress by phone while he filled in for a radio host.
As Sellecca recalled, "He had his friend ask me if I was alone, if I was seeing anyone and if I was naked."
She ultimately declined to answer all of those questions, though she did agree to meet Tesh for dinner when he called her back after the show.
The couple dated for a year before their union, with Sellecca saying she made the decision in part ''to be a good role model to my son,'' Gib, then aged 11.
"Connie is a good girl," Tesh told PEOPLE. "And I am proud of her for it. We wanted to go slow. It wasn't like we were on the couch one night and she was smacking me, saying, 'Get your hands off of me.' We talked about [the abstinence] first."
He then added, "Even if Connie and I could not have sex for the rest of our lives, we would not leave this relationship."
Prior to marrying Tesh, Sellecca had been married to actor Gil Gerard from 1979 to 1987, and Tesh to actress Julie Wright from 1982 to 1991.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Sellecca said, "Our honeymoon will be traditional in every sense of the word," with Tesh echoing with a grin: "This is going to be some honeymoon."
The wedding 10 days later, PEOPLE reported, was "worthy of Buckingham Palace, ending in a long and passionate kiss that caused a few of the 270 guests to blush."
The 6'6" groom wore Perry Ellis tails, while the bride wore $30,000 worth of beaded silk satin with a 15-foot train and 40-foot skirt (said her longtime friend Teri Garr: ''I've never seen a bigger dress.")
At the time of their wedding, Tesh was anEntertainment Tonightco-host — though these days, he's most well-known for his work as a musician and composer (his NBA theme song, "Roundball Rock," composed in 1990 for NBC, is back on primetime).
It was 2015 when Tesh was diagnosed with stage III prostate cancer — with doctors saying at the time that his tumors could be inoperable, and informed him that he may have only 18 months to live.
He beat the odds — in large part due to being treated at MD Andersonon the urging of his wife— and is now monitoring the disease progression with his doctors.
Looking back at their 1992 wedding, it's clear that the support and romance were always there.
As Tesh told PEOPLE shortly after the two exchanged vows, "I started to cry when I saw Connie, 'cause she was so beautiful. So I bit the side of my mouth to stop. I kept thinking I got real lucky, and God was the one that did this."
Read the original article onPeople
