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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Lizzie Cernik

How we met: ‘I heard heels coming down the sidewalk. I turned – and it was love at first sight’

Peter and Chelsea at a party in 2015.
‘I was totally in awe of her’ … Peter and Chelsea at a party in 2015 Photograph: Handout

When Peter was asked to host an overnight Brazilian radio show in the Californian city of Santa Cruz, he jumped at the opportunity. It was the summer of 1984, and he loved volunteering at his local community radio station alongside his seasonal job as a park ranger. “I’d recently found a new Brazilian record, so I was thrilled to be asked to do the show so I could feature it,” he says.

While Peter was DJing, Chelsea who was driving to Santa Cruz from Mountain View, California, tuned in. “I’d just been dumped by my boyfriend and was moving to Santa Cruz with all my stuff in the back of my parents’ car,” she says. Still raw from the breakup, she felt moved by the song. “I started looking for a payphone at a gas station so I could contact the radio station and find out what it was. I remember digging through the car seats to find a dime to make the call,” she says.

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