ONE YEAR AFTER THEY MET AND FELL IN LOVE ON REALITY TV, THE SHARK TANK STAR AND DANCING PRO ARE OFFICIALLY PARTNERS FOR LIFE

ByAILI NAHAS

Dancing with the Stars’Kym Johnson

& Robert Herjavec

Our DreamWedding!

PARTY TIME “Everyone was dancing

until 2:30 a.m.!” saysHerjavec (with members

of the wedding partyincluding Cheryl Burke

and Carson Kressley).

It’s not every day thatOlivia Newton-John sings you“Happy Birthday.” So whenRobert Herjavec surprised hisbrand-new bride, Kym John-son, with a sweet early birthdayserenade from her idol at theirJuly 31 wedding, Johnson wasunderstandably blown away.“I’m still in shock!” says theAustralian native, who turns 40on Aug. 4. “Afterward we sang‘Let’s Get Physical’ together. Itwas like a dream!”

It was the personal touch-es that made the wedding somemorable for Shark Tank starHerjavec, 53, and Johnson, apro dancer, who first met andfell in love when they competedas partners on Dancing with theStars last year. “We didn’t wantit to be stuffy,” Johnson says ofthe sunset nuptials, held at theFour Seasons hotel in Beverly

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1. Florals by the Bouqsadorned each table.

2. The rose-gold-and-diamond wedding

bands were designedby jeweler Peter Marco.

3. A personalizedhandkerchief was

Johnson’s gift to hergroom. 4. At eachseat was a Votivo

candle; the bridal partyreceived gifts from

GiGi New York.5. Guests like Lance Bass

and Michael Turchingrooved to the Gen8band by Elan Artists.

6. “I was shaking,” saysJohnson of the surprise

Olivia Newton-Johnperformance. 7. The five-tier cake featured layersof lemon and chocolate.8. “It was the best night

ever,” says Johnson.

Hills. “We just wanted everyone to lettheir hair down and relax.”

The joyful celebration was all themore meaningful given the pair’s emo-tional journey to the altar. Herjavec, afather of three grown chil-dren (who did not attendthe wedding), had recentlyended his marriage of 25years and battled an extremedepression that led him toconsider suicide before hemet Johnson in 2015. “Inever thought I’d get mar-ried again,” says the Croa-tian-born, Canada-raisedbillionaire businessman.“I worried I’d become bitter or anold cat guy. But at the end of the dayeverybody wants to connect to anotherhuman being. When I met Kym, it wasjust effortless.”

For her part, Johnson had resignedherself to the idea of permanent bache-lorette status after a decade of dating inL.A. “I had always imagined I’d be mar-ried before I was 30,” she says. “There’sa stigma that if you’re single, it’s like,‘Poor you.’ I was happy with my life. Ijust wasn’t ready to settle.”

Sparks flew as the couple rehearsedon Dancing, but it took Herjavec amonth to get up the nerve to ask John-son on a date to a friend’s wedding last

spring. After that, “things just blos-somed,” says Johnson. Adds Herjavec:“I fell in love with her as a person, andfrom then on we were inseparable.” Anddespite Johnson’s worry that they’d

lose their intense connec-tion after Dancing wrappedand they were no longer in10 hours of rehearsals a day,“it actually became even bet-ter,” she says. “I didn’t thinkit was possible!” Now, “he’schanged my world,” saysJohnson. “From the begin-ning, when Robert walkedinto that dance studio, it’sreally been like a fairy tale.”

Their first dance, to Etta James’s “AtLast,” was a touching tribute to theirDancing roots. “We were given thatsong while we were on Dancing,” saysJohnson, who teared up as she walkeddown the aisle. “We were excited to doit because we were falling in love. But wewere voted out before we could danceit. It’s appropriate that it was our firstdance as husband and wife.”

As a nod to Herjavec’s Croatian her-itage, male guests, including celebritypals Donny Osmond, Lance Bass andDaymond John, wore sprigs of rose-mary; appetizers included Australianlamb chops and Herjavec’s favorite,pigs in a blanket. One of the night’s big-

gest hits was a coordinated dance withthe entire bridal party to LunchMoneyLewis’s “Bills,” the first song Johnsonand Herjavec cha-cha’d to on Danc-ing. “That part was a little stressful,”Herjavec recounted the morning afterthe ceremony. “Nobody on my side is adancer! But it was perfect.”

Potential disaster was averted duringthe ceremony, after Johnson unknow-ingly let the train of her MoniqueLhuillier gown pass over a candle alongthe path as she walked down the aisle.“All of a sudden we smelled something,”says Herjavec. “Then we looked and herdress was on fire!” Luckily Johnson’sresourceful best friend stomped outthe blaze, “before I went up in flames!”

That one mishap aside, for John-son and Herjavec, “as excited as theywere about the wedding, the focus hasalways been on the marriage,” saystheir planner Michael Russo. “They’rebuilding a life together. And their loveis truly infectious.”

Now they’re focused on finally beinghusband and wife. “When I met Kym, Ifelt complete. I’m so excited about ev-erything we have to look forward to,”says Herjavec. Adds Johnson: “To gothrough life with someone who makesme feel so loved is unbelievable. I knowit’s the real thing. And I’m so glad I wait-ed for Mr. Right!”•

August 15, 2016 PEOPLE 61

‘It’sincredible

to gothroughlife withsomeoneyou love’

—KYM JOHNSON

Johnson surprised Herjavec with a performance by a local Croatian dance group as a tribute to her groom’s birthplace.

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