Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann’s date was once ruined by thugs

Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann share a beautiful and enduring love story that began on the set of Law & Order: SVU in 2002. They married in 2004 and now have three children: August, Amaya, and Andrew.

Their First Date: A Church Service

Hermann, who played Attorney Trevor Langan on the hit series, met Hargitay while working together. In an interview with People, Hargitay recounted their first date, which was attending a church service. She vividly remembers being overwhelmed with emotion, realizing that Hermann was “the one.”

“We went to church together, and it was like getting hit with a lightning bolt,” Hargitay recalls. “I just started sobbing. Peter thought I was crying because I was so moved by the service. No, it was because I was just overwhelmed, realizing he was the one.”

A Date Wrecked by Rats

In 2019, Hermann shared a quintessential “New York moment” with Page Six, revealing a date with Hargitay before they were married. Hargitay had just moved into a beautiful apartment in Tribeca, while Hermann lived in a small apartment on 36th Street. He finally mustered the courage to take her to his place, but their plans were disrupted in a memorable way.

“Mariska just got picked up for season 20. We started dating in season 2,” Hermann recalls. “So, 100,000 years ago. And I finally, when we started dating, I finally got up the courage to show her my apartment. She had just moved to this beautiful apartment in Tribeca. My apartment was tiny, tiny on 36th street. And it’s amazing, it was the block between the Lincoln Tunnel and 10th Avenue.”

As they walked to Hermann’s apartment, they encountered an unsettling sight. They heard a noise “like fingernails on glass” and realized a large number of rats were swarming the street, an experience that shocked them both.

“One night, we were walking down 36th street to my apartment, because I wanted to show it to her,” Hermann continues. “All of a sudden there was this sound, and it sounded like fingernails on glass. And then we looked down, and all of a sudden, the street was moving. And it was a herd of rats. Hundreds, and I mean hundreds of rats were pouring out of this parking lot, waving across the street.”

Hermann’s reaction was priceless. “The only thing that I could say to this woman I loved and whom I would eventually marry was, ‘New York!’” Hermann recalls. Hargitay, understandably terrified, responded with, “What is your problem?”

The unexpected rodent encounter thwarted Hermann’s plans to show Hargitay his apartment that night. “Needless to say, that night, I did not show her my apartment,” Hermann says. “It was another night, but New York it’s a… beautiful… town. That was my New York moment.”

This unique experience is undoubtedly an interesting story for them to share with their children, highlighting the quirky and unexpected moments that have colored their enduring relationship.