How Ayrton Senna and Xuxa started their love relationship

Xuxa, a very famous TV show woman in Brazil, was the only true love of Senna and the only woman he wanted to marry

It was Xuxa who spotted Senna first, when she was flicking through a magazine. He was on the verge of becoming really famous when he joined McLaren, and was on the cover. Inside there were pictures of him with animals. She remembers thinking: “Wow, look at his face. He likes animals just like me, and is also famous.” She even discussed him with her manager, Marlene Mattos, but was certain it would come to nothing. “These things don’t happen in my life,” she said at the time. So she closed the magazine and forgot about it.

A week later Senna phoned her dressing room at the TV Globo studios. She was recording her show but he left a message, and she called him back. He said to her: “Hi, most beautiful woman of Brazil.” They talked freely straight away and he asked when they could meet. She said her show was filmed Monday to Saturday and she could not get away. He asked her about Sunday but she said she would not have enough time to get to São Paulo from Rio. He told her he would send his plane for her and she agreed. The plane arrived on the tarmac at Rio dead on time, and there was a little note for her from Senna. She took some colleagues back with her on the flight, then went to her house in São Paulo. She called Senna and tried to make excuses, saying she was very tired. “How long would it take for me to get to your house?” he asked. “Fifteen minutes,” she replied. “I’ll be there in five minutes,” he said. And sure enough, five minutes later a car was outside her house with the wheels spinning and smoke billowing from the exhaust.

Xuxa remembers he was really nervous, but then so was she. She says when they touched and shook hands for the first time she felt it was really special – and that her dog Zé fell in love with the Brazilian straight away.

"The life of Senna" - Tom Rubython