How we stay married …Peter & Bridget Helliar

The comedian may have written a show about maintaining a long-lasting relationship, but it’s his wife Bridget whom he credits with teaching him how to keep the marital magic alive.

- TIFFANY DUNK

Kismet is a powerful word. The belief that fate can lead us to something that is “meant to be” is an idea that is both tantalising and terrifying all at once.

Certainly it’s not a word Peter Helliar thought would play a role in shaping his own future. But all that changed in 1999 as he was waiting to board a flight from Sydney to Melbourne. Then 24 and taking the early steps in his comedy career, he spotted a beautiful blonde across the boarding gate lounge – and suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to introduce himself.

“For better or worse, you’re not the guy who approaches strange women,” he told himself sternly. And so he let the moment pass, hoping he’d magically sit next to her on the flight.

“But that didn’t happen,” he says. “And I remember feeling relieved. I thought, imagine how embarrassing it will be when her boyfriend picks her up at the airport and she’s like, ‘This is the guy who tried to hit on me’.”

He spotted the potential girl of his dreams once more being met by her parents and grandmother. ‘Missed opportunity,’ he thought, ‘but that’s okay.’ And off he went home, putting the encounter out of his mind.

And then … kismet. Just three days later, Peter was preparing to do a stand-up routine at Collingwood’s Prince Patrick Hotel when he spotted a friend in the audience. And next to that friend was the 22-year-old woman from the plane – Bridget, who would become his wife of close to 18 years and the mother of their three children – Liam, 18, Aidan, 16, and Oscar, 12.