Grace Palmer and Rawiri Jobe
Christchurch-born Grace Palmer, 26, married fellow actor Rawiri Jobe, 33, in Las Vegas in 2019. Grace is best known for her roles on Shortland Street and Home & Away, while Tauranga-born Rawiri is currently appearing in Shortland Street. They live in Auck
GThe first time I met Rawas at a publicity event and I thought he was quite cocky. His friend was a bit of a dick, so I thought Ra was too by association. We were later filming in the same building and I saw Ra’s headshot and asked the makeup artistwho he was, not knowing he was the guy I’d previously met. The penny dropped at another publicity event where we got on really well.
On our first date, Ra told me he hadwebbed toeswhich freaked me out! I hate feet and thought, ‘‘This has no future.’’
But Ra ticked lots of boxes – he’s Ma¯ori, he’s beautiful and he’s incredibly socially outgoing. I’ve suffered from a bit of social anxiety so to have Ra around is like having a safe space.
We worked outwe’ve spent about 1.5 years of our relationship apart: Iwas working in LA and then he was in London for about eight months. But actors have to gowherever thework is and that’s rarely the place you call home.
I don’t think I could be with someone who’s not in this industry because Ra understands what I do and the highs and lows, but also how fickle this business can be.
Iwas in LA in August 2019 when we decided to get married. Ra’s got an EU passport as his mother is Austrian and I have a Green Card so we’ve often thought we’d have to get married for a visa. Neither of us is big on weddings and I’ve never been the kind of girl who dreamed about her wedding.
I rang Ra and said, ‘‘Let’s get married in Vegas,’’ so three days later he flew over and we gotmarried in the back of a pink Cadillac outside the Little White Chapel. We didn’t tell anyone but our parents and my mother flew out. Our Kiwi friends from LA were ourwitnesses and, despite the fact it was 45 degrees, we had the best time. There was no fuss and it was a lot of fun. It was very us.
Ra is my best mate and we do everything together from cooking to playing tennis. Some women prefer to go on girls’ nights but Iwould rather hang outwith Ra so I bring him along on girls’ nights.
He’s the opposite ofme in that he’s rational and deliberate, whereas I’m impulsive. He’s also good withmoney and I’m not but hopefully I’m learning from him.
Ra is incredibly charismatic – old ladies seem to love him and he totally plays up to them! Each of us is the other’s biggest fan andwe 100 per cent support each other’swork.
RWhen the makeup artist told me Grace had been asking about me, I did a bit of social media stalking of her. I remembered meeting her at a publicity event but she clearly didn’t remember me. I’d been single for about a year but had been travelling so itwasn’t easymeeting anyone. Iwasn’t really looking for a partner but they say that’s when it usually happens.
Not long after we got together, Grace admitted she didn’t enjoy my taste in fashion! But she has a very good sense of style so it was in my best interests to listen to her. She says I dress a lot cooler now.
Obviously Grace is beautiful and sexy but she also has an amazing personality – she’s very cheeky, likes to have a laugh and is very open about sharing everything, warts and all. Grace is also up for anything and can laugh at herself.
Doing the long-distance relationship thing can be hard. But because we’re both in the industry we understand that is sometimes what has to happen. We’ve both travelled internationally – separately but never together. We were planning to spend a few months in Italy but, thanks to Covid, that didn’t happen. We’ll go whenever it’s safe to do so.
At first, Iwasn’t sure about getting married in Vegas but we’ve both been to weddings where it’s all about tradition and meeting other people’s expectations. We wanted awedding just for us so we revolted against tradition and did it ourway.
We’re currently looking at buying a house but that isn’t easy in Auckland. Grace has good taste when it comes to interiors so she’s made our flat look amazing. She’s also a little bit OCDwhen it comes to tidiness. I’m not so tidy but beingwith Grace I’m slowly learning to be.
Grace is very caring and looks after others, often to the detriment of herself. But she loves hard andwhether that’s with me, her family or friends, she goes all in.
She also throws caution to the wind a lot whereas I’m a bit more calculated. Especially when it comes to shopping: if I see something I’ll shop around and try to get the best price but Grace will just buy it. I’m trying to teach her to be a bit more responsiblewith money and she’s trying to teach me to be more impulsive. Hopefully we’llmeet somewhere in themiddle.
Butwe’re a good balance. We have the same sense of humour and moral compass. Politically, we’re synced, as well as on issues such as having kids, which we want to do at some stage. We just work really well together.