Former India all-rounder was a household name in Indian cricket, having played important roles in India's T20 World Cup victory in 2007, and the ODI triumph in 2011. And his struggle with cancer after the 2011 World Cup win is also very well documented. But what not many might be aware of is that the love story between Yuvi and his current wife Hazel Keech actually met before this tough phase of his life!
The meeting
The first meeting between these two stars took place in 2011 during a friend's birthday party. Yuvraj also commented later that 'Hazel's smile caught my attention, I also praised her work in the film Bodyguard.' On an appearance on The Kapil Sharma Show, Yuvraj once said that after meeting he met Hazel at that party, he asked her out for coffee. Hazel Keech did not want to give him any wrong signals but did not want to hurt his ego by turning him down as well. She would say yes and then switch off her phone. This happened at least seven or eight times, according to him.
Cancer diagnosis and the re-connection
Some time had passed since the two had met and during this time, Yuvraj was diagnosed with cancer. When he did, he informed Hazel Keech about this, but she just said 'good luck' to Yuvi. After that, Yuvraj thought to himself, 'I thought this girl is very strange, so I deleted her.'
It took some time but after three years, Yuvraj noticed that Hazel was a connection of his friend on Facebook. He asked his friend how he knew Hazel Keech, and also warned him to stay away from Hazel. “Door reh (Stay away from her),” Yuvraj told his friend. His friend asked, “Door kyun? ‘Why are you asking me to stay away from her?” To which, Yuvraj replied, "Isne mujhe teen saal tak ghaas nahi daali aur na hi mujhe mili hai. Pata nahi yeh ladki kya samajhti hai apne aap ko. Door reh, mereko shaadi isi ladki se hi karni hai' (‘This girl has not given me any attention for three years, and neither has she met me. I don’t know what she thinks of herself. Stay away, this is the girl I want to marry’).”
And finally, the date
When Hazel Keech finally accepted Yuvraj Singh's friend request, he sent her a folded hands emoji for accepting his friend request after more than three years. It was after this that she agreed to meet him. “3.5 saal ke baad inhone phir ek saal mujhe chane chabaye. Uske baad jaake inhone haan boli (After three-and-a-half years, she strung me along for another year. Then, she finally said yes to me),” he revealed.
Proposal in Bali and marriage a year later
Yuvraj proposed to Hazel Keech on a beach in Bali during Diwali in 2015. A year later, on November 30, 2016, they finally got married to each other in a traditional Anand Karaj ceremony on November 30, 2016, at the Fatehgarh Sahib gurdwara. They exchanged marital vows again, according to Hindu rituals, on December 2, 2016, in Goa.
The two of them have a beautiful baby boy, whose name is Orion Keech Singh and who was born on January 25, 2022. “To all our fans, family and friends, we are elated to share that God blessed us with a baby boy today. We thank god for this blessing and wish you to respect our privacy as we welcome the little one into the world,” wrote the new parents when they made the announcement on Instagram. They also added red heart emojis to their respective posts.
So who is Hazel Keech?
Hazel Keech is a British-Mauritania model who has worked in many Bollywood music videos. In 2007, she also appeared in the Tamil film Badla, in which she performed a dance number. in 2011, She played a supporting role in Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor's film Bodyguard. She sang the song 'Aa Ante Amalapuram' in the film Maximum, released in 2012. Hazel has also appeared in Big Boss, among her other entertainment engagements.
