Who is Eva Longoria’s husband, José Bastón? He was the president of media giant Televisa and his first meeting with the Desperate Housewives actress left little impression … but now they have a son

But who is José “Pepe” Bastón, the Mexico City native who stole the heart of Eva Longoria, and just celebrated his eighth wedding anniversary with her? Here’s everything we know.

José Bastón is not intimidated by his wife, Eva Longoria

Even before Longoria got married to Bastón, actress Ana Ortiz, who starred in Devious Maids alongside Longoria, spoke to People about their relationship. She was glad her co-star was with someone “who is not intimidated by her and who is not afraid by her power, her beauty, her friendship and her drive … He’s just as driven and he’s so supportive”.

Then, Longoria told People in 2017, a year after their star-studded wedding, “He is probably one of the first men I’ve dated that has been older and established and, basically, a grown-up … It is so nice to be arm-in-arm with someone who is your equal.” Talk about being a power couple!

Their first meeting wasn’t memorable for her

The stars weren’t aligned when Longoria first met Bastón. However, it didn’t take long for Cupid to do his thing. “I was getting out of a bad relationship, and he was getting out of a relationship, so there wasn’t a connection. So, we had a pleasant conversation, but there was no real connection,” she told People of their first encounter at the 2009 Mexican Teletón.

When they met again in 2013 through a mutual friend though, the Land of Women star saw sparks fly and heard “angels singing”. She told People, “He was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. He was so charismatic, charming, sweet and funny.” The day after she fell in love at “second sight”, the two went on a four-hour long date, reports People, after which they started dating.

After two and a half years of dating, he proposed. The couple had a “white quiet elegant” wedding in 2016, attended by David and Victoria Beckham, Ricky Martin, Mario Lopez, and more.

He is a father of five

Before Longoria, Bastón was married to Mexican actress Natalia Esperón from 1995 to 2005. He had four children with her: Natalia Bastón, who’s now around 28, and triplets Mariana, José and Sebastian Bastón, born in 2003. Unfortunately, Sebastian passed away soon after he was born. He and Longoria welcomed Santiago Enrique Bastón in 2018.

He was the president of Mexican media giant Televisa

Bastón was previously the president of Televisa, one of Latin America’s largest media and telecommunications corporations. He had been with the company for almost 30 years and stepped down in 2017 but remained a board member.

In 2018, he founded the independent Film & TV studio Elefantec Global to “cater to the growing Latino audiences worldwide”, according to its website.

To grow business in the American English-language market, last year, Bastón signed with John Pollak and Wilmer Valderrama’s company Allied Management Group, which aims for “minority representation and authenticity in storytelling”, states its website.

He prefers to stay private

Not much is known about Bastón besides his business and his marriage to Longoria because, as his wife puts it, “He’s a very private man, so he hates when I talk about him … But I want to yell from the highest mountaintop about everything that goes on with us.”

And even though fans love seeing pictures of the couple together on Longoria’s Instagram, she admitted that “he hates when I post pics of him”. That’s probably why we weren’t treated to any pictures of the happy couple celebrating their eighth wedding anniversary earlier this year.