Newlywed New York City Ballet Stars Tell Their Love Story in At-Home Photos (Exclusive)

On a typical Saturday night, New York City is full of life — but inside their two-bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side, Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia are usually quietly preparing for their next big performance.

“We’re not doing normal things that people do at this age,” Peck, 36, says in this week’s issue of PEOPLE of life with Mejia, her newlywed husband and fellow ballet star.

“We’re not going to bars. When we finish a show, we’re coming home, elevating, icing and taking an Epsom salt bath. That’s every day but Monday,” she says, “and it’s nice to be with somebody who understands that.”

Just a few blocks away, at Lincoln Center — where Peck and Mejia perform as principal dancers with the New York City Ballet — the couple met for the first time some eight years ago.

At the time, Mejia was just an apprentice and Peck was already an established performer. She spotted him in class and immediately thought, “He’s gonna really be something.”

Still, she couldn’t resist offering a correction on his form. “And I didn’t even say [first], ‘I’m Tiler.’ He was probably thinking, ‘Who is this person?’ ” Peck jokes in a joint interview with Mejia.

He quickly quips back, “No, I knew who you were.”

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As Peck began looking for a new partner for performances, she thought of him.

“You can tell from looking that somebody’s a good dancer, but you don’t know if they’re a good partner,” she says. “He’s an exceptional partner.” 

It took several years of dancing together before they became close friends and even longer for their connection to deepen into something else.

During the seclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peck invited Mejia to her family home in Bakersfield, Calif., for a month and a half so they could keep working. It was a no-brainer, says Mejia, 25: “I was like, whatever she’s got going on is gonna be exciting.”

Their relationship shifted while working on a project that required them to act as bride and groom.

“I was in a gown, he put a ring on my finger, and we did this dance,” Peck recalls. “It was during that video that we started to like each other.” 

Mejia adds, “During that time, we saw each other every day, and I got really close with her family as well. We just got closer and closer.”

And then he says, “All of a sudden we moved back to New York, and we weren’t seeing each other every day.”

Absence did its work on their hearts: “We started missing each other,” he says.

Both, of course, had concerns about how a romance might change their professional dynamic.

“I was scared because he was like my favorite person to dance with and I didn’t wanna mess it up,” Peck says.

Mejia agrees: “We had a good partnership, and I didn’t want to be turned down — but I wanted to pursue her. She needed a little convincing.”

The risk paid off. Their bond proved just as strong offstage as on, and they got engaged in September 2024.

In June, they married, beginning their wedding day with a pre-ceremony first look at David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, the “space that brought us together,” Peck says.

As they settle into married life, the couple is looking ahead to more shared moments.

Their next performance together will be Turn It Out With Tiler Peck & Friends, debuting Oct. 16 at New York City Center. The busy fall also includes the release of Peck’s third book, XO Ballerina Big Sis, an advice-filled guide for kids, out Oct. 21; and a PBS documentary, Tiler Peck: Suspending Time, premiering on Nov. 7.

“It’s amazing to share this,” says Peck, who expects to retire by 2030. “The fact that I found somebody to experience these ballets with for the last time is really special.”

For now, though, she’s savoring the moment — and still giving her husband an occasionl correction.

“I’m trying to make him better, and I always ask him for his advice. I trust his opinion more than anyone,” she says. “A lot of couples don’t get to do what they love with the person they love.”