As Valentine’s Day approaches, The Conversation wanted to highlight some of the quirkier love stories in the islands.
If you've seen Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Auana show at the Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel, you may know that roller skaters Marina Sakhokiia and Chris Tees are married in real life. The pair met 15 years ago and now perform as an acrobatic skating duo in the show’s Naupaka sequence.
The two lovebirds are not the only couple in the cast of Hawaiʻi's first resident Cirque show.
Sophie Brundish and Christian Bazan flip their way across the stage as voyagers on a catapulting canoe.
The acrobatic duo has been together since 2019. They met while working on a show in Macau.
Brundish and Bazan recently spoke with The Conversation. Brundish shared the meet-cute story.
Editor's note: Outrigger Hospitality Group is an HPR underwriter.
This story aired on The Conversation on Feb. 11, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
