Elmira zemstvo. Why did Valery Nikolaev marry a circus performer. Valery, as a romantic person, probably made the proposal spectacularly

Elmira Zemskova. Road of change

Last spring, in the period between the accident that Valera got into and the trial, there were well-wishers who told me: “Why do you need such a husband?” As if a person can simply be thrown out if he became uncomfortable!

I grew up in a family of circus performers and literally lived in the arena since childhood. It is not surprising that it was in the circus that she met her future husband. In 2008, the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard hosted the shooting of the second season of the TV show "Circus with the Stars". One fine day, my mother and I ran into Vladimir Turchinsky and Valery Nikolaev in the corridor, who participated in the project. I had never seen Valera before: I spent many years traveling around the world, I watched TV very rarely and I had not heard about the TV series Bourgeois's Birthday. But unaware of his media exposure, she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

Who is it? - I asked my mother.
- Famous actor.
Without expecting it, she blurted out:
- Mom, this is my future husband!

She looked ironically in response: well, of course, they say, fasten your lip! But Saint-Exupery was right: only the heart is vigilant. When I first saw a person, I immediately felt - mine! However, it only came to mind after a few years ...

Since then, I often met Valera at the circus. Sometimes we trained in parallel, I came to the arena to see how the program was filmed. Nikolaev was engaged in gymnastics as a child, which came in handy when staging circus acts under the guidance of experienced mentors. I noted what a hard worker he is, how he loves sports. I thought that in this sense we are similar. And also in the perseverance with which Valera went to his victory in the show: he continued to perform even after he injured his heel, doing a back flip from the back of the horse. Seeing him once in the buffet, she came up with the words:

We are rooting for you.
He smiled.
- Thank you, it's very nice.

Valera achieved his goal - he took first place, sharing it with gymnast Irina Chashchina. When the project was completed, he found me at the circus and handed me an invitation to the final banquet, which was arranged for the participants. I congratulated him on his victory, but I was embarrassed about the dinner:

Can i? I didn't participate in the project...
"Be my companion," he offered.

We were with you for a long time: Elmira Nikolaevna and Valery Valeryevich ... Although at that holiday we communicated easily and naturally, as if we had known each other all our lives. Which, of course, did not exclude mutual respect. Valera drove me home, I left him a phone number and gave him a CD with my performance - he already knew that I was an aerial gymnast and was interested in the program. Two days later, at eleven in the morning, the phone rang. I pick up the phone - Valera: “Are you at home? Come out, I'm waiting at the entrance. I really liked your video. We need to discuss it urgently."

After participating in the show, Valera saw my number through the eyes of a circus performer, and not a spectator. I realized that the graceful tricks that I easily perform on a sparkling spiral suspended under the very dome were given by years of exhausting training. I work either inside the spiral, or next to it, at a height, without insurance. This unique number called "Prima" was invented by the coach and teacher artist Gennady Ivanovich Totukhov, and Ruslan Ganeev became the director. I have been performing since the age of fifteen.

She followed her parents to the circus. They were introduced in 1980 by the teacher of the circus school Leonid Mikheevich Petlitsky. My mother, Nina Ernstovna, entered his course, having arrived in Moscow from Novosibirsk. Father Nikolai Alexandrovich was already a graduate, he had just served in the army. My future parents and several other gymnasts were offered to unite and put on a common number “Equilibrists on perches”.

Papa was the lower equilibrist and held a perch on his forehead or on his shoulder - a huge pole weighing twenty kilograms, on which the upper equilibrist performed. They became my mother. In the Soviet years, unmarried couples were not accommodated in hotels together, so parents did not delay with a stamp in their passport. They wanted to have time to register before the next trip, but dad was forced to leave. Then they pulled off a gamble: my mother came to apply to the Griboedovsky registry office with his passport and a boy who looked like his father. Of course, the groom was at the wedding in person.

Soon I was born. Until the sixth month, my mother performed under the dome, and on the eighth I asked to be born ahead of schedule. When she grew up, she spent all her time in the circus - next to her parents. School problems in algebra were sometimes solved by the whole team. At each performance, I sat on the stairs near the arena and proudly informed the audience: “Look! My mother is up there!” At the same time, she perfectly understood how hellish work these performances were given: there were dents on the forehead and shoulders of the pope, which constantly abscessed. And what nerves it cost to participate in international competitions! During one of them, a tragedy happened in our family.

In 1995, the parents, who were listed as artists of the Russian State Circus, went to the International Circus Festival in Monte Carlo. We worked out two numbers, went for gold ... After the final, we returned to the hotel. It turned out that dad went up to the room a little earlier than mom - she lingered in the hotel lobby with friends. When I entered, my father was lying on the floor. The ambulance rushed literally a minute later, but they did not manage to save him: his heart stopped. But dad was only thirty-six!

He died the day before the thirteenth wedding anniversary, the parents were going to celebrate the anniversary in Nice ... Not only was mommy out of her mind with grief, the subsequent worries fell on her shoulders: her husband had to be taken home, Russian circus agents could not find money for this . Help came from an unexpected source - the prince of Monaco, who saw my father's performance, paid for the transportation.

Farewell, already in Moscow, was organized by Yuri Nikulin at the Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. He showed interest, although my parents were not even on his staff. Everyone adored Yuri Vladimirovich, kindly called Grandfather. After the death of his father, Nikulin invited a group of "Equilibrists on Persians" to his place on Tsvetnaya. Mom still works there. She has already finished her career as an equilibrist and became a coach.

My parents did not take me on the fateful trip. How I regretted that I was not at the right moment next to my dad! He left when I was only twelve, but even then I quite consciously decided that I would continue his work. And I will not disgrace the name. However, then she never aspired to circus festivals. She started at Persha with her mother, then her own number appeared with a spiral. She worked for eight years in Germany, four years on a tourist liner in the Mediterranean, spent a year in Las Vegas, collaborated with the Cirque du Soleil.

Valera also had experience working abroad, and this became another topic that brought us together. I quickly made up for the gaps in my acquaintance with his work. Even at the dawn of our relationship, Nikolaev invited me to the premiere of the film "Bear Hunt", where he was a director and actor. Later, I bought several CDs with films where he starred. Valera told me how he was impressed by Hollywood, and I was sincerely interested in how he worked with the famous Steven Spielberg in the movie "Terminal".

Neither he nor I tried to settle abroad. Both had no idea how to live away from their homeland. True, Valera was surprised that having traveled almost the whole world, I practically do not know Moscow. Once suggested:

Let's take a walk in Kolomenskoye?
- Where?
- Have you never been there?

Since childhood, due to the heavy workload, I traveled mainly along the same route: from my house on Maslovka to the Circus on Tsvetnoy, where I am still registered. I went skating with Valera for the first time in Gorky Park and was amazed at how beautifully and festively it is decorated in winter. The husband sometimes jokes: “How lucky I am with my wife! You don’t need to take her to Bali - there are so many more discoveries waiting for her at home!

The ideal man for me has always been a strong and loving dad. Naturally, I compared Valera with him, who knew our family history. He felt responsible for it. I am seventeen years younger than Nikolaev, and he always treated me very carefully. I was in no hurry to get close. At first, we talked in a friendly way: we had dinner together, went to the cinema, walked holding the handle. Gradually, Valera began unobtrusive courtship: he gave flowers, gifts. Sometimes there were kisses. Every day we were more and more attracted to each other ... But I was afraid to fall in love with him. Mom also called for caution: “You understand - he is a famous actor ...” Although she wisely did not interfere in my life.

Valery and I have not yet talked about meeting our parents, although I met his dad, Valery Evgenievich, at the premiere of Bear Hunt. It turned out that they are very close, the father had a huge influence on his son: in his youth, Valera even tried to follow in his footsteps - he entered the Forestry Engineering Institute, where he taught. But I did not study for long - it became boring. I quit and went to the theater. I saw that Valery Evgenievich was proud of his son, an actor, worried about him. When I showed my future father-in-law a record of my number, he scolded me: “How can you work without insurance at such a height! You are crazy? It’s not enough for me that Valerka often performs stunts in the cinema himself - and you’re in the same place, risking your life!

I learned about Valera's past from him. I didn’t surf the Internet, I didn’t ask for details. He himself said that before our meeting he had been married twice. The first time - on a classmate at the Moscow Art Theater School-Studio Natalya Pirogova. From the second wife, actress Irina Apeksimova, Valera already has an adult daughter, Dasha. We went to visit Irina, and there we met. He loves his daughter very much and is proud of her.

I was just as frank with Valera ... In my youth, I lived with the juggler Lev for three years. We were separated by a tour: she went to Las Vegas, and it is impossible to maintain a serious relationship at a distance. A few years later I learned that Leva had crashed on a motorcycle. On tour, I had fans from foreigners, but it didn’t work out: they have a different mentality, upbringing, attitude towards women. And with Valera from the first day it was even comfortable to be silent.

A year has flown by. I still lived at my place on Maslovka, he - on Taganka. There was no talk of leaving. In addition, we both worked hard: either he would go on an expedition to shoot, or I would go on tour. At some point, I received an offer to conclude a contract for four years of work on a cruise ship - nine months a year. This prospect seemed tempting to me, but Valera did not hold back. Probably, both of us were not yet ready to tie our fates.

When I left, we did not think that we were parting. And indeed, at first they continued to communicate, often called back. But when I arrived on my first vacation and we met, Valera seemed somehow detached. I realized that he had already begun a different life - without me. She didn’t get into Nikolaev’s soul, she just stepped aside. I decided that I would leave soon anyway. I thought: if you love, let go, and if the person is really yours, he will definitely return. So, without much drama, our communication gradually faded away.

We haven't seen each other for five years. I tried to erase Nikolaev from my memory: I didn’t follow his life on the Internet, I didn’t watch the films where I played. But involuntarily, everyone who looked after me in those years was compared with him. And all applicants lost to Nikolaev. Then it turned out that he often thought about me, but did not know where I was, with whom. I was afraid to be out of place.

In 2014, my tour ended - I got off the ship in India, stayed there for three days. And suddenly, in one of the stores, I saw a magazine with a portrait of a man very similar to Valera ... Memories came flooding back. Arriving in Moscow, I went into an empty apartment. And the next day he called me. We saw each other, talked until the morning and decided not to part again. Valera admitted: “I made a mistake. I shouldn't have let you go then."

I already knew that Nikolaev did not throw words into the wind. Some time passed before I heard a declaration of love. It became clear that he had the most serious intentions. Almost immediately he met my parents - my mother and stepfather Alexander Stoyanovskiy. Valera's mother - Anastasia Vasilievna - I did not find. She died in 2011, for her son it was a huge blow.

We already lived together when the doctors diagnosed his dad with a very difficult diagnosis. Irina Apeksimova helped find the best specialists at the Botkin Hospital. Almost all the time Valera was next to dad. When the doctors allowed, he brought home. I cooked his favorite soup with meatballs, Nikolaev and I tried to distract Valery Evgenievich from hospital everyday life. But he was getting worse, sometimes even talking was unbearable. It's hard to see a loved one fade away. Valera worked hard to pay for the treatment. And he lived in the hope that dad would get out.

Including for the sake of earning money, Nikolaev agreed to a role in the series "Cult", and we flew to Cuba, where the shooting took place. They settled in a two-story house on the very shore of the ocean. At first it seemed that they were in paradise, but it soon became clear that it was very difficult to feed oneself in the town of Tarara: apart from fruits, potatoes and beans, you would not find anything in local shops. Every day I cooked "various" salads: avocado with onions, avocado with potatoes, avocado with mango...

We bought fish from a local resident. Once this Cuban invited Valera and his friend, martial arts coach and fight director Taras Kiyashko, to go fishing, and before going out to sea, he crossed himself and said: “See the shark - don’t panic.” Of course, they did not sail anywhere after such a warning. I was even afraid to swim there - I did it only with Valera. Then we, however, swam with dolphins, but I still could not relax in the water.

In Tarara we met compatriots who worked in Cuba. Once we were treated to real borscht, they told us where to buy milk, eggs, sour cream... Valera is a lark, jumping up at dawn and jogging along the ocean. One day I wake up: on the nightstand by the bed - rustic cottage cheese with sour cream. What happiness it was!

Not far from us was the house where Dmitry Maryanov and his wife Ksenia lived. He also starred in The Cult. Somehow they invite us to visit:

Guys, we have Olivier!
We almost lost our minds:
- Where?
Ksyusha from an ax is able to make a culinary masterpiece!

I watched Nikolaev work: I leafed through the script in the evening - and that's it, I memorized it! I didn't understand: is it possible? For the first time I saw the filming process from the inside, I appreciated how Valera gives all the best. Often in the evenings there were discussions with director Oleg Fesenko: they found the best solutions for the scenes for the next day. In the mornings before filming, there were fight rehearsals. Nikolaev performed some tricks himself, refusing to use an understudy. Before my eyes, Valera was driving over the gorge along the bridge in an open-top car: he stood with a machine gun in the driver's seat and held the steering wheel with one foot. Despite the fact that I was always afraid of heights!

Valera also found time for romantic gestures: once he brought me an armful of sunflowers. I saw a field and a narwhal on the way back from filming... I remember that at the weekend we went to an elite resort - we settled in the legendary villa of Dupont, a well-known American multibillionaire at the beginning of the last century. Finally, we were able to truly relax together.

Valera and I have the same love for our smaller brothers: we drag everyone into the house. He is even more compassionate than I am in this regard. There were a lot of skinny, hungry dogs in one filming location. The whole site fed them. And Valera, at his own expense, called the doctors so that the mongrels were examined and vaccinated.

A dog named Nut (in translation - Ear, and her ears were like burdocks) nailed to us in Cuba. Naturally, she became a member of the family when they left for the shooting - she guarded the house. Then we noticed that Orekha was somehow suspiciously rounded. She forgot to warn us about her pregnancy ... As a result, I delivered the dog in our closet. I called Valera to shoot: “We are giving birth!” He returned home already to the offspring: six puppies, which we distributed to new acquaintances in the last two weeks before departure. They even seriously thought about taking Orekha to Moscow, but regretted it: the dog frolic all his life in nature, and we will drag him to a cold city, in a concrete bag. The nut was left with our friends in Cuba.

Several times Valera flew to Moscow in between filming to visit his father. But when Valery Evgenievich died, his son worked in Cuba. We immediately flew to Moscow, and three days after the funeral we had to return. Valera was in a depressed state. He blamed himself for not being with his father in the last minutes of his life. And I understood him perfectly, because I experienced the same thing in childhood, but did not know how to support my beloved. How could I help him? Men do not cry - and Valera did not worry for show, it was impossible to get him to talk on a sore subject. He pretended that life goes on: externally suppressed his feelings, and internally tried to survive the pain of loss on his own. But this is not always humanly possible, and this pain ticked in his brain like a time bomb...

Before going to Cuba, Valera proposed to me, while saying: “Wow, I thought that I would not marry anymore.” And after the tragedy, he began to especially value his loved ones. He needed a family ... To be honest, I didn’t expect these words, I never even hinted at the wedding to Nikolaev - we began to live together only four months ago. That day they were walking in the square of the Novodevichy Convent, and Valera says:

Let's swear.
I sat down on the bench. He knelt down and handed me an engagement ring (and already for the wedding he gave me another - woven into a symbol of infinity, in this sign Valera saw the hope that our love would be eternal).
When I saw the ring, I exclaimed:
- Oh, how beautiful!
I put on.
- On the other finger, Elya! Valery looked into his eyes impatiently.
- Will you be my wife or not?
- Oh sure! I laughed.

Upon returning from Cuba, Valera gave me a wedding present - an Infiniti car. And we chose the dress together: we bought three outfits - all not in the style of the bride, but very beautiful. I never dreamed of a traditional celebration with limousines and crinolines. By the way, Valera has very good taste. When he bought me a dress or shoes in absentia - everything fit as if it was sewn on me. He completely took over the organization of the wedding, I chose only the banquet menu. So there were many surprises ahead.

On the day of the celebration, Valera brought me to the airfield, where a helicopter was waiting for us! Nikolaev smiled: “You’re an aerial gymnast - let’s fly to the wedding, but don’t go!” The heavens smiled at us, we were lucky with the weather in September 2014 - a beautiful view opened up from a height.

And we landed in Suzdal, where I had never been before. The rest of the guests, only fifteen people, were already waiting for us. The hairdresser did my hair - and we went to the registry office, with which there was an agreement (it was specially opened on Monday only for us, usually this is a day off).

The wedding turned out to be sincere: we walked around the monasteries, sat at the table in the evening, danced ... Everyone stayed at the hotel overnight. When we woke up, we went on a tour of the city. On the second day, a loaf was brought to us to check who would be the head of the family - I bit off a larger piece. Valera laughed: “Well, of course, you are my Goddess!” He often calls me that jokingly.

They returned from Suzdal with replenishment: on the territory of the monastery, a kitten ran out of the cabbage in the local garden and sat on Valerin's boot. The husband immediately melted:

Let's take it?
I resisted as best I could.
- We are constantly on the road and can not take a cat.

We walked, we return - the kitten runs again and again sits on his leg. Then a priest walks by and says: “Do you want to take a kitten? I bless!” Of course, I threw a murderous look at this priest: well, thank you! They brought the kitten home and named it Eve. Then I treated him for all sorts of infections. When she was making a passport, the doctor ironically remarked: "A strange name for a boy." Renamed Baby.

After the information about the wedding was leaked to the press, a flurry of calls hit me. Terrified, she asked Valera: “Where did they get my phone number from?” I didn't know what tabloid pen sharks were. Then I realized that they were trying to distort my words in a way that was more beneficial for them, and stopped communicating. I was very upset when one newspaper called me a "circus performer" - this is an insult! It is customary to say "circus performers."

I was faced with the fact that if I live with an artist, then I have to put up with a public lifestyle. There was a period when Valera was constantly invited to various events. I don't like them, I get tired of other people's attention. She stayed at home, expressing resentment: “You are leaving again, but I want to be together!” Then we learned to hear each other, to find compromises. And as a result, Nikolaev is also a “donkey” - now it’s more pleasant for him to chat with his wife in his free time, especially since we didn’t succeed so often because of work schedules. They just couldn't get enough of each other.

At first I was tense due to the fact that you can’t calmly walk down the street - they recognize Nikolaev and ask to be photographed. Then I stopped noticing it. Valera has never suffered from star disease, he is friendly with fans. Of course, there were cases when girls frankly tried to flirt, but I don’t blame Valera for the fact that some young ladies have no self-esteem! Sometimes, text messages came from women ... I take this philosophically: you can’t put a scarf on someone else’s mouth. The main thing is that my husband didn’t give me a reason to be jealous, I didn’t give him one either. We do not hide our phones from each other.

I learned how to cook with Valera - I had never cooked borscht for myself in a whole pot before. When friends come to him, I also want to feed them deliciously. My husband is generally very unpretentious in food and praises my culinary skills. He can clean up and help peel the potatoes. Both of us are so independent in everyday life that we didn’t even have grinding. Quarrels at first happened over some trifles: word for word ... Once I even went for a walk and slammed the door. I return: the apartment is strewn with rose petals, balloons are everywhere, they have the inscription "I'm sorry" on them. When Valera is guilty, he always asks for forgiveness.

Nikolaev is very attentive, he remembers everything that I tell him about myself. The candy-bouquet period after the wedding usually ends, and my husband still came home with flowers every time. The same cat Malysh drank water only from vases - photos have been preserved of how he funny sticks his muzzle into them. My birthdays are always surprises...

Once Valera called my friends and brought us to the popular wind tunnel attraction. All with the same argument: "You're an aerial gymnast - let's fly!" There was some magic in it. And it turned out that we are both fans of the Lube group. As a child, I toured with the circus in America, and on the bus they played “Don't play the fool, America!” all the time. Valera is familiar with Rastorguev, and we went to his concert with pleasure, sang along in chorus. Such coincidences are also not accidental.

It is always a puzzle for me to come up with such an original idea for my husband for the holidays. In Cuba, he liked to smoke local cigars, and I undertook to look for a humidor - a box for their proper storage. I bought an old copy at an auction for big money, it has an engraving of Romeo y Julieta. Valera was very touched. And for his fiftieth birthday, she ordered him a special ring, on which a lion was depicted - according to the sign of his horoscope. We celebrated our birthday in Italy: we spontaneously found a cozy restaurant in Rome. I just worked on a cruise ship, Valera came to me - they swept all over Europe.

It seems that an idyll reigned in our family, but a breakdown was imperceptibly brewing in Valeria's soul. And the starting point for this internal crisis was the death of his father. On this rod, like a spindle, other problems were wound ... It didn’t work out in work: there were no interesting proposals, he himself refused bad ones, but as an actor he felt unfulfilled. It was only with him that I realized how dependent the profession of an actor is. In the circus, you do what you can, and you will always be busy and in demand, I was more fortunate in this regard than he was.

I drew all the conclusions from my observations: Valera did not share his experiences at all. He gave out some fragments of his creative fantasies, and I put together a puzzle out of this. When I tried to talk, he could start to get annoyed: they say, don’t pester, I’m tired ... I didn’t take it to heart. Valera was emotionally exhausted, he started having problems sleeping... didn't know what to do about it. And while my husband had a lull in work, I tried not to refuse contracts.

Since September 2015, my contract in Vienna for six months came into force. Valera and I discussed this, and I agreed reluctantly - I did not want to leave him alone in this state. Called with me:

Let's go to Vienna! Change the scenery, get out!
He refused:
- You don't understand, I have problems here, I can't!

I'm not used to pushing: an adult decides for himself what is best for him. But none of us is immune from mistakes...

To fill the void in his professional life, Valera agreed to participate in the television project Without Insurance. This is a huge emotional and physical burden. And the body began to fail. There were no injuries - the hand suffered. Moreover, Nikolaev always tries to do everything honestly. A year before, I myself watched him give all the best in the Ice Age show. Once, during a performance, he injured his knee - he fell on the ice and could not get up. I run to him.

How do you?
He through his teeth:
- Fine.
Never say that he hurts. Only the leg gives out a picture - it turns blue and swells! Doctors put Valera on a stretcher and take her to the first-aid post. They begin to drain blood from his swollen knee. Seeing this, I slide down to the floor... And then Valera tries to get up.
- I'm on the couch, and my wife is on the floor!
The doctor keeps him
- Lie down, where are you going?
I'm in a semi-conscious state:
- I'm alright!

The arm had just begun to heal after the show “Without insurance”, when Nikolaev was admitted to the hospital with appendicitis, there were complications - he was operated on three times under general anesthesia. She came from Vienna to visit her husband and was horrified: he was thin, with bruises under his eyes ... Valera lost fifteen kilograms! And journalists associated his dramatic weight loss with an unhealthy lifestyle - alcohol and drugs. Nobody knew the truth. Valera always went in for sports - morning jogging, gym ... He drank sometimes, but did not suffer from alcoholism. And after the hospital he was forbidden to drink at all.

I could not refuse the planned performances in Vienna - for this I would have to pay a huge penalty. Flew away. Valera was still in the hospital ... In March, my contract was ending, and on February 25, an unfortunate accident happened. I found out about him the next morning from journalists who began to cut off my phone:

Your husband rammed several cars in a car, hit a traffic police officer and fled the scene of the crime! How can you comment on this?
To say I was shocked is an understatement.
- I am in Vienna on tour, for the first time I hear about the accident from you!

At first I hoped that it was a duck, I began to call Valera, but he was unavailable. I learned from friends that my husband had been detained. The next day, there was news again: Nikolaev arbitrarily left the courtroom, he was imprisoned for ten days. I didn’t know what to think, not being able to even exchange a few words with Valera ...

On March 8, I returned to Moscow - and here was a gift for me: my husband had just been released! He came home tired, depressed, with empty eyes. It was still difficult to get through to Valera, he closed himself even more. At first he even tried to push away:

Don't get involved, I'll take care of everything myself!
But it's not easy to get rid of me.
- I see how you are! Now bear with me...

Much was not clear in that situation, but I did not cut to the quick, doing clarifications. I just tried to be with my husband around the clock. And again, she didn’t keep track ... Valera, hurrying on business, drove into the oncoming lane, and he was deprived of his driver’s license. As a result, the court determined the punishment of fifteen days of arrest and a fine. I went to my husband, brought a parcel ... And there, behind bars, the realization came to Valera of how he had played tricks in recent months! Returned home completely broken...

It seemed to him: wherever he went, he could get into another trouble, his husband was afraid to leave the house. The worst thing is when a person ceases to trust himself, because not only I was surprised by Valera's trick - he himself did not expect this! Nikolaev always controlled himself perfectly, there were no cases when he even shouted at me, it is very difficult to unbalance him. And on the day of the accident, the twenty-fifth of February, as they say, nothing foreshadowed trouble. Then Valera told me: “I don’t know how it happened, I don’t understand ...” The man just broke.

What happened, happened - it was necessary to live on. But Valera completely immersed himself in his sense of guilt, fear for the future: what will happen to him, to us, how to live with this further? He understood that at that moment he could lose everything that was dear to him: his profession, his family, his viewers ... He repeated: “It would be nice if I were twenty years old, but at fifty I’d get into such a mess!” He began to analyze his life, engage in self-criticism. Then he apologized publicly on the Internet for the first time - both to the people who were injured in the accident and to his fans.

And at the meeting he once again admitted his guilt - he was sentenced to a fine of one hundred and fifty thousand rubles, with which Valera fully agreed. I thought that it would get better after the trial, but so far it has not - he cannot forget this nightmare, get out of a state of desperate pain, regret about what happened. I tell him: “Everything happens, let go! It just needs to be experienced!” But his repentance continues...

There are people who stopped communicating with Valera after these incidents. One more blow. But I advise him to treat the loss of such acquaintances philosophically - this is their choice. And real friends and relatives are always there, support. Dasha is constantly in touch with her father. There were also fans from Valera's fan club who wrote to me: "Elechka, we are ready to help in any way we can." It was very pleasant for me, I did not expect such participation from strangers, in general, people.

Then we had Josie - a big and kind alabai. Valera once had a friend - Labrador Rick. But there was an accident, he got hit by a car ... Since then, Nikolaev did not start dogs. And then I went to visit the guys who breed Alabaev, and fell in love at first sight! I was again shocked by another family member: “I wanted a Pomeranian that you can take with you everywhere, and this is twenty Pomeranians in one!” But how could one not fall in love with this big white miracle? Now Valera is joking:

Do you still want spitz?
- Thank you, I have enough Alabai!

We walk with Josie, run on the playground, play - and I see that Valera is gradually coming to life. Recently, with the participation of Nikolaev, the entreprise “Lie to me, baby!” - My husband is busy doing what he loves, and I'm very happy.

Last spring, in the period between the accident that Valera got into and the trial, there were well-wishers who told me: “Why do you need such a husband?” As if a person can simply be thrown out if he became uncomfortable! Journalists provoked:

There are rumors about your divorce...
I was so tired - saying what they wanted to hear from me:
So we're getting divorced!

And doubts crept in herself: if he behaves so strangely, does he even need a wife? I put myself in front of a choice: “You either give up or move on!” As life has shown, such a choice for both never existed. After everything we had experienced, we even stopped quarreling over trifles. What divorce? Our love has only grown stronger!

At the trial, Valera said: “I thank my wife for understanding everything and being there. I live for her." For both of us, this was a serious lesson: we realized how much we need each other. And in sorrow and in joy. So we have already eaten a fly in the ointment, and a barrel of honey is still ahead of us.

The editors would like to thank the Fundament Group of Companies for their help in organizing the shooting.

"Bourgeois" found a way to take revenge on Edgard Zapashny

"Bourgeois" found a way to take revenge on Edgard Zapashny

The story that happened in the Circus on Vernadsky Avenue, someone figured out to film it, and it quickly spread around the Internet. During the performance, a man in a vest, shorts and Che Guevara's beret appeared on the arena. The audience saw in the character of the actor Valery NIKOLAEV, who demanded to the whole audience that the director of the circus, Edgard ZAPASHNY, publicly apologize to his wife Elmira ZEMSKOVA.

It happened during the circus festival "Idol". Valery, looking around the hall, praised me for the good organization, and then told the public that he had married a circus gymnast Elmira Zemskova and even showed a tattoo in honor of her on his arm, - said the director of the circus Edgard Zapashny. - At first, you might think that this is part of a clown reprise. But then Valery turned to me again: “When did you have the last festival?” I said a year ago. To which he said: “A year ago, my wife was kicked out of this circus by guards with machine guns! And she worked for 18 years without insurance at a great height. I couldn't understand what was happening. Had to withdraw Nikolaev from the hall."

Behind the scenes, Zapashny approached the actor to find out what he was dissatisfied with and why he had been dragging on with explanations for a whole year. And he noticed that the star of the once thundering television series “Birthday of the Bourgeois” is clearly not in himself: the pupils are greatly dilated, his eyes shine. It is unlikely that he was drunk - it was more like the impact of some kind of "dope". Zapashny ordered the guards to escort Nikolaev to the car. He got into the driver's seat and drove off. 15 minutes later he called back and tried to apologize. But he spoke indistinctly, swearing through the word.

I invited Valery to come the next day, but he did not appear, - says Zapashny. - Maybe he mixed up the circuses? I personally don’t know Elmira Zemskova, she works at the Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard - Nikolaev regularly arranges similar shows there. Somehow he was caught in the stable, and he also tried to get into the tigers - he had to call the police.

Mother-in-law stood up for son-in-law

Elmira, who was ill, refused to comment on her husband's trick - her mother took the floor Nina Zemskova. She is also a circus performer, she trains aerialists in the Circus on Tsvetnoy.

A year ago, Elmira was really not allowed to attend the performance, Nikolaev's mother-in-law recalled. - Valery is a decent person, and Zapashny's behavior towards Elya offended him. He wanted to apologize to her. Valera and Elmira got married on September 8, and before that they had been dating for five years. And believe me: my son-in-law is a decent person. If he had thrown scandals or rowdy Elmira, she would not have married him.

Of course, Valera chose not the best place for an explanation, Zemskova agreed. - But when he talked to Edgard, he was absolutely sober. Yes, perhaps Valera drank at some point, but now I don’t notice this sin in him. And with the appointment of Zapashny, our artists really stopped going to the Circus on Vernadsky Street: they are not allowed in. But it's pointless to talk about it with Edgard.

Zapashny himself does not deny that a pass system has been introduced in his circus.

We do not have armed guards, because our circus is a state institution. But we have no right to neglect safety: we have children at the show, animals in cages. My artists will not get into the Nikulin Circus just like that, from the service entrance. If Zemskova couldn't ask the press secretary to give her a pass, that's not my problem.

In the Nikulin Circus, where Elmira works, they also saw Valery more than once, but they remember this more calmly.

Nikolaev always comes to us in a suit and with a tie,” the administrator said. Oksana Druzhinina. - The last time was on September 1 - he said that he and Elmira were going to get married. We were happy for Elya: a talented gymnast from a circus dynasty, a beauty. I have known her since the age of six. With Valera, Elmira has her first marriage. And they met during the television show "Circus with the Stars", where they worked in pairs. As for the conflict, as I understand it, Elmira was not allowed in because she had a pass from another circus. Of course, she told her husband about it. And he exploded.

Third try

* In 1984, 19-year-old Moscow Art Theater student Valery Nikolaev married a classmate Natalia Pirogova, with whom he broke up three years later, having met Irina Apeksimova. The artists got married in 1988, but divorced 12 years later. In marriage, a daughter, Dasha, was born.

* On the set of the series "Bourgeois's Birthday" (1999), Nikolaev began an affair with an actress Daria Poverennova which she carefully concealed.

* In 2003, the actor became interested in the singer Tatyana Ovsienko, and a year later was seen in connection with the actress Lyubov Tikhomirova. Marriage with Elmira Zemskova is the third for Nikolaev.

Valery Valeryevich Nikolaev is a Russian actor whose calling card was the main role in the TV series Bourgeois's Birthday. But there are many other roles in his piggy bank, including in Hollywood projects, and his favorite role is honest, courageous and determined men.

Childhood and youth

Valery Nikolaev was born and raised in the capital, near the River Station. The mother of the future actor worked as an artist until her retirement, her father used to teach at the Forestry Engineering Institute, later a firm that certified goods.

Valera grew up as an active mobile boy, spent whole days with his friends in the yard, loved to play football and hockey, and did not stand aside during street fights. From an early age, he was professionally engaged in gymnastics and even dreamed of an Olympic podium. The resulting hand injury crossed out the young man's ambitious plans, but he nevertheless became a candidate for master of sports.

Valery became interested in theater as a teenager thanks to a teacher of the Russian language. She often turned lessons into real performances, inviting students to transform into literary characters. It was then that Nikolaev woke up an interest in the acting profession, to which he decided to devote his future life.

But immediately after school, he failed to enter a theater university, and Valery, following the path of least resistance, took the documents to the Forestry Engineering Institute, where his father worked. Very soon he regretted his decision, and a year later he became a student at the Moscow Art Theater School, getting on the legendary course of Oleg Tabakov. Together with him, the basics of acting learned Evgeny Mironov, Philip Yankovsky, Vladimir Mashkov and Irina Apeksimova, who later became his wife.

During his studies, Nikolaev twice went to America for an internship: he studied the language, professionally studied dance and choreography at the universities of New York and Gainesville, and studied acting at the famous Juilliard School of the Arts. These skills were very useful to him in the future, and the contacts and acquaintances received in the USA opened the way for the Russian actor to Hollywood.

Actor career

In 1990, Nikolaev defended his diploma and was invited to the troupe of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater. Valery served in the theater for eight years, staged five performances as a choreographer, but still made his main bet on cinema.

Nikolaev began acting in his senior year, and having tried his hand at domestic cinema, in the late 90s he went to conquer Hollywood. He was lucky to work with such eminent directors as Oliver Stone and Philip Noyce, and meet on the same platform with a whole constellation of famous overseas actors. So, he played a rather important role in the action movie The Saint with Val Kilmer (the film was nominated for the Golden Raspberry anti-award), the thriller The Turn with Sean Penn, the drama The Terminal with Tom Hanks.

But the real hallmark of Valery was the role of Vladimir Kovalenko in the TV series Bourgeois's Birthday (2000), which glorified him throughout the post-Soviet space. In this serial thriller, he tried on the image of an orphan who independently (and most importantly, honestly) earned a fortune. When trying to find his parents, the man is drawn into a string of intrigues. The series fell in love with the audience, and a year later the light saw a sequel.

Valery Nikolaev in the program "Night Session" with Renata Litvinova

For the next ten years, Nikolaev was literally in great demand, he was willingly invited to both Russian and foreign projects, and in 2007 Valery made his debut as a director, making the film "Bear Hunt", where he himself played the main role. He also invited Dana Borisova, Vasily Livanov and Emmanuil Vitorgan to the project.

Valery Nikolaev in the show "Ice Age"

Thanks to his excellent physical shape, the actor has repeatedly become participants in various television projects in which he demonstrated his strength, agility and endurance.

Personal life of Valery Nikolaev

Nikolaev's personal life is no less exciting than his professional career, and could well become the plot of an exciting melodrama with action elements. His first wife was classmate Natalya Pirogova, whom he married in 1984, after returning from the army.

But the student marriage did not last long, and soon the windy Valery had an affair with another classmate, Irina Apeksimova, whom he left in 1988. Six years later, baby Dasha was born to the spouses, but the family idyll collapsed overnight on the set of Bourgeois, where Valery became interested in Daria Poverennova.

Upon learning of her husband's betrayal, the proud Apeksimova immediately filed for divorce and even refused to act in the continuation of the series. However, Valery broke up with Daria two years later, leaving the actress in the deepest depression.

Then Nikolaev had affairs with singer Tatyana Ovsienko, actress Lyubov Tikhomirova and figure skater Maria Petrova, and the third official wife of the actor in 2014 was circus performer Elmira Zemskova.

In addition to love affairs, the actor became famous for high-profile scandals, which he periodically arranged in a fair amount of drunkenness. Nikolaev repeatedly became a participant in an accident and violated the rules of traffic rules, because of which he was brought to administrative responsibility and lost his driver's license. Once knocked down a woman, fortunately, she survived. In early 2017, the actor was arrested for 15 days for driving without a driver's license.

In March 2016, the show “Let them talk” reported that the fourth wife had left Valery. With this, the journalists justified his recent inappropriate behavior - a couple of weeks before that, he made a brawl in a car dealership. Dana Borisova stood up for the actor - according to her, the actor is in deep depression due to failures in his personal life and lack of demand in the profession. Dmitry Maryanov and Maria Shukshina.

Elmira Zemskova told how hard her husband had experienced the accident, and how she was advised to divorce him.

Last spring, Valery Nikolaev rammed several cars in a car, ran over a traffic police officer and fled the scene of the crime. The wife of the actor Elmira Zemskova was on tour in Vienna at that time, when she heard about the accident, she thought it was a duck and began to call her husband, but he was unavailable.

From friends, Elmira learned that Valery had been detained. The next day, it turned out that Nikolaev left the courtroom without permission, and he was imprisoned for ten days. On March 8, Zemskova returned to Moscow, Valery had just been released. He came home tired, depressed, with empty eyes, he closed himself even more.

Elmira did not engage in clarifications, but simply tried to be with her husband around the clock. And again, she didn't follow. Nikolaev, hurrying on business, drove into the oncoming lane and lost his driver's license. As a result, the court imposed a sentence of fifteen days of arrest and a fine. Elmira went to her husband and brought a package. And at that moment, behind bars, Valera finally realized how he had played tricks in recent months. As a result, Nikolaev returned home completely broken.

According to Zemskova, it began to seem to her husband that wherever he went, he would get into another trouble, as a result, Nikolaev became afraid to leave the house. The actor has always controlled himself perfectly, it was very difficult to unbalance him. And on the day of the accident, the twenty-fifth of February, nothing foreshadowed trouble. Then Valera confessed to his wife that he himself did not understand how this could happen.

Nikolaev completely immersed himself in his sense of guilt, fear for the future. He understood that he could lose his profession, his family, his audience. Then he apologized publicly on the Internet for the first time - both to the people who were injured in the accident and to his fans.

In the period between the accident that Nikolaev got into and the trial, some well-wishers asked Elmira why she needed such a husband. Some people stopped communicating with Valera after these incidents. But real friends and relatives were always there, supported. Dasha was constantly in touch with her father. There were also fans from Valery's fan club who supported Nikolaev in every possible way.

Elmira herself had doubts that if her husband behaved so strangely, whether he even needed a wife. However, after everything experienced, they even stopped quarreling over trifles. Their love only grew stronger.

At the trial, Valery thanked his wife for understanding everything and being there. “I live for her,” the actor admitted. For both of them, this was a serious lesson. They realized how much they needed each other in sorrow and in joy.

Then Nikolaev and Zemskova bought a big and kind Alabai Josie, such a big white miracle. They began to walk with Josie, Valery began to gradually come to life.

Recently, with the participation of Nikolaev, the entreprise “Lie to me, baby!” The fact that her husband is busy with what he loves makes Elmira very happy.

Valery Nikolaev was married twice before meeting Elmira. The first time - on a classmate at the Moscow Art Theater School-Studio Natalya Pirogova. From the second wife, actress Irina Apeksimova, Nikolaev already has an adult daughter, Dasha. Elmira and Valery visited Irina, where Zemskova met Dasha. Nikolaev loves and is proud of her very much.

Elmira Zemskova in her youth lived for three years with the juggler Lev. Then she went on tour to Las Vegas, and maintaining a serious relationship at a distance is impossible. A few years later, Elmira found out that Leva had crashed on a motorcycle. On tour, she had foreign fans, but there was no serious relationship. And with Valera, Elmira admits, from the first day it was even comfortable to be silent.

During the marriage, the actor has changed dramatically and left a lot of debt

Elmira Zemskova: "Valery left me a lot of bills and everything else, and I have to sort it out now"

The circus performer told the Russian media that during her married life her husband had changed a lot. In addition, she also received a bunch of debts from him, which she will have to deal with.

The star of the film “Birthday Bourgeois” and his wife were together for two years, but the woman was tired of being responsible for his inadequate actions.

From a popular actor who showed great promise, Valery Nikolaev turned into an ordinary drunkard and a bully

Only recently, the famous brawler and drunkard was a participant in a number of criminal news, got into traffic accidents, and also spent several days in an isolation cell. After Valery got into several accidents in a row, some of those close to the couple began to say that Zemskova was going to part with the actor. But only recently the couple officially announced the divorce.

Elmira, in her interview with LifeNews, told the truth about why she is leaving the actor. The circus artist said that it was unbearable to live with Nikolaev, as with a person, so the decision to divorce would remain unchanged.

Elmira Zemskova endured the antics of her famous husband for a long time and, nevertheless, decided to divorce

Of course, what do you think, is it possible to live with such a person? I have already decided on the decision to divorce finally, now it's only a matter of time.

Zemskova also answered the journalist’s question: “What debts did he leave you?”

Valery left me a lot of bills and everything else that I have to clear up now, fines for the Infiniti, but I didn’t drive my car, but he and not only him drove. He lost my rights, I need to restore them now. It is necessary to restore the car, which is now under repair. In short, they left me a lot of gifts, there is something to do now .

Nikolaev's wife noticed that such a way of life was not characteristic of her husband at the beginning of their life together, after the wedding.

At the beginning of their married life, the couple was happy

The actress even shared that Valery himself planned their marriage, while she only found a dress for herself and was in charge of the menu. On their fingers were rings made in the form of an infinity sign.

I don't know, really. I don't know this Valera Nikolaev. I married a noble, good man when he was completely different, so, of course, it hurts, it's a shame, it's sad that we are getting a divorce. But when you stretch out helping hands to a person, and they beat you with sticks, you know, this is not very pleasant.

It is interesting that Nikolaev himself, apparently, was not made to yearn by the news of a divorce from his third wife. According to him, he is happy with this development.

Reference

Recall that before the relationship with Zemskova, Valery was officially married two more times - with Irina Aleksimova and Lyubov Tikhomirova. Also, the famous actor had a civil marriage with Daria Povarennova and Tatyana Ovsienko. But these love stories were short-lived.