Eva Longoria ‘Fell in Love’ with France While Married to Tony Parker. She’s Exploring It Again 15 Years Later (Exclusive)

Alexandra SchonfeldSun, April 12, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC

0

Eva Longoria in 'Searching for France'Credit: CNN -

Eva Longoria is exploring the history and food of France in the latest installment of her Searching for... franchise on CNN

Longoria tells PEOPLE that her love for the country dates back to her marriage to French-American basketball player Tony Parker

Since then, Longoria has spent lots of time in France as an ambassador for L'Oréal

Eva Longoria is putting her love of France on display in the latest season of her Searching for... franchise.

Following previous installments of the CNN series that took viewers through Spain and Mexico, the Desperate Housewives alum, 51, is traversing France with episodes of Eva Longoria: Searching for France set in Paris, Bordeaux, Brittany and beyond — a choice that felt natural for the Francophile.

Her connection to the country dates back to her relationship with French-American basketball player Tony Parker, 43, to whom she was married from 2007–2011.

Eva Longoria in 'Searching for France'Credit: CNN

“I was married to a Frenchman, so I really fell in love with France through his eyes because he's such a countryman. I mean, he's such a patriot,” she tells PEOPLE of the athlete, who played in the NBA for 18 seasons.

“We lived in Paris in the summers — and not just in Paris, but we lived all over. We lived in Leon. We lived in Faucon. We went to Limoges. We went everywhere, all over France because he had to play basketball everywhere,” she adds of Parker, who was on the French national team.

Beyond her French connection through Parker, Longoria has been an ambassador for L'Oréal for more than 20 years and has attended the Cannes Film Festival for just as long.

Advertisement

Tony Parker and Eva Longoria in 2006.Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Patrick McMullan via Getty

“It’s been definitely a romantic connection with this beautiful country,” she says.

Following her divorce from Parker, Longoria married José Bastón in 2016, and the pair welcomed a son, Santiago Enrique, in 2018.

Throughout the eight-episode season, Longoria’s travels center around food and exploring the history behind some of France’s most famous dishes and the country's journey to becoming “the global standard for fine dining.”

Eva Longoria and French chef Alain Ducasse in the Paris episode of 'Searching for France'Credit: CNN

She tries fresh oysters in Paris, bouillabaisse in Provence, frog legs mousseline in Alsace, braised boeuf bourguignon in Burgundy, buttery blue lobster in Brittany and Bordelaise sauce in Bordeaux — to name a few French cuisine staples.

“I am such a foodie, and I love to travel, and I love history,” Longoria says of how the travel show first came about, adding, “And then, of course, I have such strong ties and a connection to France, and I speak French fluently, so they allowed me to do France as well. The gold standard of gastronomy is really French cuisine. And so I think all of my three passions combined into one — and I get paid for it — was probably a no-brainer.”

Eva Longoria: Searching for France will premiere on April 12 at 9 p.m. ET on CNN. The series will air two episodes weekly through May 3.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”