Matthew McConaughey's 'clock was ticking' before he met wife Camila Alves

28 June 2018

Matthew McConaughey thought his "clock was ticking" when he met his wife Camila Alves.

Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughey

The 'Dallas Buyers Club' star was starting to panic that he'd never find anyone to settle down with before he bumped into the Brazilian beauty in 2006 - when he was 37 - because it was always his plan to be married and have children by the time he was 40 years old.

Speaking in the July/August issue of Cigar Aficonado magazine, he said: "My clock was ticking. I was about to be 40 and my plan was to be married and have kids by that age.

"But I didn't want to play the game of starting to feel anxious because, with too much anxiety, you can't find a mate. I knew men who had made hasty decisions and women who had done the same thing. But at that point, I wasn't hunting. And then this amazing woman walked across my field of vision and I thought, 'Who is that?' And it was Camila."

The couple got married in 2012 following a year long engagement and now have three children - sons Levi, nine, Livingston, five, and daughter Vida, eight - together.

And Matthew has admitted he was so blown away by Camila, 36, when he first locked eyes on her eye in a club and he knew instantly that he wanted to make her his wife.

He said previously: "When I saw the woman who is now my wife, I was at a club making margaritas at my table with friends. When she walked in wearing this aqua dress, I went, 'Whoa, what is that?' ... You can't dial up that kind of woman."

And his obsession with Camila means he's never felt the need to stray from her.

The 48-year-old actor explained: "I have been very faithful with my wife, very selfishly. I like being under her spell. I don't want to break that spell."