Camila Alves Said Matthew McConaughey’s Mom Tested Her at the Beginning of Their Relationship

It included speaking to her in broken Spanish and calling her by his ex-girlfriends' names.

In a new interview, Camila Alves described some almost unbelievable hazing that she had to endure at the start of her romance with Matthew McConaughey. During an appearance on Southern Living's Biscuits & Jam podcast, Alves described the start of their relationship, when McConaughey's mother, Mary Kathlene McCabe, "tested" her. In the end, however, Alves said that after she brought out her "spicy Brazilian, Latin side," she realized that it was a way for McCabe to see if she'd "fight back."

"She did all these things when I first came in the picture," Alves said. "She was really testing me. I mean, really testing me. She would call me by all of Matthew's ex-girlfriends' names, she would start speaking Spanish with me in a very broken way, kind of putting down a bit. I mean, all kinds of stuff."

The moment of clarity came when McCabe accompanied the couple on a trip to Istanbul.

“The whole way there, the whole plane ride to Istanbul, she was telling me all these stories and putting all these things in my head,” Alves shared. On the third day of the trip, Alves noted, things got to be too much.

“So, I just flip it on her and brought my spicy Brazilian, Latin side, and I let her have it,” she said. “I went back at her, and we had it back and forth, back and forth. And then at the end, she just looked at me and she was like, ‘OK. Now you’re in.'”

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That was enough for the other shoe to drop, Alves explained. Today, they have a great relationship, she insists, and the whole thing was just a way for McCabe to test her and make sure she'd "fight back."

“And then from that day on, that night on, we have the most amazing relationship, and I have so much respect for her. She has so much respect for me,” Alves finished. She and McConaughey started dating in 2006 and married in 2012. They have three children together:  Levi, Vida, and Livingston.

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