Holly Robinson Peete Reveals ‘the Secret Sauce’ to Her 30-Year Marriage with Husband Rodney Peete (Exclusive)

Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete are looking back on 30 years of marriage — and reflecting on what’s made their relationship so successful.

Speaking exclusively with PEOPLE at the American Black Film Festival in Miami Beach, Fla. on Thursday, June 12, the longtime couple shared that they celebrated their momentous occasion with a “superb” dinner date — and they were accompanied by “some friends that have been with us along the way,” according to Robinson Peete, 60.

“I think some of the secret sauce to having a really good long relationship is surrounding yourself with people who wanna see you win as a couple. You know?” she shared. “And those people that were at your wedding that saw the courtship and all.”

“So we invited them and then our kids, and we just kept it really sweet and intimate. We’re gonna celebrate a little later on a trip in Europe,” she revealed. “But for now [a dinner], and then we knew we had to come to work. So, we had a really beautiful, intimate, love-filled dinner.”

Holly and Rodney tied the knot in 1995 and have since welcomed four children: twins, daughter Ryan and son Rodney Jr., 27; son Robinson, 22; and Roman, 20.

According to Holly, her decades-long relationship with the former NFL quarterback, 59, began with a date that was set up by none other than their friend, actress Lela Rochon.

“Sunshine put us together and she’ll love me for saying that,” the 21 Jump Street alum said of her longtime friend Rochon. “They went to the gym together…and he kept sort of harassing her, ‘I wanna meet Holly.’ And then she was coming to me, ‘You gotta meet Rodney Peete.’ I was like, ‘Ooh, a quarterback. I don’t know.’ ”

“I really wasn’t feeling the whole athlete guy thing,” she joked. “And then [Rochon] kind of set it up for us to come to this little nightclub, and we sat in the nightclub together. And there was a jazz singer who was singing with the jazz hands, and we were kind of enjoying her. He put his little hand under the table and hit my leg, and I was like, ‘Ohh, OK.'”

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The Detroit Lions alum also shared one thing that he loved about his wife right away on that date: her appetite.

“She wasn’t afraid to eat either,” he shared. “A lot of women on a first date or whatever. They’re like, ‘Oh, I nibble on some salad or whatever.’ She ordered a big old plate of fries and put some hot sauce on it. She was doing her thing. I was like, ‘OK, OK. She let her hair down. I like that.’ ”

“You know why?” Holly responded. “Because I liked him, but not like that yet. It’s like, when you don’t really like a brother like that, you are not trying to eat cute.”

Soon after their first outing together, Holly recalled visiting Rodney at his house for a party, but she and her friends left after a few minutes.

“We ate everything there and left,” she joked. “That was not quite a date….Then after that, he came over to my house, which weirdly was only five minutes from his, knocked on the door, and I said, ‘Don’t you have a party going on at your house?’ And he said, ‘Well, when you left, the party was over.’ ”

“I said, ‘That’s gonna get you another date,'” Holly teased. “And the rest is history. Four kids, 30 years later, here we are.”

The pair has been together since then, and they credit their patience and respect for each other as the thing that has kept them going for three decades.

“I admire most that you put up with me and you’re patient with me,” Holly told her husband. “You’re very patient with me sometimes.”

“I was gonna say almost the same thing,” Rodney replied. “That you put up with me all, all my faults and everything that we’ve been through. You still look at me the same way. So I love you for that.” 

As for the future of their marriage, the Meet the Peetes stars joked that becoming grandparents was at the top of their to-do list.

“I wanna be a grandmother! I wanna be a grandmother and a grandfather,” Holly shared, as Rodney chimed in: “I don’t know if that’s happening anytime soon, but that’s what I want.”

“Four kids, they’re spread out going all different directions and kids aren’t in the future,” he added, as Holly interjected: “I need some grandkids!”

On their anniversary on Tuesday, June 10, the actress shared an Instagram tribute to her husband that featured a collection of photos throughout their years together, including their wedding day, Rodney’s proposal, trips they’ve taken together, magazine covers they’ve starred on, family photos with their four children and a few recent memories, too.

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“Here’s to seeing the best in each other,” she captioned the post in part. “To fighting with and FOR each other. To surrounding ourselves with people who want us to WIN. To forgiving, loving, and laughing our way through it all. And to still flirting after three decades.”