Getty Nik Wallenda and Erendira Wallenda pose for a photograph outside the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino following a press conference June 14, 2017.
Nik Wallenda will be walking across a volcano live on Wednesday night, March 4, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern. The intense environment is exactly what he’s been training for, as the tightrope walker enjoys facing the worst of conditions that Mother Nature can offer. His wife, Erendira Wallenda, is also a tightrope walker. Here’s what you need to know about Erendira, Nik Wallenda’s wife.
1. Erendira Wallenda Is an Aerialist
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Erendira Wallenda does high-wire performances herself. She’s an aerialist by profession and has done some amazing feats herself. On her fifth wedding anniversary, she hung onto an aerial loop by her teeth over a waterfall, Vertical Wise reported. She broke Nik’s Guinness World Record when she performed the feat.She later said that she hadn’t expected the wind to make the hoop she was hanging from shake so much.
She comes from a family of acrobats just like her husband where she learned to walk tightropes as a child. She’s the eighth generation in her family, People reported.
2. She Is Performing Above the Volcano Tonight, Too
Erendira will be doing a performance above the volcano tonight too. Nik shared the above photo on Instagram the day before his volcano performance, writing: “My wife Erendira is all smiles as she prepares for her aerial performance above the Masaya Volcano.”
3. Nik Proposed to Erindira During a High-Wire Walk
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Nik Wallenda proposed to Erendira during a high-wire walk. Erendira said the proposal happened in 1999 in front of 32,000 people, People reported. The proposal happened in a Montreal show that was sold-out. They were married in a courthouse because they didn’t have much money back then, and she couldn’t afford a wedding dress. She wore a blue dress with polka-dots.
In 2015, she appeared on Say Yes to the Dress for a vow renewal with Nik.
4. Nik & Erendira Wallenda Have Three Children
Nik Wallenda (R) and his wife Erendira Wallenda (L) pose for a photograph at Circus Sarasota on February 15, 2013.
Nik and Erendira Wallenda have three children: Yanni, Amadeos, and Evita. Nik has taught his children to tightrope, since he started leaning himself when he was just two.
He told the New York Post in June 2019: “In 10 years, I’ll be ready to pass the torch. My sons are great wire walkers but the eldest, Yanni, is in the Marines. He’s 21. Amadeos is 18, but he goes into the Army on July 5.”
Amadeos graduated from Sarasota Military Academy in May 2019.
5. They Live in Florida
Aerialist Erendira Wallenda hangs beneath a helicopter during a stunt over the Horseshoe Falls at Niagara Falls, New York, June 15, 2017.
Nik works in Sarasota, Florida, but he and his family have lived in Bradenton since 2006, the Bradenton Herald reported. They live in a middle-class neighborhood and their neighbors are protective of their privacy.
Nik has said that he plans to retire around 55, before he gets to the age where there are more safety concerns.