Kriti Mehrotra
Ever since Angela Nikolau was a young girl, she has admittedly had a keen interest in the creative world thanks to the fact her parents were actually part of a national, traveling circus crew. But alas, once they split, allegedly owing to her father’s infidelity, she became so adamant about not letting anyone close to her in fear they might one day control or hurt her that she shut down. That is, until she met, got to know, and fell head over heels in love with her fellow extreme adventurer/rooftopper Ivan Berkus, as carefully explored in Netflix’s ‘Skywalkers: A Love Story.’
Angela and Ivan Fell in Love Through Their Work
It was around 2013 when trained rhythmic gymnast Angela dropped out of college to pursue her passion for climbing sky-high buildings, posing acrobatically, and taking pictures of herself. She was well aware there were others even more established in this field, especially as she often used to look at their platforms for technical inspiration, yet she never once doubted herself. Little did she know that one such individual she used to look up to, Ivan, would end up sliding into her DMs in 2016 because his sponsors wanted him to do a video with a female companion.
According to Angela and Ivan’s own accounts, his short message to her was completely straightforward, platonic, as well as very businesslike, which is why she did not hesitate to say yes. Though little did either of them know that while their plan was to scale the Goldin Finance 117 tower in Tianjin, China, with his skill plus her creativity, they would not just do that but also get together. “There was a typhoon warning [in Hong Kong],” she once said. “But we decided to venture out, and Ivan showed me some rooftops. When we climbed up there, he took my hand, and I knew.”
Angela and Ivan then went on to climb many more heights across the world, including in Bangkok, Dubai, plus Paris, but it was only when they faced legal trouble in France that she realized he was all in. After all, he could have gotten away from the police since what they do is technically trespassing, but he chose to return, take the entire blame on himself, and spend a night in prison in her. It thus comes as no surprise the couple eventually moved in together, following which they suddenly faced the struggles of COVID-19 before deciding to climb Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur while also navigating the stress of the situation plus issues in their relationship.
Angela and Ivan Are Still Head Over Heels in Love
While it’s true there was a time when Angela’s decision to dabble in side projects to keep them afloat during the pandemic made Ivan feel unsure of his path; his protectiveness had unfortunately begun feeling like control to her, especially as he clarified her climbs worried him. Nevertheless, they managed to work things out by keeping an open line of communication between them, just for it to also make them realize they were not only compatible but also complementary. In other words, this skywalking couple did and continues to make each other better in every sense, meaning they are still blissfully together with set plans to undertake new adventures quite soon.
It appears as though Angela and Ivan were based in Bangkok, Thailand, for the past couple of years, but they have since decided to relocate to New York for good so as to really expand their wings. That’s because while they are still into their adventurous, extreme lifestyle — they don’t see themselves quitting until they’re 75 — they have since also begun shifting their focus to other ventures. While the former gymnast has taken up modeling, painting, as well as creating NFTs of their photographs, he helps her sell them while also running their store and learning music in the hopes of soon composing some original tunes to express his deepest thoughts.
“You could probably tell from watching the film that we are people who live in the present moment, so there’s not a lot of planning happening,” Angela recently told Tudum. “If one day we wake up and say, ‘OK, not anymore,’ then that would be the day [we quit scaling buildings], but we’re not really giving ourselves a cutoff that’s tied to anything particular.” She even revealed that the only limit she and Ivan have decided upon is to avoid making any political or religious statements through their climbs; otherwise, they simply listen to their bodies and do what they wish to do.
In fact, most recently, Angela and Ivan did their signature lift at the New York Edge before having a small PDA-filled private shoot in Times Square in front of a billboard promoting their documentary. We should even mention that they are now pet parents — they have a cat plus a dog, whom they love like their real children, making it all the more evident that they are together for the long run.
“I feel like I’m the luckiest man in the world,” Ivan recently expressed when asked about their relationship. “… I still feel like, to this day, that we’re living a dream, and it’s very unusual to be able to do this together. Sometimes I feel like a character in a book, and now I believe in magic, absolutely.” Honestly, both their respective social media platforms are proof of how much they genuinely love, care for, and appreciate one another, so we can’t wait to see what’s in store for them next.
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