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Teyana Taylor is the culture's BFF. She has built a platform from simply knowing and being herself, a rarity in the entertainment industry, and we eat it up. We met her in 2007 when she appeared on the fourth season of My Super Sweet Sixteen, the popular MTV reality series which focused on the lavish birthday parties of affluent teenagers. She was signed to Pharrell at the time, which eventually ended after she asked to be released to be an independent artist.
Since, she has made moves across the entertainment industry, whether showing the world that we all need to go to the gym in Kanye's "Fade" video or winning Season 7's The Masked Singer.
She even welcomed a new love, husband Iman Shumpert, but even that came in the most Teyana Taylor fashion.
On a recent visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote her new movie,A Thousand and One, she discussed how the two met, ultimately revealing that sis was not into a quick hookup. After Kimmel showed her a photo from a celebrity basketball game, she said, "That was the very picture and the very moment that my husband fell in love with me. He [was] like, 'who is that girl, her defense is on point,'--you know he was a defensive player. And he fell in love with the kid."
Kimmel asked her if the falling was mutual, to which she responded, "You know what's crazy? It took me like three years to even like, finally give in. So even though he was feeling me this day, he didn't get me that day. I was actually in a relationship at the time and it was Luda Day weekend and he walked up to me and was like, 'You should eff with me, you need me in your life.' And he just kept trying and trying and trying."
And listen ladies, I know we've all seen Iman so I know you guys are wondering why she may have been on one that day, but we also know that doesn't mean there is never a possibility. Eventually, he wore her down after the two went through their own breakups.
"Later down the line, I was dealing with a breakup, he was dealing with a breakup...we just kind of became friends, BUT--see there's always a 'but,' guys -- I had a styling company and I wanted to shoot him, and he was like my first client and he gave me my first chance or whatever, and there was this one time where he had to take off his shirt...GIRL."
And as they say, the rest is sis-make-him-court-you history.
The pair began dating in 2013, and Shumpert popped the question in 2015 during their baby shower at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, Ohio. They officially tied the knot in 2016 and have since welcomed two daughters, Junie (whose real name is Iman Shumpert Jr.) and Rue Rose.
They landed their own reality TV series in 2018 Teyana & Iman, which they then followed up with their E! show, We Got Love Teyana & Iman, in 2021. Taylor told VH1 in 2018, "When a female catches butterflies, you know it's real. Because up to that moment, I didn't like him on that level. When you catch butterflies, it's almost like do you run away from it and get scared and miss out on love? Or do you just follow your gut?"
Well, it's clear what her answer is. But what about you: do you believe in love's timing?
Watch the full clip below:
Teyana Taylor on Teaching Beyoncé the Chicken Noodle Soup Dance & Falling in Love with Iman Shumpert
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Featured image by Robin Marchant/Getty Images for Roger Dubuis
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