Supermodel Chanel Iman's whirlwind romance with her now-fiancé, NFL star Davon Godchaux, showcases how a breakup can often be a hidden blessing for something greater.
For context, the model was previously married to New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard. Iman and Shepard --who share two daughters, Cali and Cassie Shepard-- were married from 2018 to 2021 when the Dope star filed for divorce in June of that same year.
Although there are limited details as to what caused the demise of their relationship, when Iman filed, she claimed it was due to "irreconcilable differences." Iman and Shepard's divorce would be finalized years later, in April 2023. Since their split, both parties have officially moved on. Shepard is dating reality star, Carolyn Moore.
At the same time, Iman has been in a relationship with Godchaux. During the couple's year-long union, they announced they were officially engaged and welcoming their first child in their blended family of three.
As fans commemorate Iman’s next chapter, xoNecole takes a look back into the 32-year-old's love story with Godchaux, from the pair's Instagram debut as a couple to their engagement.
Chanel and Davon Become Instagram Official
Iman and Godchaux were romantically linked in April 2022 after the duo uploaded affectionate photos on their respective Instagram accounts while attending Coachella.
The Mad Families star used a heart and upside-down smiley face emojis to describe her budding relationship with Godchaux. As for the New York Patriots defensive tackle, he immediately let it be known that Iman was officially off the market by writing the caption "Mines" with a tongue emoji.
Chanel and Davon Take Their Romance On The Road
Nearly a month after going public with their relationship, Iman and Godchaux gave fans a look into their Turks and Caicos vacation by documenting the getaway and sharing it on their Instagram pages.
Iman, who appeared visibly smitten, posted a photo of the couple hugging with the caption, "Spoiled with love." While Godchaux expressed how happy he was to have met Iman.
Chanel and Davon's Blended Family
In July 2022, things seemed to be getting serious between Iman and Godchaux after the star shared an image of the football player's son and her two daughters, Cali and Cassie, as they spent quality time together in Miami.
Chanel Supporting Davon On The Field
Fast forward to September 2022. As the football season kicked off, Iman was seen dressed in a Patriots jersey as she showed her support for Godchaux and his team.
"Let's go BIG DADDY #92. Let's go, @patriots," the model wrote while sharing an image of the pair posing on the field. Godchaux showed his appreciation in the comment section by declaring his love for her.
"I love u baby! Only the beginning," the 28-year-old said.
Chanel and Davon Spending the Holidays Together
Later that year, Iman and Godchaux reached a milestone in their relationship by celebrating the holidays together. The couple brought in Christmas with her family by opening presents and building gingerbread houses.
Despite the busy schedule, Iman was able to sneak in a selfie with her beau as they commemorated the special day.
Chanel and Davon's Quality Time With Their Children
The good times between Iman and Godchaux continued as the New Year occurred. The couple collaborated in a partnership with PJ Palace.
As for their relationship, Iman and Godchaux remained strong as ever as they traveled around the world from New Orleans to Dubai. In addition to the lavish vacations, the couple also spent time with their children. The family's most recent trip occurred in April 2023 when they visited Nick Resort Riviera Maya in Mexico.
Chanel and Davon Announce They Are Expecting
A few weeks later, Iman and Godchaux announced on social media that they were expecting their first child.
On May 3, in an Instagram post jointly shared on the couple's respective accounts, Iman revealed how ecstatic she and Godchaux were to meet their "new little one."
"Our family is growing, and we are so excited to meet our new little one," she wrote. Godchaux responded to the post by hinting that he would soon ask Iman for her hand in marriage.
"My love, my everything! Soon to be mine forever," he stated in the comment section. That same month, Iman and Godchaux would share with the public that they were expecting a little girl after participating in a gender reveal with Cali and Cassie during a photoshoot.
Chanel and Davon On Their Engagement
At the height of the couple's exciting news of expanding their family, Iman shocked her fans again on May 30 when the soon-to-be mother of three shared that Godchaux proposed to her during their babymoon in Italy.
While sharing various images from that special moment, Iman expressed her gratitude for all "the blessings" that have occurred in her life following "this new chapter."
"The blessings keep pouring, grateful for this new chapter and soon to be married and a forever to go," she said. In another upload, Iman added how much she loves Godchaux.
"Babymoon in Capri turned into the perfect engagement. I love you so much @chauxdown. You promised me the world and so far you have given me that and so much more!" she wrote.
On the other hand, Godchaux opened up about how nervous he was to propose to Iman, but he explained that the nerves would eventually subside because he realized that he wouldn't "want no one else by" his side.
"First of all, I can't even lie, I was nervous ahh hell and I never thought I would be getting down on one knee but LOVE will make you do some amazing things in life! Chanel I love you so much and I wouldn't have rather spend this moment with no one else by my side!" he stated.
"From the moment we met I knew it was something about you and how much you value having a FAMILY that was really important to me! We are in this together and will always be, I love you from the bottom of my heart! My love, My fiancé, My everything!! What does not kill us only makes us stronger!!"
Although Iman and Godchaux have yet to set an official wedding date, many appeared inspired by their journey because it showcases that there is life after the demise of a relationship.
Congrats to the lovely couple!
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Feature image by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images For Louis Vuitton)
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak
