John Legend & Chrissy Teigen’s Relationship Timeline: From First Meeting To Marriage To 4 Kids
Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock
Launch Gallery
John Legend and Chrissy Teigen surprised fans in June 2023 when they announced the arrival of their fourth baby via surrogate — five months after welcoming their third child naturally.
- John Legend and Chrissy Teigen first met in 2006 and walked down the aisle in 2013
- Chrissy and John welcomed two kids together before making the difficult decision to have a medically necessary abortion in 2020 about halfway through their third pregnancy
- Chrissy gave birth to their fourth child in Jan. 2023, and welcomed another via surrogate in June 2023
John Legend and Chrissy Teigen have defined relationship goals since their very first meeting in 2006. The pair have been through quite a lot together over the years, including the loss of their baby while Chrissy was five months pregnant and the severe backlash against Chrissy when it was discovered that she cyberbullied model Courtney Stodden when she was a teen. Still, the couple has enjoyed incredible highs together, such as the births of all four of their children — two of which were born in 2023!
They celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary in Sept. 2022, and seemed as in love as ever as they paid tribute to one another on social media. John, 43, released a song called “Wonder Woman” that featured him singing shirtless about Chrissy, 37, who co-starred in the video. “I married my Wonder Woman 9 years ago today. Happy Anniversary, my love. You never cease to amaze me,” he wrote in the caption. In honor of their beautiful relationship, take a look at their romance timeline below.
How Did John And Chrissy Meet?
John and Chrissy first met on the set of the singer’s music video for his song “Stereo,” from his 2006 album Once Again. The video featured the then-21-year-old model as John’s love interest. Throughout the visual accompaniment to John’s track, the pair appeared incredibly smitten, with John decked out in a full suit while Chrissy sported a set of lingerie. After filming, they spent the entire day together, and when Chrissy went to say goodbye to John, they simply couldn’t let the other go. From there, the two stayed in touch for more than a year, before they finally decided to make their romance official.
“We were on a music video set all day together, and then I went to one of his shows, and…yeah!” Chrissy recalled about the beginnings of their sweet relationship during a 2018 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
Related Gallery
Chrissy Teigen & John Legend With Their Kids: Photos of the Power Couple & Their Famous Family
In 2021, John gave more insight into their love story via an animated cartoon (seen HERE) he created to celebrate Valentine’s Day. “We had chemistry on the video shoot. We hung out that night. We stayed in touch over text and over the phone … we’d meet up whenever I came to LA,” he explained. “I would text her and she would just write me the funniest replies and she would always make me laugh, always make me smile. And, every time that I was away from her … I started to miss her.”
He revealed he knew he was in love with Chrissy during “the most perfect trip” to Villa d’Este in Italy’s Lake Como. The pair went on to exchange their wedding vows in Lake Como.
Red Carpet Official
In Feb. 2008, after roughly a year of secret dates and their picturesque 2007 trip to Lake Como, Chrissy and John made their red carpet debut at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. Although John was not nominated that year, the occasion presented the perfect opportunity for the couple to officially confirm their romance. By this point, the singer was already a decorated artist, having won five Grammys in years prior. In the years since, Chrissy has consistently wowed the red carpet with her stunning looks, and supported John with each new nomination and win.
Here Comes The Bride
Five years after they met, John and Chrissy took their romance to the next level. In Dec. 2011, during a romantic getaway to the Maldives, John asked Chrissy to marry him. The romantic he is, John orchestrated a big reveal for Chrissy to find the engagement ring: It was beneath a silver dome that, once removed, revealed the box holding the stunning ring on a plate during their dinner together.
The “Preach” singer previously confessed that Chrissy nearly discovered his proposal plan while going through security at the airport before their special trip. “[The ring] was in my carry-on bag going through the airport security, and security wanted to look through my bag and they wanted to look in that particular box,” he said during a 2013 appearance on Oprah’s Next Chapter.
“And Chrissy was standing right next to me and I was, like, oh, my God. I’ve hid it so well this whole time. Now as we’re just about to get to the Maldives she’s going find out I have a ring in this box and it’s going to ruin the surprise and I’ll have to get on my knees in the airport,” he added. Luckily, security decided to ignore the ring box, and John’s plan stayed in tact.
John And Chrissy Say ‘I Do’
The lovebirds tied the knot in a quiet, private courthouse ceremony in Sept. 2013. This was followed by a stunning exchange of vows in front of friends and family at Lake Como in Italy, where the couple vacationed years prior. One month later, in Oct. 2013, John released the music video for his hit track, “All Of Me.” Just like in “Stereo” when they first met, Chrissy was John’s leading lady. The final few moments of the music video also featured private footage of the couple’s Lake Como ceremony. Adorable!
A Family Of Three
Two years after they became husband and wife, John and Chrissy announced that they were expecting their first child. Chrissy even took to her own Instagram account to share the news. “We’re so excited that it’s finally happening. Thank you for all your love and well wishes. I look forward to all the belly touching,” an excerpt from Chrissy’s caption read. The couple also shared that they chose to conceive through in vitro fertilization (IVF) after having difficulty becoming pregnant. In April 2016, the couple welcomed their baby girl, Luna.
Luna has since grown into a caring older sister (more on that below), which the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model gushed about in a March 2023 Instagram post. “told Luna to take care of the house while I was gone and she really did,” Chrissy wrote alongside several photos of Luna holding her baby sister and spending time with her brother, Miles. Check the precious images out below:
A New Addition
Just over one year after John and Chrissy welcomed sweet Luna into the world, they announced that Chrissy was expecting the couple’s second child. This time, Luna got in on the announcement fun. Chrissy posted a video to her Instagram account, asking Luna what was in her belly. “A baby,” was Luna’s emphatic response. In Jan. 2018, the couple confirmed the sex of their child: They were expecting a boy. By May of that year, little Miles was welcomed into the world. Ever since, Miles and Luna have been adorable staples on Chrissy’s Instagram page.
In 2021, Chrissy said she is teaching Miles to be in touch with his emotions to avoid him falling victim to the stern male stereotype. “Miles is very emotional. He’s a lot like me too,” she told PEOPLE. “He wears his heart on his sleeve, and we embrace that. I think more men should embrace their emotions. I think that’s really important in this world. That it’s okay to cry, and it’s okay to be upset about something or to be sad about something. We’re going to talk it through and it’s okay.”
She added, “There is no ‘Be a man’ in our house. There’s no right way to be a man, and John is so good about showing them through how he treats me how to be a good man, how to be a good father. It’s wonderful to see.”
Hope & Heartbreak
John and Chrissy announced that they were expecting their third child in Aug. 2020. The big news came as a surprise, as it was announced in John’s music video for “Wild.” But sadly, John and Chrissy would experience unimaginable heartbreak. In the late hours of Sept. 30, Chrissy bravely shared that she had suffered a miscarriage, after weeks of bedrest and blood transfusions during her pregnancy with the couple’s son, who they named Jack. Following the tragic news, Chrissy and John received love and condolences from throngs of celebrity friends and fans.
Chrissy was very open about the unimaginable grief she felt following the loss of Jack, and in Sept. 2021 (one year after the miscarriage), Chrissy wrote an emotional Instagram caption to honor Jack. Alongside a picture of her crying in her hospital bed with John kneeling next to her, she wrote, “and to the son we almost had. a year ago you gave me the greatest pain I could ever imagine to show me I could survive anything, even if I didn’t want to”.
“i didn’t get to take care of you but you came and went to get me to love myself and take care of myself because our bodies are precious and life is a miracle,” she went on. “they told me it would get easier but yeah, that hasn’t started yet. mom and dad love you forever.”
In 2022, the Cravings by Chrissy Teigen founder revealed that the loss of Jack at about five months pregnant was actually a medically necessary abortion. “Two years ago, when I was pregnant with Jack, John and my third child, I had to make a lot of difficult and heartbreaking decisions,” she began during an appearance at Propper Daley’s summit, A Day of Unreasonable Conversation, on Thursday, September 15, per The Hollywood Reporter. “It became very clear around halfway through that he would not survive, and that I wouldn’t either without any medical intervention.”
“Let’s just call it what it was: It was an abortion. An abortion to save my life for a baby that had absolutely no chance. And to be honest, I never, ever put that together until, actually, a few months ago,” Chrissy admitted.
Chrissy noted that she made the realization when Roe v. Wade was overturned. “I told the world we had a miscarriage, the world agreed we had a miscarriage, all the headlines said it was a miscarriage,” she noted. “And I became really frustrated that I didn’t, in the first place, say what it was, and I felt silly that it had taken me over a year to actually understand that we had had an abortion.”
Baby No. 3
Chrissy surprised fans when on Aug. 3, 2022, she announced she was several months into her fourth pregnancy. “The last few years have been a blur of emotions to say the least, but joy has filled our home and hearts again,” she captioned mirror selfies that showed her bare baby bump. “1 billion shots later (in the leg lately, as u can see!) we have another on the way. Every appointment I’ve said to myself, ‘ok if it’s healthy today I’ll announce’ but then I breathe a sigh of relief to hear a heartbeat and decide I’m just too nervous still.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever walk out of an appointment with more excitement than nerves but so far, everything is perfect and beautiful and I’m feeling hopeful and amazing,” the model and media personality added. “Ok phew it’s been very hard keeping this in for so long!”
Chrissy and the 12-time Grammy winner became parents again on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. Chrissy shared the first official photo of her new baby girl, named Esti, on Jan. 19. “She’s here! Esti Maxine Stephens – the house is bustling and our family could not be happier,” she wrote alongside a photo of Luna and Miles holding their new baby sister. “Daddy sheds nightly tears of joy seeing Luna and Miles so full of love, and I am learning you still need diapers with a c section!? We are in bliss. Thank you for all the love and well wishes – we feel it all! X”.
Baby No. 4
Surprise! Just five months after welcoming baby Esti, Chrissy and John welcomed another baby boy into their family via surrogate. Chrissy confirmed on June 28, 2023 that she and John welcomed a son, Wren Alexander Stephens, on June 19. In a lengthy but heartfelt note to Instagram, Chrissy revealed that she and John had originally planned to have two surrogates carry a baby at the came time, so she could complete her lifelong dream of being a mother of four. However, after a therapy session, she decided she wanted to try to carry one more time.
When she was a few months along with Esti, Chrissy and John learned that their surrogate, Alexandra, was pregnant with a baby boy. She also spoke directly to Alexandra in her post. “We want to say thank you for this incredible gift you have given us, Alexandra,” she said, after calling her the “most incredible, loving, compassionate surrogate.” She added, “And we are so happy to tell the world he is here, with a name forever connected to you, Wren Alexander Stephens.”
“Our hearts, and our home, are officially full,” Chrissy continued, wrapping up her post. “And to Jack, we know both their Angel kisses are from you.”