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John Legend admits history of cheating in past relationships before meeting Chrissy Teigen: ‘I was dishonest and selfish’

'I escaped "technically cheating" by keeping my relationship ill-defined,' Legend says

Danielle Zoellner
Wednesday 15 July 2020 01:36 BST
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John Legend admits he previously cheated in past relationships before meeting wife Chrissy Teigen, wholm he's been married to since 2013
John Legend admits he previously cheated in past relationships before meeting wife Chrissy Teigen, wholm he's been married to since 2013 (Getty Images)

John Legend has admitted he was “dishonest” in past relationships and was unfaithful to partners prior to meeting now-wife Chrissy Teigen.

The Grammy Award-winning singer laid it all out in a revealing interview on the podcast Armchair Expert with hosts Dax Shepard and Monica Padman.

First, Shepard admitted he had a “horrendous history of cheating”.

“F**king deplorable ... And there’s all these great cheating songs on your albums, and I was like, ‘I see another fisherman at sea,’” Shepard shared before asking the 41-year-old singer about his own history with cheating.

“Yes, I did have a history of [cheating]. Definitely in my 20s,” Legend said. “I think what happened for me, you go through a lot of your life in your teens and I was younger than everybody in high school and college, and so I just didn’t get a lot of girls. When I started to get that attention, I loved it.”

Legend said he arguably escaped being accused of cheating because of how he defined the relationship, but it was “cheating” nonetheless.

“I escaped ‘technically cheating’ by keeping my relationship ill-defined. But it was really cheating,” he continued. “I definitely was dishonest and selfish... It was happening before I was famous.”

Meeting Chrissy Teigen in 2006 – the couple married in 2013 and have two children together – helped level out Legend because he recognised honesty made him happier.

“At a certain point, you just realise you’re happier being honest. You’re happier being faithful and being in love with one person,” Legend said. “At a certain point, I just decided that person was Chrissy. I decided I wasn’t gonna mess with somebody else anymore.”

The couple has been open to the public about their relationship from the beginning.

When they met in 2006, it was on a shoot for Legend’s upcoming music video where Teigen was the model. That very evening they had sex and started a relationship quickly after.

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“There was a looseness at the beginning but we fell in love not long after that,” Legend said.

The summer of 2007, Legend added, was when they found themselves in love with each other and no longer seeing other people outside their relationship.

Fans have since become attached the Legend and Teigen’s relationship because the couple makes themselves accessible through social media.

Shepard asked if the support surrounding the relationship ever put pressure on Legend for how he acted towards his wife.

“I feel like it almost makes it less likely that I would do anything to f**k it up. Chrissy has 12 million Twitter followers. If I were to do anything, it would be career suicide,” he explained. “It would be terrible. It just gives you another reason to not f**k it up.”

Legend added: “I’m not suicidal. I’m not trying to do that.”

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