20 Facts About Chrissy Teigen And John Legend That Reveal The Truth About Their Marriage

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are undoubtedly one of showbiz’s most adorable couples. Through social media, the pair reign as the king and queen of relationship goals. And their openness about sharing their most significant moments — both the good times and the bad — has endeared them to millions of fans. From beginning to end, these facts show just what life looks like in this perfect pairing and why their love has stayed so strong for so long.

20. They had some choice first words for each other

Let’s go back to the very beginning — long before the words Teigen and Legend together meant “power couple.” In 2006, the smooth singer met his beautiful wife on the set of the “Stereo” promo where she was working as a dancer. And to get their relationship off on a roll, the two greeted each with some very weird words.

As Teigen revealed to Cosmopolitan in 2014, the pair first met in Legend’s dressing room while he was engaged in some down-to-earth chores. “I walked [in] to meet him, and he was ironing in his underwear,” she stated. Flabbergasted, the model said the first thing that came into her head: “You do your own ironing!?” To which he nonchalantly replied, “Of course I do.” Teigen was obviously pretty charmed by this: “I gave him a hug,” she said.

19. They played it cool at the start of the relationship

After half-a-day of filming, the pair’s simmering mutual attraction had reached a boiling point. And once they called “cut”, Teigen and Legend spent little time resisting each other’s charms. Reminiscing on The Wendy Williams Show in 2014, the model recalled, “I went to say goodbye to him, to his hotel and we didn’t ever say goodbye that night.”

But while they were quick to make a move, Legend’s touring commitments stopped them getting to know each other better. Not that this bothered Teigen, though, who “played it cool” to start off with. “The worst thing you can do is try to lock someone like that down early on, then have them think, ‘There’s so much more out there,’” she told Cosmopolitan.

18. He struggled with commitment before he met her

In spite of his reputation for love songs, Legend didn’t have a healthy approach to romance in his younger days. Prior to meeting Teigen, in fact, the singer was commitment phobic and made his relationships “ill-defined” to justify catting around. Opening up on the Armchair Expert podcast in 2020, Legend admitted, “I definitely was dishonest and selfish.”

When he and Teigen eventually got together, the singer still had cold feet. He even broke up with her for a day at the start of their relationship. But eventually, Legend grew up and realized his new belle was the one he was waiting for. “At a certain point, I just decided that person was Chrissy,” he continued. “I decided I wasn’t going to mess with somebody else anymore.”

17. Her text game made him fall in love

Of course, there are many adjectives that can be used to describe Chrissy Teigen: gorgeous; stunning; elegant. For all her flawless beauty, however, it wasn’t her superstar model looks that made her future-husband fall in love. Rather it was the way she could put her personality across in a text message.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in 2016, the singer revealed how Teigen wooed him via SMS in the early days of their relationship. “We were texting a lot, and I started to see her sense of humor,” he gushed. “We would talk on the phone, and I just started to fall in love with how engaging and witty and funny she is.”

16. They made very different wishes on a visit to Lake Como

Out of all the places on Earth, Lake Como has the most meaning to Teigen and Legend. And over the years, this serene getaway in northern Italy has been the site of many special occasions such as their 2013 wedding. Besides its picturesque beauty, the lake has special significance because it’s where they realized they were destined to be together.

Well, at least Chrissy did anyway. On an Instagram post in 2016, Teigen recalled a boat tour of the lake on their first visit in 2007. “[The tour guide] told us to make a wish,” the model wrote. “I asked for [John] to be the man I marry and have children with.” Her future-hubby, nevertheless, was thinking more of his stomach: “[He] asked for the most perfect bite of cacio e pepe.”

15. They got into a big fight before his proposal

After five years of dating, Legend was convinced that Teigen was the woman he wanted to marry. So he planned the perfect proposal — one that involved Christmas and a sun-drenched vacation in the Maldives. Problem is, the singer kept his plans a little too secret. And this resulted in a huge fight before he could even get down on one knee.

Before leaving for vacation, Legend gave her a fake present of a cookbook and crockpot ahead of his big surprise. But Teigen — thinking this red herring was her actual gift — erupted in emotion as the pair headed to the airport. “I remember him going, ‘You just wait,’” she recalled on FABLife in 2015. “And I was like, ‘Wait for what!?’”

14. His engagement secret was nearly ruined at an airport

While Legend may have gone to great lengths to keep his proposal a secret, not everything went according to plan. On top of nearly falling out with his future fiancée, the singer also had trouble keeping the engagement ring hidden en route to the proposal destination. And the carefully cached jewelry was almost brought to light when airport security went through his luggage.

As security took a keen interest in the box with the ring, Legend started to worry that they’d reveal its contents to Teigen. Telling the story on Oprah’s Next Chapter in 2013, the singer recalled, “Now…she’s going to realize I have a ring in this box and it’s going to ruin the surprise.” Thankfully, the airport staff stopped short of opening it sparing the couple a disappointing engagement story.

13. She pretends to cry during one of his biggest songs

One of Legend’s biggest hits is 2013’s “All of Me” — a heartfelt tribute written for and about Teigen herself. Unsurprisingly, this gesture touched the model so deeply that she couldn’t contain her emotion the first time John played it for her. Speaking of the “beautiful” song to Huffington Post in 2013, Teigen admitted, “I did cry when I heard it.”

Having grown more familiar with the hit over time, though, Teigen no longer has the same reaction. And that's left her in an awkward position whenever the song's played live. “I swear, even now, if I go to a show of his tomorrow and he sings it, everyone turns to look and see if I’ll start crying,” she said on The Tonight Show in 2018. “And then I have to pretend.”

12. They’ve been spoofing their own meme

Of course, Teigen and Legend aren’t your ordinary power couple — they’re also the subject of a hilarious meme. In 2015, cameras caught the model awkwardly weeping while watching her husband accept a Golden Globe. Soon, footage of her crying face spread throughout social media turning her emotional moment into a template for reaction GIFs.

Not that the couple were bad sports about it, though. Almost as soon as the footage became a meme, the couple recreated the embarrassing moment via Instagram. And they’ve been spoofing that moment ever since. In 2019, Teigen shared a side by side comparison of daughter Luna pulling a pained expression on The Voice with her own now-iconic image.

11. They keep getting (and opening) Rihanna’s fan mail

Whenever you receive mail meant for a previous tenant, it’s common courtesy to find a forwarding address. If your home’s prior owner is a superstar, though, who values their privacy then finding this info can be tricky. Just take Legend and Teigen, for instance, who spent time in a house owned by Rihanna.

While visiting Ellen in 2016, the model spoke of her trouble in returning the Umbrella singer’s bills and fan mail. And so she confessed that she’d started opening and reading them instead — much to host Ellen DeGeneres’ shock. “You know that’s illegal, right?” the TV star asked. “But it’s my house now!” Teigen insisted.

10. They married in secret

In 2013, Teigen and Legend tied the knot in a ceremony that most of us could only dream of. With Lake Como providing a spectacular backdrop, the lavish ceremony was attended by A-list celebrity guests like Kim Kardashian. If that wasn’t enough, the pair were even serenaded by none other than Stevie Wonder.

Too bad, then, that this wasn’t their real wedding. Chrissy and John’s actual nuptials looked a lot more like ones we mere mortals might attend. As Teigen explained to E! News, the couple first said their vows in a courthouse in New York so that their Italian marriage would be valid. On this occasion, their only guest was their friend, Russian model, Irina Shayk — “the most beautiful woman on earth!” according to Teigen.

9. He took care of her after a wild night at the Grammys

They may be a superstar celebrity couple, but deep down Teigen and Legend are as fallible as the rest of us. And just like us regular folk, the couple make mistakes. Take the night after their appearance at the 2017 Grammys, for instance, which ended with Teigen getting so drunk her husband had to take care of her.

In a series of adorable Snapchats, the model shared footage of the pair’s post-party wind-down which involved ramen noodles. Then after falling to the floor, she got Legend to remove her jewelry which her husband got tangled in her hair. “Are you mad at me?” she sheepishly asked. “Why would I be mad at you?” he lovingly assured her. “You’re perfect.”

8. They injured themselves on the same utensil while cooking together

As a confirmed foodie and cookbook author, Teigen is of course pretty handy in the kitchen. But there is one piece of cooking equipment you will never see the lifestyle guru use — a mandoline slicer. This is because both her and her husband suffered a nasty accident while using the razor-sharp utensil in 2015.

So embarrassing was this incident that Teigen didn’t share the story for four years. In a 2019 Instagram video, she recalls how Legend cut his finger on the device while slicing potatoes. “He sliced the entire tip off of it,” Teigen says in the video. “So I said, “Give me that! I’ll finish it.’ One pass through the mandoline and I, too, cut my finger off immediately,” Teigen admits. Lessons learned, we guess.

7. They both hate each other’s attitude to tidiness

Everybody in a relationship has that one little foible that drives their partner up the wall. Even a pair like Teigen and Legend have lived together long enough to grow tired of the other’s bad habits. Interestingly, though, it seems like there’s a common theme to their personal gripes — tidiness.

Under a lie detector test administered by Vanity Fair in 2019, Teigen admitted that her husband’s “messy” characteristics sometimes made him an annoying housemate. To that, her beaux countered that she had a habit of leaving the toothpaste tube open. “Because it needs to have a snap-on top,” the model shot back. “And until it has a snap on the top…I will continue to leave it open.”

6. They have a promo director to thank for their relationship

In 2013, Legend released the video for his ballad “All of Me” which featured just him and Teigen. Filmed in Italy, the promo was all about the pair’s huge love for each other with black and white shots of the two together interspersed with intimate footage of their wedding day. Apart from showcasing the strength of their relationship, the video also called back to how the couple first met.

While appearing on The View in 2013, Legend acknowledged their marriage’s debt to the “Stereo” promo — which is how they met back in 2006. And John even rehired the video’s director Nabil to thank him for introducing him to Chrissy. “We thought we should come full circle…and it just turned out perfectly,” Legend explained.

5. They learnt to swim for their daughter

Those of us with kids know that there is absolutely nothing you wouldn’t do for your them. Likewise, when their first child Luna was born in 2016, Teigen and Legend decided for her benefit to master something at which neither were particularly good. But surprisingly, this skillset was one that most of us take for granted — swimming.

Believe it or not, neither Teigen and Legend had much experience in the water prior to Luna’s birth. Yet they knew the only way that their daughter would learn to swim was to lead by example. As Teigen told People in 2016, “We don’t want to be helpless in any way, so we’re going to try to learn for Luna.”

4. They couldn’t think of a name for their son

Of course, the celebrity pair’s family wouldn’t stay small for long. And two years after welcoming Luna into the world, Teigen announced the arrival of her and Legend’s son with the Tweet, “Somebody’s herrrrrrre!” Naturally, fans wanted to know what the bundle of joy was called — something they had in common with the proud parents who were genuinely lost for names.

Speaking to Ellen DeGeneres prior to her son’s birth, Teigen revealed she had no idea what to call her baby. “Boy names are really tough and I don’t think he will have a middle name because we can’t even come up with a first name,” she revealed. Thankfully, the pair eventually settled on ‘Miles’ — inspired by jazz legend Miles Davis.

3. They have matching family tattoos

It’s safe to say that, since having their kids, Teigen and Legend have taken to parenthood like ducks to water. What’s more, they don’t care who knows it. In an incredibly adorable move, the pair even got permanent mementos to their family inked on their arms so their love can follow them wherever they go.

Sharing their tats on Instagram in 2019, Teigen displayed the names “John Luna Miles” on her arm while Legend had a near-matching “Chrissy Luna Miles.” Of course, an ink job like that obviously raised the pair’s street cred considerably. She captioned the pic, “Hey guys please don’t talk to us unless u have tattoos we are a cool tattoo family now (srry if this seems harsh).”

2. They’ve been honest about their fertility problems

Today, Teigen and Legend have their own family and two wonderful children. But that’s not to say that their journey to parenthood has been easy. On the contrary, the pair tried numerous times to become pregnant before the birth of Luna with little result. And the couple have been open and honest about their struggles with fertility and turning to IVF treatment.

In 2020, the pair’s pregnancy issues hit a tragic peak when they lost their unborn son Jack. And on social media, Teigen didn’t hold back from expressing her pain. “On this darkest of days, we will grieve, we will cry our eyes out,” she stated via Instagram. “But we will hug and love each other harder and harder to get through it.”

1. They have zero tolerance for mom shamers

Any mother can tell you that parenthood comes with a lot of unnecessary judgment. And when you’re a celebrity with millions of followers on social media, the complaints come in thick and fast. Since giving birth to Luna, Teigen has been criticized for everything from feeding her kids meat to letting them watch TV. Yet the hypocrisy of these complaints haven’t gone unchallenged — not least by her husband.

After haters slammed Teigen for having dinner with her beau 10 days after giving birth, Legend was quick to call out these double standards. “Funny there’s no dad-shaming,” John tweeted. “When both of us go out to dinner, shame both of us so Chrissy doesn’t have to take it all. We’ll split it.” Now that’s how you stand by your better half.