Adrienne, Israel & 9 Other Couples Who Waited For Marriage

If you read some articles on the topic of celebrity celibacy, you might notice it’s often presented as if it were some type of fad. But the practice of abstaining from sex until marriage is an ancient, often spiritually-based practice. Still, it’s interesting to see which couples who have decided to travel down this very challenging road. Check out the couples who decided to wait until they tied the knot before they had sex, period, or just sex with each other.

Israel Houghton and Adrienne Bailon

Earlier this week, in an interview with People, Adrienne Bailon talked about her co-ed wedding shower and how she couldn’t imagine celebrating her engagement without her man by her side. In that same interview, Bailon talked about the games that took place at the event. “She [Jeannie Mai] had people re-enacting moments in our relationship and then some that were very risqué since we’re saving ourselves.” Oh, ok.

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Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey

It was a very well publicized fact that during their two month courtship Nick and Mariah decided to practice celibacy. Interestingly enough, after the two split, in 2014, after six years of marriage, Carey went on to a new man and Cannon said that he was practicing celibacy again and focusing on his children.

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Ciara and Russell Wilson

Ciara and Russell were anything but shy about sharing the inner workings of their relationship. Wilson told an auditorium full of people that God told him that he needed to lead Ciara in this celibacy frontier. And after dating for about a year, the two got engaged and then married. The next day, Ciara made sure to tell Snapchat that Russell’s stroke was working.

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Meagan Good and Devon Franklin

These two literally wrote the book on the subject: #TheWait. With Devon’s spiritual background and Meagan’s desire to grow closer to God, they waited to have sex throughout the entirety of their courtship. While they’re freed of that vow now, they tour the country speaking about their journey, hoping to encourage and inspire others.

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Tamera Mowry and Adam Housley

While Tamera admitted that she and Adam slipped on one occasion before they were married, they both made a conscious decision afterward to go back to abstaining. And after the knot was tied, the two made up for lost time. On the reality show she shared with Tia, Tamera asked her friends about being sore down there.

Jeannie Mai and Freddy Harteis

Tamera wasn’t the only co-host of “The Real” who held out. On an episode of the Jeannie Mai revealed that while she and her now-husband Freddy were doing almost everything else, she didn’t let him put “his Tuxedo Sam into her Hello Kitty.”

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2016 MTV Video Music Awards - Red Carpet Arrivals Featuring: Ashley Graham, Justin Ervin Where: New York, New York, United States When: 29 Aug 2016 Credit: Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com

Credit: Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com

Ashley Graham and Justin Ervin

Supermodel Ashley Graham said she was in the habit of choosing all the wrong men. And when she met her husband in 2010, she wanted to do something different. She told Self, “I was looking for love in the wrong places. I wanted to keep a level head and make sure I was dating not in a lustful way but in a logical way…I was like, ‘Look, I’m not having sex ’til I’m married.’ And he was like, ‘Great! Let’s not.’ We stuck to it.”

When they did finally consummate their marriage, it was on and poppin’. During their Jamaican honeymoon, Graham said she and Justin had sex all the time, for 10 days.

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Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey

If you were a teen or preteen in the early 2000s, it was extremely difficult not to know a bit too much about Nick and Jessica’s relationship and eventual marriage. Simpson’s father was a minister so she had been raised to wait. But rumor has it that Jessica couldn’t seem to wait to divorce Nick before she started sleeping with other men.

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Adriana Lima and Marko Jarić

Given that Victoria’s Secret model Adriana Lima exudes sex appeal, many were surprised that she was a virgin. A very strong and devout Catholic, Lima let folks know who she was. In 2006, she told GQ that if men have a problem with her virginity, they don’t really want her. She was engaged to Lenny Kravitz and still managed to hang on to her virginity. See what I mean? Strong. Then she married Serbian NBA player Marko Jarić in 2009. The couple had two daughters before their divorce was finalized earlier this year.

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Sherri Shepherd and Lamar Sally

When Sherri started dating Lamar Sally. The two decided that throughout their 11-month-courtship, they were not going to have sex. But after they exchanged vows, it went down. Sherri told Showbiz Tonight she had sex glow and that she and Sally were making up for lost time. “No more celibacy. I don’t know how to spell it. I don’t know how to say it.” When Lamar mentioned how tired he was on one occasion, she told him, “You better get up there and take your clothes off and shut up! I’m ’bout to climb you like a tree.” Unfortunately, we know how things ended with this pair. But we’re sure it had less to do with the period of celibacy and more to do with Lamar’s shady ways.

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Fantasia and Kendall Taylor

In our exclusive interview, Fantasia revealed that she and her husband Kendall Taylor dated for only three weeks before they got married. Their relationship was so devoid of sex, Fantasia wondered if the man found her attractive.

Veronica Wells is the culture editor at MadameNoire.com. She is also the author of “Bettah Days.” You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter @VDubShrug.

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Adrienne, Israel & 9 Other Couples Who Waited For Marriage