Everything Meagan Good and DeVon Franklin Said About Their Relationship: 'Marriage Is Work, Every Day'

After nine years of marriage, Meagan Good and DeVon Franklin are getting divorced. Read what the Harlem actress and producer have said about their nearly decade-long romance over the years

DeVon Franklin and Meagan Good. Getty

After nine years of marriage, Meagan Good and DeVon Franklin are going their separate ways.

On Dec. 21, the couple announced they are getting divorced in an official statement to PEOPLE.

"After much prayer and consideration, we have decided to go into our futures separately but forever connected," Good and Franklin said in a joint statement.

"We celebrate almost a decade of marriage together and a love that is eternal. There's no one at fault, we believe this is the next best chapter in the evolution of our love. We are incredibly grateful for the life-changing years we've spent together as husband and wife. We are also extremely thankful to God for the testimony being created inside us both and for blessing our lives with each other."

Over the past decade, the Harlem actress and producer have offered candid glimpses into their relationship, including various interviews, sweet Instagram tributes, and their New York Times best-seller book The Wait, which they co-wrote together and details their personal love story.

See what else Good and Franklin have said about their relationship, ahead.

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During a joint appearance on the Tamron Hall Show in December 2019, Good opened up about how their relationship came to be.

"We had met four years prior to Jumping the Broom," she revealed. "He was the executive on Jumping the Broom and I was the actress on the film and I was in the tail end of kind of a not-so-great relationship, not because of the person, we just weren't right for each other. I really got a chance to know [DeVon] on set and I thought, 'Man, that's the kind of guy I wish I could marry.' And that was it."

They didn't get together right away, though. "Then I got back from Nova Scotia filming and I was like, 'Man, Lord, I'm in a really hard place, like a standstill in my life and I'm really hitting a wall. What am I supposed to be doing?' And the first thing that God told me was that it was time to get out of that relationship. The second thing that God told me was that it was time to be celibate. And the third thing that God told me was that DeVon was my husband."

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While appearing on the Tamron Hall Show, Franklin also opened up about their decision to remain celibate before marriage.

"Relationships are so hard and truth be told, there's not a lot of guidance out there, so we wanted to share our truth and that waiting to have sex was a critical part of the healthy foundation of our marriage and relationship," he said.

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In an excerpt from The Unwritten Rules to Dating and Waiting, Franklin talked about the beginning of their relationship and how they felt a deep connection when they held hands on their second date.

"[It was like] a physical-spiritual concussion, like a jolt of electricity to the heart," he wrote. "It was like something from a rom-com script so cliché-ridden that it gets sent to turnaround (the film industry term for a project that a film studio decides not to develop further). Our eyes met, and it was clear that we had both felt it."

He added, "It was as though two souls that God had been guiding toward each other for years had navigated all the plot twists and jumped all the obstacles to come together at last. In fact, that's exactly what happened. After the concert, we stood outside and talked, oblivious to everyone and everything else."

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Following their engagement in May 2012, Good told PEOPLE how excited she was to tie the knot with Franklin.

"I think when you really find the right person you just know," she said. "There is no point in waiting – waiting for what?"

A few months after getting engaged, Franklin and Good got married during an "enchanted and dreamy" celebration in July 2012.

Following their nuptials, Good gushed about Franklin to PEOPLE, saying, "DeVon makes me better, makes my life fuller, and completes my quality of life. He's truly on my team and I am truly on his. God revealed my heart to him like nobody else."

Additionally, Franklin opened up about his marriage to Good, saying, "I've never had more peace, fun, and joy than I've had with her."

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In their book The Wait, Good discussed how their relationship was strengthened when they got married.

"Home is about the person more than the place," she wrote. "Our marriage [became] our home, and it fills us back up when the world drains us."

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During a joint interview with Essence in 2014, Good said their friendship was foundational to their relationship.

"We take care of each other and we look out for each other and we advise each other," she said. "We're not afraid to be in that vulnerable place with each other and be really honest about what that looks like and feels like. But then we also really are best friends."

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During their joint Essence interview from 2014, Franklin also shared his hopes for their marriage, adding "Our dream for our marriage is to continue to grow and love. That's not a given. It's something that has to be cultivated and worked on."

He added, "I want 30, 40, 50 years from now to still be deeply in love and continue to want to know her and learn more about us as husband and wife first and foremost. It's really about keeping this as the number one priority."

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In an interview with LetsPrayTV, Franklin got candid about how marriage requires hard work and the importance of striving to be a better partner.

"Marriage is work, every day," he said. "It's two people that are working on becoming one every single day. A lot of times, it just requires that patience and as a man understanding that it's okay for you not to be right. I've had to put the ego aside many days so that's been part of the work."

In 2020, he echoed those same thoughts on the Essence podcast Yes, Girl: "I personally put a lot of time and effort into saying: 'How can I become a good husband and be a good husband to her?' And she puts a lot of time into how to become and be a good wife to me. But now, sometimes my version of being a good husband, maybe my version, it may not always be the version she needs. And sometimes her version of being a good wife, maybe her version of what a good wife should be but isn't always the version I need."

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In June 2021, Good celebrated her 9th wedding anniversary with Franklin with a sweet Instagram post.

"To the love of my life, my husband, purpose partner, happy anniversary!!" she wrote. "This makes #9 and eternity you go! You are the best decision I've ever made (besides loving Jesus lol). I love you with everything inside me. In this life and in the next."