Ashley Graham Spills Some Major Relationship Tea on Ilona Maher’s Podcast

The first rule of Graham’s Relationship 101? Wait before giving away your power.

Ashley Graham / John Nacion/Variety/Getty Images

Ashley Graham gave fans some insight into her love life this week.

The model was featured as a special guest on the House of Maher podcast hosted by Olympian Ilona Maher and her sisters, Olivia and Adrianna. There, Graham opened up about how she and her husband, Justin Evrin, held off on getting intimate before getting married, and why this worked out for them in the long run.

Ashley Graham and Justin Evrin / Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

When asked about whether her and her husband’s decision to remain celibate while dating was a mutual agreement, Graham responded, “We did. That was a tough one, but it was like so necessary because, as you all know, you’re out in these streets and you’re doing exactly what I was doing and you’re trying to find the right gentleman to do life with.”

She went on, adding, “I realized I’m doing this the incorrect way. I’m giving so much of my power away, and I’m tired of giving my power away. Let me hold on to it a little bit. And then when I met Justin, I was like, ‘I just want to break you the news. You’re not going to get any of the kitty cat.’” Graham then shared how, much to her surprise, Evrin was on the same page and also didn’t want to get intimate until marriage.

Graham and Evrin first met in 2009 at a church event where they hit it off. However, despite their good first impressions, their first date was a little rocky since, as reported in her memoir, A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like, Graham wasn’t fond of Evrin proposing they split the check. She even refused to go out on another date with him for a month, but Evrin was persistent despite the first impression not boding well. He eventually won her over with his sweet gestures and faith-led approach to dating.

“Because we weren’t sleeping together—for Justin, abstinence was a firm commitment to his faith—we never tempted ourselves by going over to each other’s apartments late at night,“ the model wrote in her 2017 memoir. “But we’d go to late movies or take walks through the city together. We had a spot on 14th Street and Seventh Avenue where we loved to sit and chat.“

A year of romance later, Graham and Evrin were wed in August 2010 and have been together ever since. This backs Graham’s current stance on dating and intimacy, stating how, for her relationship, waiting was beneficial.

“I was like, ‘What? I found somebody that’s like on the same page as me?’ And next thing you know, we’re saying ‘I love you’ and next thing you know, the parents are meeting. Then we got married,” the 38-year-old added on the podcast. “Everything was based off of friendship.”

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