Everything Meagan Good and DeVon Franklin Said About Their Relationship

Meagan Good on how their relationship came to be

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?'" Good continued. "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."

DeVon Franklin opens up about couple's celibacy before marriage

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.

DeVon Franklin talks about their second date

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."

Meagan Good shares her excitement about wedding

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?"

Meagan Good and DeVon Franklin on "enchanted" marriage

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."

Meagan Good writes about the strength of their relationship

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."

Meagan Good talks about the importance of their friendship

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."

DeVon Franklin shares hopes for his marriage to Meagan Good

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."

DeVon Franklin on the hard work of marriage

In an interview with LetsPrayTV, Franklin was 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."

Meagan Good celebrates their 9th anniversary

In June 2021, Good celebrated her ninth wedding anniversary with Franklin with a sweet Instagram post that has since been deleted.

"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."

DeVon Franklin shares a tearful selfie after split

About two weeks after the former couple announced they were getting divorced in December 2021, Franklin rang in 2022 by sharing a teary throwback selfie, along with a long message on Instagram — which has since been deleted but was captured on X (formerly known as Twitter).

"I took this picture a few months ago, I'm not much of a crier so in a moment of deep pain and peace, I took this picture. It captures best how I feel," he wrote.

"I share this with you because it is the most honest way to start this year. ... So often I've come into a new year with all the things I hope to do better and I would carry around this feeling of 'I didn't do enough last year' or 'I'm not enough so I must do…more,'" Franklin added. "I'm breaking my addiction to the 'new' and working on being fully committed to what's 'true.'"

"I am fully in pain and peace as we start 2022 and that's the truest place for me to be. ... Thank you for your prayers, I feel each of them and I'm praying you…here's to the true (whether old or new) Happy True Year!" he concluded.

Meagan Good on life's "transitions" following divorce announcement

A few days later, Good appeared on The Real and opened up about that past year, including work, a big birthday and the major changes in her personal life.

"It's been amazing, like so many transitions," she said. "Projects that I prayed for, just health transitions, just taking a moment to really take everything in and get myself, my spirit, my soul ready for 40."

Good added, "It's been a whirlwind with the show and the movies. It's crazy. It's a blessing."

When asked about changes she has made, Good replied that she told herself she would take a moment of her own.

"It was like, 'OK, I'm going to take a beat for myself.' I stopped drinking back in April," she said, explaining that she did not drink alcohol through August. "I wanted to just really focus on therapy and dive into some things that I experienced in the past that I haven't spoken about publicly yet and one day I will whenever I feel God's called me to it."

DeVon Franklin says the love between him and Meagan Good still remains

While appearing on The Breakfast Club podcast in June 2023, Franklin spoke about the whirlwind of emotions since separating from Good.

During the conversation, he confirmed that the pair still communicate with each other and that he will always have love for his ex-wife.

“The love for us has not gone away. It's just changed form," Franklin explained.

"Mentally, I'm doing much better," he added. “But the process to that, like, I can sit here before all of you and have this interview and be calm and introspective and all that. But that comes from a process, you know?”

Franklin noted that he’s experienced moments of sadness and anger, which ultimately forced him to do some inner work.

“I mean, there are nights [where] I'm crying myself to sleep," he admitted. "There are moments when I've been angry, but I've allowed myself to feel whatever I felt in order to heal because in my experience when I'm not facing what I'm feeling, then I'm trying to find something else to help me get through the pain."