How Sterling K. Brown & His Wife Keep Their Black Love Strong

Sterling K. Brown remains happily in love after nearly 18 years with his now-wife, Ryan Michelle Bathe.

In a recent interview with Sherri Shepard, the ‘This Is Us’ actor discussed their Black love journey. They reportedly met in 1998 at Stanford. Sterling admitted that Ryan friend-zoned him when they first started getting to know each other.

In response, Brown gave her the Randall Pearson treatment fans loved during the series’ six seasons—a lil’ mix of persistence, patience, and passion. The way Sterling tells it, he was cool with being in the zone. However, he knew early on that he had no intentions of staying there.

“Let me tell you something about that: Brown wasn’t going to stay in that friend zone,” the actor behind Randall’s character said.

Despite how strongly he felt about clawing out of that zone, Sterling K. Brown also said he gave Ryan her deserved respect and space.

“I had to stop talking to her for a minute because I had to let her know. ‘Look, I don’t want to be your friend. I want to be something a little bit more than that. So until you’re ready….we can just hang out for a little bit.’”

According to PEOPLE, the couple eventually eloped in 2006 before having a larger wedding in 2007. They welcomed their first son Andrew in 2011 and their second, Amaré, in 2015.

Now, come March 2024, the couple will officially celebrate 18 years of Black love.

How Sterling K. Brown & His Wife Keep The Spark Alive?

One thing that keeps their love strong, Sterling says, is how much “feces” they give each other. In between laughs, he explained that it’s part of their united love language.

“The beautiful thing about it Sherri is we’re almost like brother and sister and husband and wife at the same time, like we give each other enormous amounts of feces constantly. We tease each other all the time.”

Not only that, they love stepping onto a dance floor together. He describes his wife as a “little bit more conservative” than him, adding that he won’t “shy away” if she “[backs] it up” on him.”

When they’re not laughing or dancing, the couple also enjoys shared ventures. Like Sterling, Ryan Michelle can hold her own in the entertainment industry. They’ve starred in at least two projects together. First was ‘Army Wives’ in 2012, then ‘This Is Us’ in 2016.

Their next joint project will be their relationship podcast titled ‘We Don’t Always Agree’ coming soon! In it, the couple will explore choosing to say “yes” to each other every day and how that’s led to 18 years of bliss!

Watch the full chat with Sherri Shepard below. 

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