The idea of living with your spouse, and your former spouse, sounds quite absurd to people, but it’s something that works for actor Michael Beach and his wife Elisha.
If you were a fan of the OWN series Black Love, you probably saw them featured in an episode from around 2019 where the couple, married 17 years and together 24 with four children, opened up about their unconventional living situation. His ex-wife, Tracey, whom he shares four children with and wed in 1990 (divorcing in the ’00s), does indeed stay with the pair.
During a recent visit to Sway in the Morning (around the 22:00 mark), he went a bit more in-depth about how Elisha changed his mind about marriage, which helped him let go of any hard feelings he harbored about how things ended with Tracey.
“I was married 17 years before and had the four kids…and it didn’t work out. And because I had the four kids, I was like, why do I have to do that again? I’m done,” he recalled in September. “And it wasn’t a horrible marriage. In fact, on Black Love, I talk about the fact that my ex-wife lives with my wife and I and our kids. In the same house.”
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This information ended up being news to Sway Calloway and co-host Heather B. They wanted to understand how an arrangement of such magnitude could work.
“The circumstances is a long story. It is a rare situation where she’s lived with us now for seven, eight years. She’s literally just a part of our family,” he said. “Elisha and I have four young kids as well. My ex-wife’s name is Tracey — they just know her as Tracey. They know we used to be married because our older children, who are in their 30s, come over all the time. They know that Tracey is their mom and I’m their dad, they’re brothers and sisters, but their mom is different. It’s just become this blended family that’s awkward from the outside, but it actually works perfectly.”
Another major reason it works, he shared, is because Elisha was so open-minded about it and found herself benefitting most from the living situation.
“Having your wife embrace the fact that your ex-wife is living with you…Funny thing, they’re together more than we are together because I take a job and go out of town,” he said.
“Elisha and Tracey got closer and Tracey was very helpful with our kids. Taking them to school and helping with the dinners and stuff like that, it just worked out.”
In the original Black Love episode, Michael said of the wild arrangement, “It runs so smoothly it’s crazy,” with a laugh. Elisha agreed. Tracey’s presence made all of the difference when she gave birth a few years back, and two months after doing so, Michael traveled for a period of months for roles.
“If Tracey hadn’t been here, I would have died or killed one of my kids. I don’t know, whichever one came first,” she said jokingly at the time. “There was no way I would have made it through that time without her help.”
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Nevertheless, having one’s ex-wife live with you and your current wife comes with criticism and confusion. Some, Michael shared, believe they’re in a polyamorous relationship. However, he shut down such an idea with the radio hosts. While he’s moved on emotionally from Tracey, she’s become an integral part of their lives.
“There’s nothing further from the truth. Tracey is a part of my life and a part of my family,” he said. “She was 21, and I think I was 22 when we met. I just can’t cut her off. It’s just not going to happen. Obviously, she doesn’t have to live with us, but it just worked out that way, and it’s comfortable for us.”
