Fantasia Barrino hasn't exactly had an easy life, yet she seems to have lucked out with
her marriage to Kendall Taylor, as by all accounts it seems absolutely fantastic.
Here's what we know about this adorable duo and their lives together.
Fantasia Barrino found herself in hot water in September 2019 when she opened
up about her marriage to Kendall Taylor and dished out some controversial dating advice.
Speaking on The Breakfast Club, the hitmaker made the following claim:
"Most women are trying to be the leader. That's why you can't find a man.
You can't be the king in the house. Fall back and be the queen and let your man lead the way."
She then went on to add,
"You have to learn how to submit. You can still be a queen. The queen plays a part.
The king needs his queen. There's certain things that he can't see that we see."
The star was hit with backlash for her comments, which forced her and Taylor
to set the record straight on Instagram. Though the upload has since been deleted,
Atlanta Black Star reported that Taylor claimed in the video,
"Submission is supposed to be a beautiful song and dance between two lovers"
He explained that one partner being submissive doesn't mean only one of
them makes all the decisions in their marriage. Barrino added,
"Submission to the right man isn't demeaning,
it protects you and gives the relationship firm ground to stand on."
It may not work for everyone, but it seems to be working for these two!
Fantasia Barrino and Kendall Taylor didn't waste any time in their relationship,
as things moved seriously quickly between the two. They put a label on their relationship
almost instantly and got married only three weeks after getting engaged in 2015.
Barrino shared on Angela Yee's Lip Service in October 2019,
"When I first met my husband, this was the keeper. We became friends first,
and we got married very, very fast […] We got married in three weeks!"
She also opened up about the exact moment she knew her husband was the one for her, saying,
"I knew he was the one when I was getting ready to go on the road and he kneeled down and was like,
'Can I cover you?' And I was like, 'Cover me?' He kneeled down and started praying.
And I couldn't even get caught up in the prayer, 'cause I was like, 'Say what?'"
But it wasn't just marriage that came quickly.
Barrino shared that they became boyfriend and girlfriend almost instantly.
On The Breakfast Club, she opened up about the night they got serious during a date, recalling,
"Never did he ever try to come onto me ... It was just great conversation.
I knew he was my dude. He was my boyfriend that night."
For a love like this, one wedding just didn't cut it. Fantasia Barrino and Kendall Taylor
actually got married twice, choosing to have a lavish vow renewal after their initial wedding.
The two initially married on a yacht in July 2015, with Fantasia sharing the news on her
Instagram page in a since-deleted post. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the gushing message
about her new husband ended with her saying that Taylor was all she ever wanted, writing,
"This Man and this smile is real."
The following year, the two tied the knot again with a stunning ceremony on Christmas Day.
Barrino shared several photos from their second big day on Instagram.
Though prenuptial agreements can be a sticky subject for some couples,
that wasn't the case for Fantasia Barrino and Kendall Taylor.
It turns out the latter actually wanted to sign one, with Barrino claiming that as proof
that he loved her and not her money. She explained on The Breakfast Club in 2019 that she
was seriously impressed he was so willing to sign away his rights to her cash and assets, sharing,
"He wanted the prenup, and I think that was a dope move because he wanted people to know
'I don't want you for [your money]'"
She also noted that she would still have married him even if he wasn't willing to sign
on the dotted line to keep their cash separate. That's a pretty big statement from the star,
as Barrino has a pretty impressive net worth despite some past financial struggles.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, the singer is worth $700,000 as of April 2021.
It was all about celibacy for Fantasia and Kendall,
as she revealed that they waited until after they were married to have sex.
The American Idol winner shared that they chose a more traditional approach to intimacy,
which she spoke about in her September 2019 The Breakfast Club interview, explaining,
"We didn't make love until we married. That was one thing I wanted.
I wanted somebody to see me for me, not Fantasia."
The star also revealed that she had a list of things she was looking for in a mate
before deciding to get serious with someone, and Taylor met all her requirements, elaborating -
"I had a little small list that I told God ... I knew I wanted a man that was going to love me,
love my children, love God, be a smart man,
cover me, see me, all the things that were on my list, he was that."
Barrino also opened up about their decision to abstain from sex on Angela Yee's Lip Service,
where she shared how impressed she was that Taylor didn't bring up the topic
of being intimate while they were still getting to know each other.
As the saying goes, you find love when you're not looking for it — and it seems
that's definitely the way things went for Fantasia Barrino. Before meeting Kendall
Taylor, the star revealed that she wasn't looking to be in a relationship, and even
considered herself to be married to herself, telling Harry Connick Jr. in October 2017,
"Before I met him I bought a ring and married myself.
That's crazy, right? I married myself because I felt like before true love could come
I needed to learn how to love myself again ... I forgot about myself."
She explained that she needed to learn how to truly love herself
and let go of bad experiences from past relationships.
Barrino admitted,
"I was so busy trying to take care of everybody else so busy looking for that love that I was
ending up in all the wrong situations ... and so I said I'm going to marry myself."
Fantasia also spoke out about self-love in a July 2016 interview with Billboard magazine,
revealing that she spent a lot of money on the ring for herself
which any man who wanted to marry her would have to top, saying,
"That was me realizing my value."
Fantasia Barrino and Kendall Taylor are all about giving back and both use their life experiences
to help others. The star has been open about how important it is for them to be mentors to young
people, particularly in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. While speaking to Billboard in
2016, Barrino recalled driving through the city with her husband when they spotted a fight between
a group of young men. They pulled over the car and she intervened. Barrino told Billboard,
"My husband thought I was crazy. I started speaking, and one of the guys says, 'Oh,
it's Fantasia!' And I'm like, 'Let's not worry about that.
Let's talk about the fact that you guys are out here as brothers and you're fighting.
So get home! And don't let me catch y'all back on the streets!'"
The couple has since spent their time mentoring young men in prison in the city. Barrino shared
that she wanted even those who may be on not the best paths to know they can change, adding,
"Everything in life is a fight. Everybody wants this microwavable life,
and it doesn't work like that. I'm here to say, 'See what I went through? Look at me now.'"
Though Fantasia Barrino did a lot of work on herself before finding love with Kendall Taylor,
it turns out she's still learning more about who she really is with him by her side.
The singer has credited her husband for showing her a side of herself that she didn't even know
existed. Appearing on Essence's Yes, Girl! Podcast in November 2019,
when Barrino was asked what helps her get through tough times, she explained,
"I will have to say kudos to [Taylor] because when he came into my life,
he brought out a Fantasia that I didn't even know was there."
Barrino also shared a little dating advice and urged all those who want a love like
hers to put in the work on themselves first. She admitted she has a lot of women come up
to her and ask how they too can have such a strong relationship, to which she responds,
"You have to sit back and realize who you are first.
How can you know what type of man you need if you don't know who you are?"
Though their relationship seems to be picture-perfect, it was only a couple of months
before her wedding that Fantasia Barrino actually sparked rumors of a breakup. She put up a very
cryptic post on Instagram that had fans wondering if she and Kendall Taylor had called it quits.
Per LOVEBSCOTT, the April 2015 post showed her ring and wedding bands with the caption,
"It's Done.... The Kids and I Will Always Love You [Heart] I got to stay strong for Granny..
He was the best man I knew Kendall you are loved."
The post was deleted, and the couple, of course, went on to get married,
but her emotional post appeared to be linked to the death of her grandmother, who had passed away
earlier that month. Shortly before suggesting things were rocky with Taylor, The Christian
Post reported that Barrino shared another now deleted post on Instagram in which she expressed
her heartbreak over losing her grandmother with a series of photos and the caption,
"A real life Angel has left us. Lord help me please."
Kendall Taylor's love for Fantasia Barrino is permanent — quite literally. Taylor proved he
was so in love with Barrino that he got her name tattooed on him in 2014.
Black America Web reported that Fantasia posted and quickly deleted a photo of his huge inking to
her Instagram account. The snap showed Taylor shirtless as he revealed the word Fantasia
written on the right side of his chest over the top of an existing tattoo, a suit of armor.
Taylor gave fans a better look at the tattoo on his own Instagram account in May 2019
when he reposted a video from his wife's account which showed the duo at the beach
while Barrino spoke openly about her difficult journey,
her relationship with God, and how good she was feeling.
Fantasia Barrino has opened up about how her husband
inspired her to take on a new hobby after years of struggling with illiteracy.
In a 2019 interview with CNN, she shared how Taylor had inspired her
love affair with books and even sparked her interest in writing her own book, saying,
"I read a lot now. I used to hate to read,
hated it, and now I can't stop reading. And you know, who inspired me with that? My husband,"
Barrino's love of books is made all the more impressive as the star has been vocal
about the fact that she was unable to read. During an appearance on ABC's 20/20 in 2005,
she shared how she would have to fake being able to read on American Idol, saying,
"You're illiterate to just about everything. You don't want to misspell.
So that, for me, kept me in a box and I didn't, wouldn't come out."
She also admitted she had signed contracts she was unable to read
but found it most difficult that she couldn't read stories to her daughter Zion.
Barrino, who dropped out of high school at 14-years-old, added,
"I was so ashamed and I was like, 'What will people say about me?' I can't get a job."
Thank goodness she's found someone so supportive of her growth!
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