John Legend Opens Up About How Chrissy Teigen Inspires Him And You Will Sob
John Legend has opened up about his personal life and what his childhood/adolescent years were like in a revealing new interview. And yes, and talks about his marriage with Chrissy Teigen. But he also talks about what it was like to grow up as essentially a child prodigy and how that affected his view of masculinity and his confidence. In case you didn't know, Legend was pretty much a child genius and was in high school by the time he was 12, and he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania by the time he was 20. And now he's a 10-time Grammy-winning artist. So yeah, Luna's got some crazy talented parents. In the interview with Cosmopolitan, John Legend says Chrissy Teigen inspires him to be open and vulnerable with his emotions since she's so open about hers. And it's this openness that keeps their marriage so strong, according to Legend. He said,
There's no problem with openness in our relationship. You know Chrissy. She doesn't hold anything back! I'm quite reserved, but being with someone like her inspires me to be open about my emotions. She brings them out of me because she's so open about hers.
He also talked about their struggles to conceive baby Luna and how they're hoping to have more children soon, likely with the help of IVF.
Legend said,
Having a baby is a big challenge for a couple, and going through that together strengthens your bond because if you make it through [having a child], you know you can make it through anything. I think it's especially difficult when you can't conceive naturally. You want to feel like everything's working properly and want everything to be perfect, but sometimes it's not. I wouldn't say we can't conceive naturally, but I would say that it's enough of a challenge where it felt like we needed help. We're lucky that we're living in an age where we can conceive in other ways. [IVF] brought us Luna and hopefully it will bring us a few more awesome kids, too.
When talking about his younger years, Legend said he spent a lot of time trying to conform to what he thought was expected of kids his age. Being a few grades ahead, he was a younger guy among older high schoolers, so he says that put a lot of pressure on him to date lots of women. He said,
Just being around older people that were having sex, it felt like I had to catch up with everybody. I think a lot pressure when you're a [cisgender male] teen has to do with losing your virginity and negotiating relationships with women. [That] still seems to present in a lot of high schools, particularly in places like where I grew up, where football was so important and top athletes are usually the most popular guys on campus. When you're not that guy — and I was not that guy — it feels like your value isn't the same as theirs.
Legend may be able to be really open and vulnerable with his wife, but he understands that men still really struggle with being open about their emotions. When asked what he believes young men are afraid to discuss with their partners, he said, "Fear." He continued,
People are afraid of talking about their fears and insecurities. They're afraid of expressing emotion beyond anger, dominance, or power, and they're afraid of getting in touch with their feminine side.
So if you're afraid of being open with your partner, maybe take a page out of John Legend and Chrissy Teigen's book and just take the chance to lay your feelings out on the table.
