Taye Diggs and Apryl Jones have quickly become a fresh, favorite couple for people since they went public with their relationship in 2022. But have you ever wondered how the 36-year-old former Love and Hip Hop personality and the 52-year-old beloved actor and former musical theater student found their way to each other?
Well, the answer is Instagram.
The pair were recently guests on actors and married couple Erinn and Oliver Hudson’s podcast Unconsciously Coupled. While there, they chatted with their friends about how their relationship started.
“We met on Instagram, not on purpose,” Diggs said, admitting that he used to scroll through the accounts of gorgeous women like Jones through the Explore page. “When I was single I was one of those people that would just scroll through like, ‘Oh my God look at…I could never…” he said. “It was just like, ‘These people are out there? Who are these people?’ It was like a love-hate thing because I hated them because they looked so perfect. You can’t be real. But then it was just something to look at.”
He continued, “Every once in a while I would hit someone’s profile,” sharing that one day he found himself on Jones’s page where she was doing comical lip sync videos making fun of motherhood. “I literally just said, ‘You’re hilarious.’ Didn’t think she’d give a response because I thought she was [way out of my league],” he said. He didn’t think she was the kind of girl who would be into a guy like him. Nevertheless, she ended up responding.
“I looked at my DM and I was like, ‘Taye Diggs?’ What the?” she said. “In my mind I was like, I could never get him. That’s what I was thinking. So then I saw [his message] and I said, ‘He’s mine now.'”
She hit Diggs, who had become known for being quite funny on his own Instagram page, with a “Really? me? No you’re hilarious, but thanks.” That was the gateway to them sparking up ongoing conversation. “I told him, I don’t do this Instagram stuff. Here’s my number. If you want to talk to me you can text me.”
He did, sending her goofy messages like, “Hi, my name is Taye Diggs and I’m really handsome.” Things he thought would make her laugh and that would be most comfortable for him to develop a connection to her with. “I had to just go comedic or else I would have just shied away,” he said, admitting that he was really nervous.
The pair did that, sending messages and videos back and forth with their brand of humor for about a month and a half before they actually met. Busy work schedules and taking care of their kids, including his son Walker and her two kids, Megaa and A’mei, kept them occupied. They would finally meet at a restaurant in LA and hit it off better than expected in person, despite the handsome actor arriving late.
“He came in in his Wu-Tang shirt and his army fatigue pants..and he was just chocolate,” she recalled. “We were talking for hours until the people were like, ‘You guys have to go. You’re the only two people still left here.’ In my head I was like, this so awesome. It felt really easy.”
That was the beginning of what has gone on to be a very special relationship for both people. The pair are now in a space where they’ve been talking about the possibility of marriage and buying a home together. Their kids have met, doing so just this past Thanksgiving, and love each other. But for now, Diggs and Jones are focused on continuing to nurture their relationship — and having fun entertaining the masses. Hilarious videos of the couple singing together, joking and just being themselves keep their millions of followers entertained.
“I always prayed for someone I could laugh with all the time. Because I feel like life is supposed to be light,” Jones said of loving her famous partner. “It’s not supposed to be heavy.”