Jenna Dewan and Channing Tatum are one of those couples that can never break up. They are, to me, like Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon. Like, if they split up, love will officially be dead and NO ONE can make it work. So, yeah, I like Jenna. She comes across as a little bit hipster-earth-mother-y in interviews, but I always get the impression that she’s not really pretending to be anything she’s not. At this point, she’s Rita Wilson to Channing’s Tom Hanks and she seems fine with it. She covers the new issue of Redbook to promote her new hostess gig on the NBC reality show World of Dance. Jenna is a former dancer, and she met Channing while they were filming Step Up. They’re both amazing dancers. So this is a good fit for her, I think. Some highlights from Redbook:
Her new role on World of Dance: “I told them, ‘If you want Ryan Seacrest, hire Ryan Seacrest.’ I love working with dancers. If there’s a way to incorporate that, then I’m excited.” She got her way, and when the show premieres this month, she’ll mentor contestants, or as she says, be their “mama bear and backstage cheerleader.”
Her daughter, Everly: “We want our daughter to grow up confident and believing that she can go after whatever she wants.”
On finding time to connect with her husband, Channing Tatum: “We are not sex schedulers – not yet! Give us a couple more years. Maybe with child number two. There’s a beauty in being two busy people because we get a lot of time to miss each other. To continue to miss someone after so many years is kind of a blessing in disguise.”
On her biggest relationship challenge: “Communication. You change when you’re together from 25 to 35. I think maybe in my early 20s, I might have tiptoed around issues or didn’t want to make too many waves. Now it’s like, “This is how I’m feeling.” You have to be okay with the other person becoming defensive, to let them be emotional and accept that it won’t be okay for a while.”
On keeping her relationship exciting: “I think all women should keep it exciting for themselves. People always ask, “Do you do anything to keep it fresh for your man?” I hate that question. I’m like, “No. Why is it for your man? I do things to keep it fresh for myself. The lingerie I buy is not for him necessarily. It’s for us and for myself. If you feel sexy, then it’s good for you.”
On being a feminist — and having a feminist husband: “We should want equality for men and women. Men should want that too. Chan is for women’s rights and so am I. Women should have the right to be the best they can be and make their own choices for themselves. Our daughter is young, but I think as she gets older, she’s going to be all about the standard for women we keep at home — she’s going to be strong.”
Regarding Channing’s feminism… I believe that Jenna is the one who opened up his world. He was a redneck kid from Alabama and she was easily the more worldly and sophisticated one in the beginning of their relationship. I’ve always believed that she was the one who opened his eyes and made him a more “woke” person with feminism, LGBTQ rights and more.
As for sex-scheduling and “keeping it fresh” or whatever… I’ll admit it, my gossip-antenna pinged a little bit on that. I hope they’re not having problems. I will lose it if they break up!
Photos courtesy of Yu Tsai/Redbook.
” You have to be okay with the other person becoming defensive, to let them be emotional and accept that it won’t be okay for a while.”
I feel this. It can be hard to speak up because the awkwardness in the air when things are 100% great sucks to have to go through, but it’s necessary.
And the idea that anybody in a relationship is 100% OK and feeling OK 100% of the time is such a damaging way of thinking.
I. Love. Them. So. Much.
Step Up is one of my favorite movies to watch, only because I love watching them knowing that this is where they began to fall in love. They’re both beautiful and down to earth and great. They can never break up.
I also like how she talks about the fact that we have to “accept that it won’t be okay for a while.” This is something I’m working on with my boyfriend– accepting that sometimes he’s just going to be mad, there are no magic words to make it better instantly, and I just have to let him feel his feelings until he’s ready to not be mad anymore.
Whenever a couple is oversharing for publicity I fully admit my “smutty senses” start tingling. Maybe not. I mean, she doesn’t have a lot of interest to use for promotion except that so….eh, maybe I’m just cynical.
On a superficial note, she is absolutely stunning.
I have to admit, her face is A++. She looks like she could be Emma Stone’s older sister with darker eyebrows, and she comes alive when she’s dancing.
She’s cosmetically stunning. But has dead eyes. =[
Even if things were not going well, i doubt she’d ever leave him. She doesn’t do good job separating her brand from his
She is not unlike the Kardashians, especial the way she overshares on snap chat.
I just like her a lot.
The biggest take from this is that she calls him Chan.