John Legend has admitted he “wasn’t a great partner” in the early days of his romance with now-wife Chrissy Teigen.
The singer opened up about becoming “mature” in a relationship to “become that person you want to be”.
Legend, 43, and Teigen, 36, met in 2006 while shooting a music video and began dating. They married in 2013.
Speaking to podcast host Jay Shetty in the latest episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty, the “All Of Me” singer admitted he wasn’t as committed as Teigen was to their romance at the start.
“I think I was more selfish then,” he said. “I wasn’t a great partner at the beginning of our relationship. Even though I was very into her and very excited to be with her.
“I was in my mid-20s, still not ready to fully be the committed partner I am now.”
Legend explained that as he spent more time with Teigen, he realised he needed to change if the relationship was going to succeed.
“When you stop being so selfish, when you think about not only the joy you get from a situation and the pleasure you get from it, but also think about your responsibility and your commitment in that situation,” he continued.
“You just grow, and you mature. Part of it is it’s just a matter of time. You need time to become that person you want to be.”
The Hollywood power couple married on 14 September 2013 in Lake Como, Italy. They share two children, six-year-old Luna Simone and four-year-old Miles Theodore, and currently expecting a rainbow baby.
The new pregnancy comes almost two years after they suffered a pregnancy loss due to complications.
Elsewhere in the podcast, Legend opened up about how the couple’s love has been able to “stand the test of time”.
“When we first met, we were very attracted to each other, our chemistry was great, but that level of attraction is more like infatuation at the beginning of a relationship,” he said.
“Love, when it is able to stand the test of time, it has to be deeper and more real than that. We’ve been through enough together where it’s really fortified us and made us stronger.
“Those tests have made us grow together and realise things about each other that we didn’t know,” he added.
Last month, Legend said that he and Teigen are excited, but “cautiously optimistic” about their new pregnancy following the loss of their son Jack in 2020.
He told Good Morning Britain: “Whenever you lose a pregnancy, it is always cautious optimism when you are pregnant again, because you never know what could happen and you have experienced that tragedy of losing one.
“So your optimism is a little bit tempered by that. But everything has been great so far and we are really excited. The kids are excited, we are all excited and can’t wait to welcome this new baby into the world.”
