The former Seattle Seahawks quarterback found the love of his life in the Grammy-winning pop star, Ciara. Russell Wilson and his wife tied the knot in England in July 2016. The Super Bowl champion dated the ‘Level Up’ singer for over a year before marrying her. Throughout the time they were dating, they kept things traditional because of the QB’s religious views.
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Wilson has always been open about his Christian faith. The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year encourages his fans to adopt the teachings of God. When he and Ciara started dating, he understood the importance of celibacy. Hence, they did not develop a physical relationship until the deal was done.
Russell Wilson had to stay abstinent in order to love his wife more deeply
The nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback gave an interview to Us Magazine. While talking to them, he clarified why he took a counter-cultural stance on love. Wilson always knew that he was going to end up with Ciara. He had told somebody that he wanted the singer/songwriter to become his girlfriend.
He said, “She was on tour and I was looking at her in the mirror, and she was sitting there. And God spoke to me and said ‘I need you to lead her.’ And I was like, ‘Really? Right now?’ And he goes, ‘No, I want you and need you to lead her.’ And I asked her, ‘What would you do if we took all that extra stuff off the table? And just did it Jesus’ way?’ Yeah, we’re talking about sex… Can we love each other without that?” he added. “If you can really love someone without that then you can really love somebody.”
Wilson believed God planned for him to bless her and for her to bless him.
What did Ciara feel about their ‘no sex until marriage’ policy?
We can imagine how hard it must be for Wilson to keep his hands off of his beautiful wife. But it was equally hard for the 37-year-old dancer. Ciara admitted it was hard in the beginning, but as time went on, they formed a strong friendship, which in turn improved their romantic bond.
“I really believe that when you focus on a friendship, you have the opportunity to build a strong foundation for a relationship—and once you know you’re really great friends and you’re what we call ‘equally yoked,’ where you share the same values or the same outlook on life, it kind of sets the tone,” she said. “Knowing that you’ll always have the friendship and that you can always go back to it is very important, and very powerful.”
