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Having someone slide into your DMs usually leads to something casual, but for The Upshaws actor Jermelle Simon, it ended in a wedding proposal.
In an exclusive interview with People, Simon and content creator Obio Jones opened up about their “surprise” engagement on April 25, which they celebrated surrounded by family.
The couple met after Jones watched an episode of The Upshaws, the Netflix sitcom that just wrapped its final season, where Simon starred alongside Wanda Sykes, Kim Fields, and Mike Epps.
“He DM’d to congratulate/compliment me on my performance on the show. Real smooth like, but friendly for sure,” Simon, 36, told the publication.
The pair struck up a friendship that soon turned into romance after a date at the LA restaurant Joyce.
“He’s always been fine, but what drew me in was how intentionally nice he was/is,” Jones explained, but was nervous about taking their relationship to the next level. “‘Are we sure we want to risk our friendship for romance?’,” Jones said he was thinking at the time.
The two men kept their relationship private until Simon came out as gay last October on National Coming Out Day in an Instagram video where he said, “Thank you for providing a space where I can come on the internet and say, ‘I am a Black, gay man.’ Happy National Coming Out Day.”
Jones was the one to slide into Simon’s DMs and he was also the one to pop the question. He knew Jones would want an intimate proposal that included his three children from a previous relationship, so when they were going to move in together, Jones set his plan in motion.
“On the day we got the keys, everyone was looking at their rooms and roaming the home,” Jones revealed. “[Jermelle and I] were in our primary room, and I had the kids come in one by one and hand him congratulations notes with I love you’s and sweet descriptions of who he’s been to them, and what family meant. He thought it was just in regards to the house, but I got on one knee and boom!”
Even though the men had discussed their desire to get married in the future, Simon was caught by surprise by the proposal that came with a diamond-encrusted Cartier ring.
“[It was] a complete surprise, actually. I say that because normally, I would have some sort of idea about a thing. [Obio] involved the children, and everyone that was important to me, and no one said a thing,” gushed Simon. “I think it made it that much more special to me because not only was I ready, but I was genuinely surprised, which almost never happens.”
The two haven’t started planning their wedding yet and are just trying to enjoy this phase of their relationship.
"We’re going to give ourselves another month to stop mistakenly calling each other boyfriend, and then jump into planning mode,” Jones said.
“I think within a month or so, we will decide if we want a wedding planner or not,” added Simon. “For now, we’re just taking a moment to be present with it.”
TikTok creator Josselyn Morris and her livestreamed speed dating show.
Footage still via TikTok @Josselynmorris; Courtesy of Josselyn Morris
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While people everywhere are becoming disillusioned with dating apps and are desperately seeking new ways to find love and connection, one TikToker is forging a new path for her LGBTQ+ Gen Z peers.
What started as the dream of a queer woman with only $600 left to her name has turned into a viral sensation and created a community for queer people to find love in the messiest way possible.
Josselyn Morris, a 26-year-old rising star on TikTok, started the app’s first-ever livestream LGBTQ+ speed dating show that has now grown to have more than 370,000 followers and gets a minimum of 50,000 viewers per night. She streams four nights a week to help queer singles find love on her TikTok live show. Some singles have applied to be on the show, and others are picked from the live audience so that Morris can help them find a match.
“I started this show with $600, a ring light, and a dream. And now there are people saying they found the love of their life in my comments section? That’s unreal,” Morris tells PRIDE.
The premise is as simple and effective as it is wildly entertaining: Morris holds up a sign that says “LGBTQ+ Speed Dating” and has a split screen with the curious single she invited on the show, and tries to connect them with people in the chat who feel a spark with the guest.
“The space I’ve built became what I needed when I was most alone—and now it’s that for thousands of other people too,” she says. “People come back every week. They root for each other. They stay. That means more than views ever could.”
HOW DID I DO YA’LL BE HONEST 😫👀💍👀 CONGRATS TO THE HAPPY COUPLE @ROSE 🌹 @🏳️🌈BBBOŚŠŞȘWWWÖMBMÅŅ👄👅 #wedding #marriage #marriagehumor #lgbtq #lgbtqia #🏳️🌈 #married #josselynmorris
Sometimes Morris helps people find a match and other times the people in the chat investigate the guest and figure out they’re actually in a relationship already or are lying about themselves. Combine that with Morris’ hilarious facial expressions, and sharp sense of humor and you’re in for an entertaining night even if no one finds love. Think speed dating mixed with internet sleuthing, and reality TV shows like Catfish and Maury.
Yes, it’s messy and full of gay chaos, but it’s also sweet and hopeful as young LGBTQ+ find love and build community on an app that can often make people feel even more isolated and pressured to be performative.
“It can be chaotic, funny, and unpredictable, but it’s also full of warmth, connection, and real vulnerability,” Morris explains. “Every night is different. One moment someone’s cracking jokes, the next someone’s talking about what it’s like to date while not being fully out. That kind of shift feels natural because the space allows for all of it.”
Originally from Yuma, Arizona, Morris knows what it’s like to be Black and queer in a small town with no community. A self-proclaimed stud, she started her TikTok channel with one main goal: to create an LGBTQ+ dating show made by and for the community.
And she’s found success doing just that. She’s created a community of devoted followers, who call themselves “Team White Braids,” has helped create 100 real queer relationships, was once even invited to a proposal between two contestants on her show, and heard that one couple she set up has a baby on the way.
“It’s become this tight-knit, almost sacred digital living room. We’re live almost every night, and the energy is always the same: safe, chaotic in the best way, and full of love,” Morris says. “You don’t need a label, a storyline, or a “look” to belong here. People who aren’t even out yet–people from towns where there’s no gay scene–come here and feel seen.”
Her live queer dating show proves that love is messy and radical joy is not only possible, but is at your fingertips four nights a week.
Lesbian and sapphic athlete couples Anna Petrakova and Candace Parker, as well as Courtney Vandersloot and Allie Quigley with a queer wedding cake in the middle.
Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for adidas; shutterstock creative; Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Pink wedding cake with a "Mrs & Mrs" cake topper.
shutterstock creative
It seems like every year we hear about more queer women athletes who manage to find love and tie the knot. While some like to keep their weddings private, others celebrate their love loudly and share photographs and videos from their weddings with the fans who have always rooted for them.
From teammates who fell for each other while playing their favorite sport to fierce rivals who managed to find love with the enemy to athletes who found a soul mate outside of sports, these women are winning at life and love.
These lesbian and sapphic athletes took the plunge, said “I do,” and then shared their love with the world. It’s enough to make you believe in love again!
Chicago Sky star Courtney Vandersloot and former WNBA player Allie Quigley got married in 2018 when both women were playing for the Sky, setting a record for the first married couple to take home a pro sports championship together when they won the 2021 WNBA Championship. Affectionately known as the “Vanderquigs,” the pair got married in a quiet ceremony in Seattle, Wash. with several members of the Sky in attendance. The wedding may have been private but the couple posted photos in their gorgeous lace wedding dresses for their fans on Instagram.
Retired National Women’s Hockey League stars Anya Packer and Madison Packer tied the knot in 2019 in a beautiful ceremony at a resort in Newport, Rhode Island. Madison wore a white gown with lace details, and Anya sported a navy blue suit for their wedding that featured a lighthouse in the background. The couple has since had two adorable children and launched a parenting podcast called These Packs Puck.
Retired WNBA superstar Candace Parker married former Russian basketball player Anna Petrakova in a quiet ceremony in December 2019 but didn’t go public with their marriage until 2021. Parker shared the news via Instagram by posting photos of their wedding where both women wore white gowns. The couple met way back in 2012 while they were both playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg in Russia and now share three children together.
PWHL Montreal Victoire teammates Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey tied the knot in September 2024 in front of 192 family members and friends in Canada. The couple posted videos of the nuptials on social media wearing white gowns and looking happy on their big day. Poulin and Stacey have an impressive hockey record together, taking home gold medals at the Olympics and World Championships as teammates.
Soccer power couple Tziarra King and Jess Fishlock got married in 2023 while playing together on the Seattle Reign. King, who wore a sleeveless lace gown, has since retired from soccer, but Fishlock, who walked down the aisle in a backless, long-sleeved lace dress, is still scoring goals for the Reign. The happy couple is now thinking about having children as part of their next phase of life.
Meghan Duggan and Gillian Apps
Once fierce rivals on the ice, Meghan Duggan and Gillian Apps walked down the aisle together in 2018. They’ve since retired from professional hockey, but while still playing, the two women were competing on opposing teams. Now the happy couple has put the competition on the back burner and is busy raising their three beautiful children together.
Soccer star Tierna Davidson married wife Alison Jahansouz on New Year’s Eve 2024 and posted photos on Instagram with the caption, "Running into 2025 with my wife,” alongside photos of the ceremony with the couple wearing a matching white dress and suit. The two began dating in 2017 when they were still teammates playing for the Stanford Cardinals and got engaged in March 2023.
After originally meeting on a dating app, Australian soccer star Emily van Egmond tied the knot with photographer Kat Thompson on December 27, 2024, after getting engaged the previous June. At the star couple’s wedding, van Egmond sported a double-breasted tuxedo and Thompson wore a beautiful strapless gown in a ceremony that was covered by Vogue Australia. The happy couple is expecting the first new addition to their family in October 2025.
Australian soccer legend Chloe Logarzo wed her longterm girlfriend, retired American soccer star McKenzie Berryhill, in a gorgeous beachside destination wedding in Thailand in November 2024. The lovebirds started as teammates on the Washington Spirits before beginning to date back in 2019. Then, after the Tokyo Olympics, Logarzo asked Berryhill to marry her, and the couple posted engagement photos on Instagram while in Paris together.
In 2017, retired Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi married three-time WNBA champion Penny Taylor, who also played for the Mercury for most of her professional basketball career. For the Arizona-based ceremony, which was covered by People, Taylor wore a low-cut strapless gown while Taurasi dressed in a simple suit and sneakers. The couple shares two children named Leo and Isla.
Softball stars Amanda Chidester, who took home a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and Anissa Urtez got married in June 2024 in Salt Lake City while both were wearing stunning white wedding gowns.
Chelsea's Sam Kerr (left) poses with girlfriend Gotham FC's Kristie Mewis after victory in the Vitality Women's FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, London on May 15, 2022.
John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images
The queer soccer fam just got a little bigger as star players Kristie Mewis and Sam Kerr just announced the birth of their baby!
Last November, Mewis, a U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team midfielder, and Kerr, Chelsea striker and Australian national team captain, told the world they were expecting a baby in 2025. Now, the baby has finally arrived, and the happy couple announced the news on social media.
The two love birds posted an adorable selfie on Instagram with the caption, “Our little man is here,” showing off the new addition to their family: baby boy Jagger Mewis-Kerr.
Fellow soccer players Mary Fowler, Caitlin Foord and Katie McCabe all took to the comments to congratulate the pair.
To announce they were pregnant last year, Mewis and Kerr posted a series of photos on Instagram that included them holding an ultrasound and Kerr pointing to Mewis’ belly. "Mewis-Kerr baby coming 2025!" Kerr wrote on Instagram at the time.
Now, Kerr and Mewis are making waves with the announcement of their bundle of joy, but earlier this year their names were splashed across the headlines when Kerr was accused of “causing racially aggravated harassment” to a police officer in England after allegedly calling him “stupid and white.” Mewis testified , telling the court that her fiancé was “speaking her truth in how she was feeling,” and Kerr was found not guilty, New York Times reported.
