I Never Buy Into Fake Love – Taraji P Henson

For the past two years, there’s been well-founded speculation that Taraji P. Henson was dating former NFL cornerback Kelvin Hayden. She’s now finally publicly confirming the romance.

“I’m not the type to blast my personal business. But, you know, I think that’s important for people to know. I’m happy. I’m very very happy. I just am,” the “Empire” actress said.

Taraji, 47, seems to think that this is the real deal, too.

“I’m happy in my personal life,” she said. “Finally, it happened to me!”

The romance was first reported in December 2015 when the actress and the athlete were photographed holding hands in Miami.

Kelvin, who won a super bowl with the Indianapolis Colts and also played with the Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons, has appeared on Taraji’s Instagram feed over the years, but she never gave a formal confirmation that they were an item. The way she saw it, she didn’t need to.

“It was all over The Shade Room anyway,” she said, referring to the popular Instagram page. Despite the confirmation, she never gave a timeline on when the duo began dating.

In the chat, she also spoke about her award-winning career and surrounding herself with “real love” from a professional standpoint.

“I don’t really put a lot on what I do because, you know, people love you when you’re in the limelight. But what happens when the lights go off?” she said. “So, those people care about me no matter what, and those are the people I keep close to me. So, I never buy into the hype. They love you when you hot, and they love you when you not, you know? So, I never buy into that fake love. I got so much real love around me that I’m not confused.”