Lena Waithe Reveals That She Quietly Married Her Longtime Girlfriend, Alana Mayo

Lena Waithe recently shared with John Legend that she is officially a married woman after secretly tying the knot with her longtime love, Alana Mayo.

The actress and writer revealed her news during her appearance on The Ellen Show. According to Essence magazine, Waithe revealed to guest host Legend that she was officially off the market. During the interview, Waithe showed off her wedding band to the audience and explained how the surprise nuptials took place. The Chi creator shared that Mayo spontaneously suggested that the couple get married in San Francisco earlier this year.

“We snuck and did it, you know. We didn’t really make any announcements or a big, you know,” Waithe, 35, told Legend as a photo of the newlyweds flashed on the screen. “That’s my wife. She’s beautiful.”

While Waithe shared how amazing her wife is, she took her opportunity on Ellen to emphasize how significant it was for her and her bride to have the ability to get married. She also said that the couple tied the knot outside of the courthouse where Harvey Milk was assassinated in 1978. Milk was the first openly gay elected official in the California city at the time. San Francisco was also one of the first cities to legalize gay marriage back in 2004. Waithe shared how the setting for the couple’s vows only made her even more proud to share the moment with Mayo.

“She was just driving and she saw the courthouse and she said, ‘We should get married there.’ And I said, ‘Cool, I’m down,” Waithe shared, revealing that they got married in front of Milk’s bust. “It was a humbling day, you know, to marry someone so amazing, but also to really appreciate all the work that so many people have put in for us to be able to do that,” she explained, adding that, “Everybody should be able to do that.”

Waithe and Mayo began dating in 2014. The couple was together for three years before getting engaged in Tokyo on Thanksgiving Day 2017. Instead of an engagement ring, Waithe opted to wear engagement sneakers, which Mayo gifted to her while they were in Tokyo. While the couple is seemingly private, Waithe often gushes about her wife on social media. Mayo has also been seen with Waithe on the red carpet of various awards shows.

Waithe’s newfound marital bliss comes weeks before she premieres her new movie. In addition to her television shows like The Chi and upcoming projects, the writer is set to premiere her first feature film, Queen and Slim, starring Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith.