Grammy-winning singer and actress Fantasia Barrino received a surprise from her husband Kendall Taylor during her Valentine’s Day concert.
On Saturday (Feb 15), Taylor walked on the Houston, Texas stage to publicly “re-propose” after 11 years of marriage, turning the sold-out show into an unforgettable celebration of love and commitment.
He gave an emotional speech, before getting down on one knee and proposing to Barrino, leaving her in tears.
One carat for every year of marriage
During Taylor’s speech, he expressed his deep love for Barrino admitting that he never gave her the public proposal that “she deserves.”
“Salute. Salute. How you doing everybody? I gotta make something right. If you could just give me a moment. For eleven years, many anniversaries, many birthdays—don’t make me cry, I gotta be quick—and many Valentine’s, I share my angel with you. So, give me some grace and share my wife [back with me]. Just for a minute. Just for a minute,” Taylor said in the mic to the crowd.
Taylor then turns to face Barrino. “Hallelujah. God has been so good in our lives. We fought through so much. We prayed through so much. We fasted through so much. We’re about to walk into a brand new home,” he said. “But, I can’t walk into a home with you. I gotta make something right. And all the beauty that we’ve experienced over the years, we got a blind spot.”
While on stage, Taylor, 45, presented Barrino, 41, with an 11-carat diamond ring — he told her one carat for every year of marriage together.
“In 2014, we sat and we had a conversation, after three weeks of knowing each other. And we said, ‘What if we get married?’ And we did it. […] We did it. […] But the one thing that’s missing in our life, is we talked about it, we did it. But I didn’t properly propose. One thing that I’ve learned as a man is that a good woman desires a public proposal, but a Godly woman, she deserves one.”
“For 11 years, you woke up every morning and you chose me. For 11 years, you’ve been an incredible mother to our children. For 11 years, we fast and we prayed. So, I’mma give you a carat for every year that you stayed by my side.”
From dating to marriage
The couple first met in Juy 2015 in North Carolina. After three weeks, they had a courthouse wedding. Barrino said at the time, “All the things that were on my list, he was.” The list included her partner being a man who loved her, her two children, and God. After their courthouse wedding, the two had another ceremony on a yacht, according to PEOPLE.
Since their marriage, Barrino and Taylor have openly shared their faith-centered approach to marriage and family.
Barrino, who rose to fame after winning season 3 of American Idol, gushed about Taylor after their wedding. “This Man … God made him just for Me and me Just For Him.”
For their fifth-year anniversary, Taylor wrote, “We got married only knowing each other by the Spirit, and while both sporting a pair of broken wings we held hands and jumped off the cliff. You trusted me to lead when no path was visible and I promised you a breathtaking view that I felt you always deserved.”
The couple share one daughter together, Keziah Taylor, born May 2021. Barrino has two children from previous relationships: Dallas Xavier, 3½, and Zion Quari.