People:Michelle Williams Is Engaged! How the Destiny’s Child Star Found Love with Pastor Chad Johnson
This “Independent Woman” is off the market: Michelle Williams is engaged to pastor Chad Johnson!
After a year together, Johnson recently proposed to the Destiny’s Child singer — and the pair can’t wait to walk down the aisle. Nearly one month into their secret engagement, the couple opened up to PEOPLE exclusively about their love story.
“We could not contain this any longer!” Williams says of finally sharing the happy news.
The Pastor and the Pop Star
Williams met her husband-to-be in March of 2017, when she attended a spiritual retreat in Arizona run by Johnson, a pastor and life coach who has also worked as a chaplain for pro sports teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers and L.A. Dodgers.
“I was in a horrible, dark place,” says Williams, 37, who had recently ended a relationship and opened up about a cheating ex on The Real. “I just needed to go somewhere where I could get a message of hope and restoration, rejuvenation — get connected to God.”
Johnson, 40, could relate.
“When we met, both of us were in very similar places on a personal level,” says Johnson, who at the time had all but given up dating. “Michelle was coming off the heels of a really bad relationship, and I was just in a place of despair as well.”
Though Williams and Johnson hit it off immediately, both remained focused on the purpose of the Elevate International retreat. “I mean, he was cute,” the singer admits, “but I did not go to flirt with the pastor!” When they parted ways, they kept in touch, and a friend of Johnson encouraged him to pursue Williams.
“I tried to roll in with some mac daddy game — and I tried to flirt a little bit and said something like, ‘How about you and I connect sometime?’ And right away, she texted right back with one word and six question marks behind it: ‘Connect??????’” recalls Johnson. “I thought she had dissed me. So I was embarrassed, and I didn’t reach back out to her because I thought I’d ruined the friendship.”
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