Looking back at Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum's love affair in their own words
Twitter erupted in shock late Monday over the news that Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum were splitting after nearly nine years of marriage.
For good reason: the couple made no secret of their love for each other, making declarations and displays of their affection in public.
Even their joint statement announcing their separation stressed their love for each other.
"We have lovingly chosen to separate as a couple," the couple, who are parents to a nearly 5-year-old daughter, Everly, announced on Twitter. "We fell deeply in love so many years ago and have had a magical journey together. Absolutely nothing has changed about how much we love one another, but love is a beautiful adventure that is taking us on different paths for now."
Since the pair, both 37, began dating shortly after they met on the set of their 2006 movie "Step Up," they have shared their love story with fans, which may be why fans seem so distraught now.
Jenna, known for her recurring roles in TV series "Supergirl" and "Witches of East End," recently declared that no relationship is perfect, not even theirs -- perhaps hinting at the impending split.
Here's a look back at their love affair in their own words:
Meeting on the set
Jenna, a former model and dancer, met Channing, a model and ex-stripper, when both were cast in the dance drama "Step Up" playing a high school dancer and a guy doing community service at her school.
Both had just gotten out of relationships and weren't trying to date anyone new, but they couldn't deny the chemistry between them either.
Channing told Elle in 2013, "I was trying to run from what I knew Jenna was -- not someone I was just going to date. But one of my buddies was like, 'What are you doing, man? She's dope.'"
Jenna told Ellen DeGeneres last year that she had decided she wanted a relationship with him but she also understood if he needed to stay single for a while.
"So, three days go by and he had gone out with all the dancers on 'Step Up' and had this crazy wild tequila night and he said he had the chance to be free and he couldn't stop thinking about me," she told DeGeneres. "So he comes down to my hotel room at 2 in the morning and he's banging on the door... and he's in a sombrero, he's naked -- no, sorry, he has underwear -- underwear, sombrero and Ugg boots and he's like, 'Let's do this.'"
Earlier this year, Jenna posted her audition tape with Channing, and you can see the initial sparks flying.
Marrying in 2009
The couple tied the knot in Malibu, California on July 11, 2009.
"I'm as happy as I possibly can be on the planet right now," Channing told People shortly after the wedding.
"We've been together, and nothing's really changed," he added. "It's pretty much the same as I've felt every day since I met her -- and that's just about perfect."
Eight years later, the couple still had plenty of heat between them.
Jenna revealed to the January 2017 Cosmopolitan, "We definitely have a very happy and healthy [sex life], adding that she had always been a very sexual person.
"Something about being a dancer connects you to your physical body. It’s primal, earthy, sexual energy by nature. You feel your body in a certain way," she said, adding, "Channing is very much the same way. He’s very in tune with that."
Having a baby in 2013
In 2013, the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter they named Everly.
Channing professed on social media that his love for his wife had grown even deeper.
Lip-sync lap dance
In 2016 the pair proved that they are still the hottest dance couple when Jenna gave her husband a lap dance on the show "Lip Sync Battle."
Imitating her husband's "Magic Mike" character, Jenna performed a sexy strip-tease in a white T-shirt and red baseball cap, while Channing seemed barely able to contain his shock.
Birthday love
For Jenna's most recent birthday this past December, Channing praised her strength.
"This creature is one more year beautiful. The transformation she invoked this year has been something they only write about in books of fairytale and magic. Your strength and grace ever evolving," he wrote.
Nothing's perfect
Just this past February in an interview with Health, Jenna lifted the curtain on her seemingly "perfect" life.
"When people say you guys have such a perfect life, I want to scream and tell them no one’s perfect," she said about her marriage to Channing. "I think there are such things as great fits. It is a great fit as long as you are growing together, and I think up until this point we’ve really grown together. Even if one starts to grow, the other catches up and vice versa."
She went on to say, "But I think a couple needs to be conscious and to want to do the work and be willing to look at the parts of you that need work. Both of us have been pretty aware and willing to do that. We’ve always had the same values. But we’re not perfect! Are you kidding? We fight like other couples, we disagree about things, we have days where we don’t really like each other."
Separating
In their surprise announcement Monday, the couple said that there were no "salacious events" at the root of their decision, "just two best-friends realizing it’s time to take some space and help each other live the most joyous, fulfilled lives as possible."
The statement continued, "We are still a family and will always be loving dedicated parents to Everly."
