What you need to know
Devon Franklin and Maria Castillo Franklin are building their lives together at different times.
The newlyweds, who shared their wedding bliss exclusively with people, got married on August 2nd after an eight-month engagement. Speaking to PEOPLE about the upcoming Netflix movie Ruth & Boaz, Franklin revealed that the couple has not yet embarked on their honeymoon.
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“We were both very busy with jobs and projects, and then we moved,” says Franklin, 47. “We didn’t live together before we got married, so we just moved in together and are still getting along.”
The preacher and producer certainly had a busy summer. In addition to wedding planning, Franklin co-stars in Tyler Perry’s latest drama, Divorced Sistas, which premiered on BET+ on June 10th. He’s also in the midst of promoting Ruth & Boaz, which he co-produced with Perry.
When asked if his Christian faith influenced his decision to move in with Castillo-Franklin after the wedding, Franklin says that’s only part of the story.
“I think it probably had something to do with religion, but it also had to do with taking the necessary steps where we were.[Maria]lived with some roommates, but she had never lived alone in her entire life,” he began.
“And in the early days when we started dating, that was something that was really important to her. So she ended up moving out on her own this past year. It made more sense to move after the wedding. So it was both practical and spiritual at the same time.”
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Franklin ended by emphasizing his future with Castillo Franklin, saying, “Marriage is not the goal, it’s the starting line.”
“I understand what this practice is about, especially religiously, but everyone needs to understand what works for them,” Franklin says. “For us, it was actually an amazing benefit because it gave us another dimension to get to know each other and also gave us something to look forward to. So that’s why it worked out the way it did and I’m glad it worked out the way it did.”
The two met in 2023 through Castillo’s then-business partner. After a lovely brunch date, the Franklins have been smitten ever since, having a beautiful proposal in Maui, Hawaii last year, and tying the knot in Los Angeles last month.
“It feels like a dream come true to get to spend the rest of my life with this amazing man,” Castillo-Franklin told PEOPLE after their engagement.
On the film side, Franklin is looking forward to the release of Ruth & Boaz, the first installment of a partnership with Netflix and Perry that focuses on faith-based programming.
The film stars Celaya and Tyler Lepley as the title characters in a modern retelling of a Biblical romance. After a personal tragedy, rising hip-hop star Ruth Mobley (Celaya) leaves the Atlanta music scene for a fresh start in Tennessee, where she takes care of her late boyfriend’s mother, Naomi (Phylicia Rashad). While there, she meets Boaz (Lepley), who ends up surprising her as time passes.
Ruth and Boaz comes to Netflix on September 26th.
