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This is the pairing that, truly, no one expected.
Karamo Brown is a former star of Netflix’s Queer Eye.
Jussie Smollett is an actor who is arguably better known for a legal controversy than he was for his work on Empire.
Now, Brown is gushing over their newly revealed relationship, predicting that they may one day marry.


That’s a fun thing to reveal at the end of Pride
Tuesday, June 30, was the final day of Pride Month 2026. (This year, particularly, the “July is Wrath Month” joke feels less like a joke.)
As what many felt was some sort of practical joke, Karamo Brown sat down on Carlos King’s Reality With The King podcast to share some surprising news.
He says that he has found the love of his life in Jussie Smollett.
“I do believe this is going to be my husband,” Brown shared.
He affirmed: “I believe this is going to be my forever person.”
Mere hours earlier, reports had dished that Brown and Smollett were dating.
The clues, it seem, came from the couple having dined with Karamo Brown’s mother for lunch in Los Angeles.
After the fact, they ran errands and even went on a reportedly romantic hike through Runyon Canyon together.
Could two people do these things without dating? Of course.
But Brown’s interview makes it pretty clear that, no, they’re not just good friends hanging out.


How long have they been dating?
Smollett and his former fiance, Jabari Redd, were together for almost three years.
However, they recently called off their engagement and broke up altogether.
Meanwhile, Brown’s last relationship was with photographer Carlos Medel.
Those two got together back in 2021, only to break up over a year ago — in February 2025.
It sounds like the timing (and personalities, and more) were just right for them to find each other.
Both Brown and Smollett have been at the center of controversy, for wildly different reasons.
Brown has made some unorthodox choices, from expressing a willingness to meet with Mike Pence to abruptly skipping a Queer Eye interview, blindsiding his former co-stars in the process.
Smollett, more famously, reported in January 2019 that he had been the victim of a hate crime.
Police would go on to claim that their investigation showed that he was lying. A years-long legal battle ensued, with some considering him too controversial.
Regardless, perhaps they both really have found their forever person. Good for them!