Brittney and Cherelle Griner’s beautiful love story.

In this week’s DIVA Dating Digest, we see how this power couple fell in love 

Brittney Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medallist with the US women’s national basketball team and a six-time WNBA All-Star. It’s safe to say that she is basketball royalty. This year she was even added to Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world after her 10-month detainment in Moscow in 2022.

Beside her throughout her painful imprisonment was her wife Cherelle, who fought to see Brittney home relentlessly. There was not a dry eye in sight when the pair were finally reunited.

In this week’s DIVA Dating Digest, we take a look at how this couple met and fell in love.

2009-2013: Brittney and Cherelle meet at Baylor University in Texas

The pair met when they were both students at Baylor University in Texas – the place where Brittney began to make herself a household name in basketball. For their anniversary in June 2020, Brittney posted a smiling selfie with a heartfelt caption detailing their meeting story.

“I will never forget the day I met you at Baylor in the sub area! You tapped me on my shoulder and told me I took your milkshake (still up for debate lol) and I was immediately blown away at your beauty!” Brittney wrote. “You had no idea but I knew you were the one for me baby.”

“You have opened my eyes to see me for who I truly am! With that being said I love you and I got you baby!” she continued.

August 2018: The couple get en-gay-ed 

In a since-deleted Instagram photo, Brittney Griner announced her engagement to Cherelle. “I will never forget the first time I said I love you and I will never forget when you said YES!” the basketball star wrote lovingly.

“My best friend, my lover, my partner in life. I love you. I’m so lucky to have you in my life forever,” she continued. “You never gave up on me even when I gave up on myself. You have pulled me from the ashes and held me up when I couldn’t stand. You really are my backbone and my spirit that keeps me going. I love you, baby.”

June 2019: The pair tie the knot 

While we don’t know too much about this pair’s wedding itself, we do know that it happened in June 2019 due to subsequent relationship milestone posts that the couple have shared.

February 2022: Brittney Griner gets detained in Moscow 

In February 2022, Brittney was detained at Moscow airport on drug-related charges. Customs reported that they had found oil derived from cannabis in her luggage. This led to her arrest and detainment as marijuana is illegal in Russia.

March 2022: Cherelle speaks out about Brittney’s detainment

When the story broke in the US that Brittney was detained, floods of fans and followers came to Cherelle’s aid to give her messages of hope. She spoke out for the first time about her wife’s detainment in a post in March saying: “Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me regarding my wife’s safe return from Russia. Your prayers and support are greatly appreciated.”

“I love my wife wholeheartedly, so this message comes during one of the weakest moments of my life,” she continued. “I understand that many of you have grown to love BG over the years and have concerns and want details. Please honor our privacy as we continue to work on getting my wife home safely.”

December 2022: Brittney is released from prison

On 8 December 2022, Brittney finally returned home after being released from Russian custody in a one-for-one prisoner swap. In a press conference at the White House, President Biden expressed his relief that Brittney was coming back home. Cherelle was also present at the press conference and gave a heartfelt statement.

“So over the last nine months, you all have been so privy to one of the darkest moments of my life, and so today I am just standing here overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion I have right now is just sincere gratitude for President Biden and his entire administration,” she said.

May 1, 2023: Cherelle and Brittney attend the Met Gala

After a painful 2022, it was lovely to see this couple smiling at the Met Gala looking beautiful together.

DIVA magazine celebrates 29 years in print in 2023. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.