Will Smith’s life has been an open book in many ways, with his career spanning decades and his personal life often making headlines. One aspect of his personal life that has been a topic of discussion is his relationship with Jada Pinkett Smith.
They’ve been married for over 25 years. They share two kids, Jaden and Willow Smith, as well as Smith’s oldest son, Trey, from his first marriage. But their love story didn’t start out the way you might think. During Red Table Talk, the actor sat down with the three cohosts — Jada Pinkett Smith, his daughter Willow Smith, and his mother-in-law, Adrienne Norris Banfield and shared how he first met Jada Pinkett Smith.
The First Meeting of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are one of the most iconic couples in Hollywood. The relationship between them has been a topic of fascination for many.
In 1991, Will Smith went to meet Jada Pinkett Smith, who was starring in the sitcom A Different World. Smith had seen her on the show and was instantly smitten. He asked a mutual friend to introduce them, but when he got to the set, he met Sheree Zampino instead, whom he proceeded to date and marry.
Smith said during the Red Table talk:
“I went to Different World to meet Jada and met Sheree and ended up marrying Sheree and having Trey with Sheree,” Will Smith admitted.
“I didn’t meet Jada that day … we had all these near misses.”
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith had several “near-misses,” but when they finally met and talked during a gathering at an L.A., Smith realized that he had felt that spot-on “connection” with her from the moment he saw her.
Will Smith Broke Down in Tears after Meeting Jada Pinkett Smith
During the show, Will Smith kept on saying how he felt an initial spark from the very moment he saw Jada Pinkett Smith. He continued:
“Every time we saw each other, it was always a beautiful energy. We sat down at the Baked Potato, and we talked. There was a really unique, beautiful power. We had that moment, and we connected, but I was married, and that was it.”
But at that time, Will Smith was married to Zampino and he was not someone who believed in divorce. It led him to break down in tears in a restaurant bathroom while at dinner with Zampino.
“I had a realization I wasn’t with the person I was supposed to be with,” Will Smith said on the Red Table Talk.
“I went into the bathroom at The Palm, and I broke down in tears. I was sitting in a stall in the restaurant and was crying uncontrollably and laughing. I knew that was the woman I was supposed to be with, but I was never getting divorced.”
A few years later, after Smith and Zampino divorced, he finally got a chance to meet Jada again. They started dating and got married in 1997 and have been together ever since.
Source: Red Table Talk
