Jillian Michaels Opens Up About Wedding to Wife DeShanna in the 'Middle of the Namibia Desert'
Courtesy
Jillian Michaels and her wife DeShanna Marie Minuto said "I do" in July 2022 at one of their favorite places on earth.
"D and I got married last June legally at a little courthouse in south Florida and then went on to Namibia for a private ceremony with the Himba Tribe in Namibia," Michaels, 48, tells PEOPLE exclusively.
"We both love Africa," she explains. "From the minute our feet touch the ground on that continent we feel at peace — and Namibia in particular is a very special place."
courtesy Jillian Michaels
"The people are exceedingly warm," she says. "The wildlife is incredible, from desert-adapted lions and elephants to black rhino and crocs, it's simply magnificent. The landscape is awe-inspiring … the desert literally drops off a cliff into the sea. And the coastline is considered the most dangerous in the world."
courtesy Jillian Michaels
Michaels notes of the semi-nomadic Himba tribe, who are indigenous to northern Namibia: "We have friends who are members of the tribe, and their culture is inherently different than ours. Being gay is not something they have previously been accepting of in their culture, and certain aspects of their culture would be heavily judged in our society."
She continues, "D and I felt that them allowing us into their community, performing our ceremony and teaching us about their way of life was incredibly special. We both feel at a time where there is such little tolerance for differences of opinion that the coming together of two totally different cultures for our union was extremely unique and indicative of who we are as individuals and as a couple."
courtesy Jillian Michaels
RELATED: Jillian Michaels Marries Fiancée DeShanna Marie Minuto in Private African Ceremony
The tribe's chief officiated the wedding, in which roughly 100 members of a Himba village near the Angola border joined the couple "to eat, dance, celebrate and tell stories with us by a roaring fire in the middle of the Namibia desert under the stars," says Michaels.
courtesy Jillian Michaels
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The couple, who began dating in 2018, got engaged in November 2021, when The Fitness App by Jillian Michaels creator popped the question with a seven-carat emerald cut diamond featuring two single-carat, trapezoid diamonds on each side. The stunning ring was crafted by a family friend and specialty jeweler at H&H Jewels in Miami.
"We do plan on celebrating this June of 2023 with friends in Venice Italy," says Michaels, "but the initial wedding and ceremony was something we wanted to keep extremely intimate."
