Congratulations are in order. Babyface has wed longtime girlfriend Nikki Patenburg. The two wed Saturday afternoon in Southern California.
The Grammy-winning musician has been dating Pantenburg, his former back-up dancer, since 2007. The couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Peyton, in September 2008.
This will be Babyface’s second marriage. He was previously married to businesswoman Tracey Edmonds for 13 years until their divorce in 2005. The exes share two sons, Brandon and Dylan.
Babyface says he has learned many things from his past relationships that helps him now?
“The main thing is being honest with yourself and being honest with your feelings,” he explained to Braxton during their BET interview. “When we’re not honest with ourselves we just accept situations, don’t talk about them, and as you said, ignore the elephant in the room. You better recognize there is an elephant in the room and deal with it, because a lot of times the elephant in the room is the one that you put in there, so you have to deal with it.”
During the hour long chat, the producer revealed how he and Tracey (who remain great friends) tried to keep their marriage intact because of “image” and he also shared thoughts about her relationships with Eddie Murphy and Deion Sanders.
He reflects on his first wife by saying:
We wanted it to look like that. We felt responsible…the reality is that there was a connection that wasn’t really there. We loved each other but we weren’t really IN love with each other….It was more the idea of it falling apart…and me holding onto the image of what I thought we were…I don’t feel like we were supposed to be together forever…I’m okay with it because I think she’s okay….
Congratulations to the lovely couple.
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