- 19/06/2025
IN April 2023, 18-year-old Nichelle was finishing her senior year of high school when she found herself searching for a deeper connection. That search led her to a prison pen pal website. After entering her preferences, she came across Tez, and something about him stood out. Although hesitant at first, Nichelle decided to send him a message, including a few photos of herself. Tez replied the very next day. From their very first phone call, their connection felt undeniable. Just one week after meeting, the couple declared their love for each other. Within a month, they were already talking about marriage. At just 19 years old Nichelle was proposed to by her incarcerated boyfriend. She explained how it happened, "He proposed to me over the phone and had me open up my ring. It was picked out in the beginning of our relationship. He had me send him five different rings that I'd like and he picked it. That made me feel like the only girl in the world, I was so happy." Last year the pair married over the phone, on a three-way call with an officiant. Nichelle has opened up about her experience of being a young bride, married to a man behind bars, but feels that her content is an honest portrayal. She said, "my specific relationship is very healthy and I always keep it real on my platform, unsugar-coated." Despite this transparency, she still receives a lot of hate online. "A lot of people on my TikTok account will comment things like I'm dumb, I'm desperate, I'm just looking for attention or looking for love in all the wrong places." Online comments include, "self-respect and love out of the window", "you are worth so much more than this", and "I know your parents are tired of your mess. Seek help." Nichelle says her family still struggles to understand the relationship and were in denial about the pair getting married while her fiance was still locked up. In this episode of Love Don't Judge Nichelle has a showdown with her parents, with her mom questioning why she's with a "felon".
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00:00I'm 20 years old, and I married my boyfriend in prison over the phone.
00:03Will you take a sale to be your lawful wife?
00:07People thought that I was delusional or crazy for contacting a man in prison.
00:13My friends are unsupportive.
00:15I know your parents are tired of your mess.
00:18Seek help.
00:19So what concerns did y'all initially have when y'all first found out about my relationship?
00:24He's a felon.
00:30Usually when I first wake up, I'm waking up to my husband calling me, and I'll speak
00:36to him, and then after the second phone call, I'll start my day.
00:39I'm 20 years old, and I'm married to my prison boyfriend.
00:43Ted and I met through a pen pal website.
00:45We were attracted to one another after the first phone call, so probably about a week
00:50into us talking.
00:52We were in an official couple that very same day.
00:55I'd say I was a little apprehensive that he was in jail, but I wanted to give him a fair
00:59chance.
01:00I try and visit every weekend.
01:02Me and my husband are six hours away.
01:04That's a commitment.
01:05Mm-hmm.
01:06I speak to Tez about four times per day, four to six.
01:10Hi, babe.
01:11Good morning.
01:13My day is going good.
01:14I'm about to shoot a few TikToks today.
01:16Our TikTok is blowing up so much.
01:18How's your day going?
01:19Okay, I love you more.
01:22I started sharing my story on TikTok and Instagram because my husband decided that we should start
01:28growing our platform before he comes home.
01:30When I started my relationship, a lot of people thought that I was delusional or crazy for
01:35contacting a man in prison, but I didn't care what anyone else thought.
01:39Do you think you could be promoting an unhealthy relationship to other young women?
01:44My specific relationship is very healthy.
01:49I always keep it real on my platform, unsugar-coated.
01:52So a lot of people on my TikTok account will comment things like,
01:55I'm dumb, I'm desperate, I'm just looking for attention or looking for love in all the
02:00wrong places.
02:01Let's see what some people have to say in the comments.
02:04Someone said, this is sad.
02:06Forget him.
02:07Free you.
02:08Who would have thought the bar could go lower?
02:10Self-respect and love out of the window.
02:12You are worth so much more than this.
02:15I know your parents are tired of your mess.
02:18Seek help.
02:18You're obsessed.
02:19He's getting that money from you, that's why.
02:22You're so young and beautiful, please don't do this to yourself.
02:25This is so sad.
02:26Ugh, haters.
02:28I honestly don't respond to the judgment anymore.
02:31I stopped responding to hate comments.
02:33I just let them sit there because they can only argue with themselves.
02:36For the most part, my friends are unsupportive.
02:39My parents are coming over today to discuss how they really feel about Tez and I's relationship.
02:44I've never asked them how they really felt about us getting married before.
02:47So I'm a little nervous.
02:49My mom doesn't really support it much, but my father, he's very supportive.
02:54He just didn't want me getting married prior to him coming home.
02:58So what concerns did y'all initially have when y'all first found out about my relationship?
03:03He's a felon.
03:04It's just the dreams that I have for you, you know, walking down the aisle, you know, things like that.
03:12I just don't want you to get robbed from so much of ideal woman things that we want in a marriage.
03:19Of course, it's never too late for that.
03:22We definitely want to have something sentimental once he's home.
03:26My main concern was I didn't want him to use you.
03:29I didn't want you for being used for conjugal visits, for, you know, anything, drugs, stuff, whatever.
03:35I didn't want you being used.
03:37But when I realized that they don't do conjugal visits out here, I felt like maybe that was more appropriate.
03:43How'd that even come about?
03:44I told you before, I was scrolling on a pen pal website.
03:48You mind the first person you spoke to on there?
03:50Oh yeah, the first person I spoke to, yeah.
03:52And that makes it a little more skeptical because the first person is just on the website, the first person, it's hard to just be it.
04:00That's not true.
04:01My intentions wasn't necessarily to get into no full-blown relationship.
04:05I see, I have the receipts.
04:07I told that man, I said, let's take it slow and be friends.
04:10It just didn't go like that.
04:11I always said that if and when or if things mess up, you know, I'm still here for you.
04:18I'll try not to even say no told you so's to.
04:20You play too much.
04:23Just know when to get out, if need be, definitely.
04:27Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
04:30Remember what mama taught you.
04:31Have high hopes, but also know if this is sounding like the gift of the gab.
04:36Of course, you raised me smart.
04:38I know what I'm getting myself into, but also it's no different than a long-distance relationship, honestly.
04:44It's no different.
04:45He's just away right now.
04:46He will be coming home.
04:47When we first met, he had, like, roughly four or five years left, but he has two left now.
04:55Those years flew by.
04:57It is hard, for sure.
04:59But at the end of the day, especially as of right now, it's literally almost nothing he can really do to hurt her right now.
05:05Not true.
05:06If she's married, that means her feelings are involved.
05:10She's all the way invested.
05:11So he's in there, so he can't really do nothing crazy or nothing knuckleheadish until he get home.
05:17That's why we want to make sure he's the same way we can get home.
05:19So how did y'all feel when I told y'all I was engaged?
05:22I thought you was lying.
05:23I thought it was a joke.
05:25I thought it was a prank, but it's not.
05:28It's not.
05:29I mean, I don't know what world you were living in.
05:31You thought it was a prank until the day of the wedding.
05:34You still didn't believe it.
05:37I'm married, so...
05:39I mean, as long as you're happy.
05:41You happy?
05:42Of course.
05:43That's what matters.
05:44So you just got to be strong through all the hate.
05:47Definitely trust in our parenting skills that we know that we provided for you.
05:51So did y'all think I would ever be married to a man in prison?
05:55Definitely not.
05:56Absolutely not.
05:57At all.
05:58Like, no.
06:00Not my baby, but...
06:02Whew!
06:03You gonna pull one over on us, right?
06:06If you like it, I love it.
06:09He proposed to me over the phone, and he had me open up my ring as he was proposing.
06:15He sent it to me through the mail.
06:17This is my wedding ring.
06:19It was picked out by my husband.
06:21In the beginning of our relationship, he had me send him five different rings that I'd like, and he picked it.
06:26So the officiant had called me on three-way with my husband's counselor.
06:30My husband was in his counselor's office, and then she pronounced his husband and wife.
06:34Will you take Michelle to be your lawful wife?
06:38And Michelle, will you take Sean to be your lawful husband?
06:42I do.
06:42You are now legally husband and wife.
06:45Congratulations.
06:46That made me feel like the only girl in the world.
06:48I was so happy.
06:50Let me read you a couple messages.
06:51This one is my favorite.
06:53He says,
06:53Hey baby, I ran out of paper, so I'm writing you on the back of my homework.
06:58I'm going to tell my teacher and my wife chewed it up.
07:01Will you be my valentine?
07:02I understand it's the day of love, but I love you every day.
07:06I love this picture of him.
07:11I love you.
07:12So do you feel like you've given up opportunities in your life to be with him?
07:17Of course not, because I still go out and do stuff.
07:20I don't feel like my life is on hold.
07:21I still get up and do things every day.
07:24I mean, as long as you have healthy routines, that's what I'm worried about, you know.
07:28Depression and sadness because he's not here all the time, you know, and I just want to
07:32make sure that you're managing yourself well.
07:34Honestly, being with him has taught me a lot more than you guys might realize.
07:39Patience.
07:40It's nothing really to mope around about.
07:41He's coming home.
07:43That's what keeps me going on the days that I feel like I can't go no more.
07:46So why do you think we work well together as a couple?
07:49I can't really answer that because I haven't seen y'all work well as a couple yet.
07:54When he come home, then I could answer that type of question, you know.
07:57Understandable.
07:58I think y'all work well because you're young.
08:01I mean, ambitious.
08:02You both are geared towards the same type of goals.
08:07So off to a good start.
08:10What are your plans when he gets out of prison?
08:12Well, you know, he's definitely going to come and live with me, of course.
08:15I'm his wife.
08:16But, you know, he's coming home.
08:18He's going to definitely get a job.
08:19He's definitely going to get a job.
08:21But, you know, we spoke about him working on his rap career and doing this content.
08:25Does he have a rap name?
08:30See y'all in the morning.
08:31See you later.
08:32Love you.
08:32One call away, baby.
08:35Love you.
08:37We have asked the audience to send in some questions.
08:40Could you answer them, please?
08:42Yes.
08:43Are you sure you're the only one keeping him happy slash entertained from the outside?
08:47I feel like I am the only one only because my husband is so honest with me about everything.
08:52Why do these women always think they're going to get out and focus all their attention on you still?
09:05I believe that my husband will focus his attention on me because it's not the fact that he's an inmate.
09:10It's how he was brought up and how he was raised.
09:11It's how he was brought up and how he was raised.
09:13Every inmate is not the same.
09:14The thing I love most about Tez is how much he cares about me.
09:19He checks on my mental health every single day.
09:21If you turn me into a better person, I promise you that I will protect you and love you to the end of my day.
09:29When people judge my relationship, I honestly just tell them that if they were in my shoes, they would understand.
09:35I hope that our future together holds success and wealth.
09:39We've envisioned ourselves in a big house with a huge gate, a Rolls Royce in the driveway, and eight children.
09:59We've seen inheritanceations in the freeway.
10:06I want to see my mother with children.
10:09In real life, I've just been near one word.
10:13Let's take a moment wherever I had the life seen and 우stоров go on to what kids haven't been here pick me up or Golds Royce in the driveway at first.
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