AJ Johnson has lived a life! Adrienne “AJ” Johnson has spent the last 35 years entertaining audiences in film and television roles, shaping minds and bodies as a fitness and life coach, and also choreographing. Johnson continues to break barriers and reach milestones. But, as she reaches another milestone, she’s seemingly ready to break down another barrier. AJ Johnson might be prepared to break down the traditional monogamous walls that have gripped her life.
For much of AJ Johnson’s career, she’s chosen to keep her private life private. But there are a few times she’s spoken about her relationships. Take, for instance, her previous relationship with boxing legend Evander Holyfield. AJ Johnson spoke with Vlad TV, where she recalled meeting Evander Holyfield at a party while she attended Spelman College in Atlanta. They both shared a love for dancing, which separately led them to the club that night. At the time, the actress didn’t know he had already been an Olympic superstar. Eventually, they went from “dancing all night” to “exchanging information.”
AJ Johnson recalled the two being supportive of one another’s dreams within the relationship. And although they have long ago split from being a couple, the Babyboy actress revealed they are still the best of friends to this day. According to Johnson, Evander Holyfield “birthed a new level” in her fight to pursue her dreams. Watching the boxing legend’s work ethic helped her to learn “what it truly takes to be great,” and she credits Holyfield for inadvertently jumpstarting her own.
However, although they were so connected and he was such a motivation for her, their relationship wasn’t able to survive. AJ Johnson detailed that besides their respective careers beginning to take off, their relationship suffered a lot of infidelities. Ultimately, Evander Holyfield would produce children with multiple women outside the actress, with one child birthed during their relationship. “That’s not who I am, and that’s not the environment that I was raised in with my mother and father,” said AJ Johnson. The actress shared that she’s a “monogamous spirit most of the time” and that his actions caused her to decide they should remain friends. Interestingly, she notes that she’s met his eleven children and claims they state that she “should’ve been their mama.”
Another one of AJ Johnson’s relationships was with actor Michael Jai White. He revealed in a Vlad TV interview that the pair dated around 1993 and is also the one that inspired her fitness journey. However, their relationship was very short-lived. Michael Jai White also revealed that AJ Johnson said to him that she wasn’t interested in “dating him exclusively.” However, “you’ll feel like it’s exclusive,” the actor recalled her saying. The actor also stated that he had marriage and children on his mind, although he’d already had children. But this didn’t seem to interest her. Instead, the two chose to be friends, which White says they have maintained.
For the most part, AJ Johnson’s previous statements on practicing monogamy seem to have changed over the years. As Michael Jai White mentioned, she may have had polyamory on her mind as early as the 90s. But now, as she approaches her 60th birthday, AJ Johnson states that she’s becoming “more open to less monogamy.”
AJ Johnson appeared on Angela Yee’s Lip Service Podcast. She insists that although she is still “a monogamous woman,” but she’s no longer that much of a “stickler in a monogamous relationship.” However, she maintains a preference for a one-on-one relationship. In addition, the actress has reached a point where she wants to delve into a relationship where both partners are undoubtedly into one another but are open to seeing other people. “I’m kind of over pretending that it’s ‘me and you,’ and it’s not,” said AJ Johnson.
Furthermore, Johnson spoke on men’s perception of polyamorous women, saying they are used to women holding a monogamous role. “If we say it, I think it shifts the whole dynamic from their perspective,” she said. Additionally, she challenged men wanting to see other women. Finally, AJ Johnson details keeping honest conversations about polyamory in relationships. “I say, ‘Well, the question is, are you cool with me and your boy?'” posed AJ Johnson. The co-hosts energetically chimed in, seeming to agree that men are incapable of handling that scenario.
