5 Red Flags We Can't Help Noticing In Chrissy Teigen And John Legend's Relationship

On the surface, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend seem like they have it all. The duo married in 2013 after seven years together, they've welcomed four children, and they're constantly gushing about one another on social media and in interviews. But things maybe aren't always as perfect as they seem, because there are a few red flags in this relationship we can't help but notice.

In 2020, Legend opened up about his history of cheating. "I was younger than everybody in high school and college, and so I just didn't get a lot of girls. When I started to get that attention, I loved it," he explained on "Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard." "I definitely was dishonest and selfish," he added. Legend has never admitted to cheating on Teigen, but his checkered past could be a red flag. "Typically, people cheat due to unresolved emotional issues within themselves or due to inability to communicate and operate with integrity in a relationship," Nicole Moore, celebrity relationship expert and host of the "Love Works" podcast, previously told us of Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively's red flags. "They can often carry those issues into the next relationship." But there are several other eyebrow raising aspects to this relationship in addition to Legend's past lack of honesty.

John Legend admitted in a 2017 The Guardian interview he tried to dump Chrissy Teigen while they were dating, which is quite the red flag. "I was really stressed and busy. I was just like: 'I'd just be happier single right now,'" he said. But when he told Teigen, she responded, "No." Teigen offered a little more insight into the situation that same year on X, formerly known as Twitter. "It wasn't a typical breakup. He was on tour and his voice hurt and he was being a whiny face about everything and so yeah, I was like, 'No,'" she wrote in a since deleted tweet (via CBS News).

Despite Teigen's reluctance, they did breakup. Albeit it not for long. She told Cosmopolitan in 2016 their split only lasted a day, but she was devastated. "I had to go to his shows still because I was still stuck there, and I couldn't go home," she said in a 2020 Instagram video with her now husband, noting they were on tour when he broke her heart. "Then he sang this song and I was in the front row and I was crying because I liked this song a lot and he had just broken up with me," she added. Legend then performed the track "Everybody Knows."

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend haven't been shy about their marriage not being perfect. "We have to communicate with each other, just like every couple does and we fight sometimes," Legend said during a 2020 YouTube livestream alongside the former "Lip Sync Battle" co-host. "...Everybody has troubles and don't think you're alone if you're fighting with your spouse," he added. Teigen then shared they sometimes have tension because she doesn't enjoy talking to her husband about work or scheduling, despite them being important topics. "We just have different communication styles," Legend said, confirming they go to therapy together. Working through issues in therapy isn't a red flag and neither is acknowledging having different ways of communicating. However, if their fights are frequent and their individual needs aren't being addressed properly, that could be detrimental to their marriage.

Psychotherapist Emily Sanders, LMFT, recommended to Self having regular conversations to better understand one another's communication expectations. "It's helpful to regularly check in about how your significant other is doing. Do they feel supported? How can you both grow together?" she said.

Though there's no set timeline for a proposal (each couple and situation is different), John Legend openly admitting he wasn't sure he wanted to marry Chrissy Teigen for two years after they started dating could be a red flag. "I wasn't like, 'This is the woman I'm going to marry' from day one," he told Los Angeles Confidential in 2015. "It was probably a couple of years in when I could already see us being together forever." But that may raise some eyebrows seeing as Teigen and Legend moved quickly early on, even sleeping together the first night they met — and there's nothing wrong with that as long as both people consent. "We were on a music video set all day together and then I went to one of his shows and then, yeah," the model told Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live" in 2018 of that fateful day. 

Teigen has shared she knew long before the two-year mark that Legend was the one for her and made it clear she was dating to marry. In 2016, she posted an Instagram selfie with Legend during an Italian vacation almost a decade after she made a wish to marry the "All Of Me" hitmaker there. "A boat tour guide took us to a little spot on the lake and told us to make a wish. I asked for this to be the man I marry and have children with. I think John asked for the most perfect bite of cacio e pepe," she joked. The trip happened around a year after they met.

Chrissy Teigen has admitted she's struggled with the green-eyed monster when it comes to John Legend's attention from female fans. "When we had first met, and he would pull up a girl for the slow dance [on tour], we would fight about this, like, at the end of the night," she shared on SiriusXM's "Radio Andy" in 2024. "Like, I was so jealous and so unhinged," she admitted. Cohen then jokingly told the model, "With all due [respect], I cannot believe he stayed with you."

Teigen also recalled a dramatic incident on the set of his "Green Light" music video. The model freaked out after she saw her boyfriend speaking to another woman and stormed off set. "I just wasn't well," she said. Teigen had previously addressed how she caused a scene on X in 2017. "I had a jealousy-fueled meltdown ... and made an a**hole out of myself," she wrote in a series of deleted tweets (via Stylist). "They were probably just talking about craft services honestly but in my mind she was like, 'Hey, we should bone' and he was like, 'Haha f**k yeah!'" she explained. Teigen then noted, "I was just a jealous, angry 22 year old I'm better now. BUT DONT TEST ME!" 

Though a little jealousy in a relationship is normal, Dr. Courtney Tracy previously told us it's a red flag if it results in toxic actions like Teigen's. "When [jealousy] leads to constant questioning, distrust, or controlling behavior, there's something far deeper than just a jealousy problem going on," they said. Jealousy can also lead to possessiveness in relationships, which isn't healthy.

Marriage trouble rumors have plagued Chrissy Teigen and John Legend's relationship for years. In 2017, a source told In Touch they'd supposedly turned to counseling to save their romance, noting, "They are fighting nonstop. They're trying very hard to make their marriage work." However, that time, Teigen was quick to shut down the speculation with her signature humor. In a deleted tweet, she wrote (via Glamour), "Feeling rather sad about this news, l consider this couple my power couple." The star added, "Don't believe these stories! We good!!!"

But that's hardly the only time speculation about Teigen and Legend's marriage has been rife. Life & Style claimed in 2018 that Teigen's jealousy problem had reared its head again. "Chrissy was acting almost paranoid and was accusing John of getting too close to other women. They ended up fighting about it all the time. It was a terrible atmosphere in the home," they said. The two didn't split, but, three years later, a source told OK! their relationship was strained again after hurtful messages Teigen sent to Courtney Stodden in 2011 resurfaced. The tweets were a major red flag on Teigen's part and the insider shared of Legend, "He's upset about what's happening to his wife, and he's trying to be there for her, but he's also so disappointed."