We met in 2016 at UNC Pembroke in a broadcasting class and quickly became best friends. One of our first assignments was a mock on-camera interview scheduled the week of Valentine’s Day—with our classmates as the audience. Before filming began, Jerry said, “I’m an open book. Ask me anything—don’t hold back.”

That interview ended up being more than just a grade. We realized we had more in common than we could’ve ever imagined. We joked like childhood friends, talked like we’d known each other forever, and neither of us wanted the conversation to end. Looking back, our classmates weren’t just watching a class project—they were witnessing the pilot episode of our love story.

Everyone else seemed to notice the chemistry before we did. We thought our daily campus hangouts, long late-night walks, and hours of non-stop conversation were just signs of a great friendship. We were blind to the fact that we were replaying the same interview over and over again—except this time, we weren’t reading from a script.

We bonded over our love for storytelling, completely unaware that we were in the middle of writing our own.

For years, we stayed “just friends,” resisting what felt too good, too easy, and too real. But eventually, Jerry asked Alexis to take a chance—and it turned out to be the best decision we ever made. We officially started dating on March 26, 2018, got engaged in 2024, and now we’re getting married on our anniversary.

The love was always there. It just needed time to make it to air.