Jenna Dewan Tatum isn’t afraid to “Step Up” when it comes to her marriage.
In a cover interview for Redbook’s May issue, the “World of Dance” host got candid about her evolving relationship with husband Channing Tatum.
The pair tied the knot back in 2009, several years after first meeting on the set of their breakout dance film. After more than a decade together, Jenna said she’s begun to recognize differences in how she handles obstacles now versus when she and Channing were younger.
(Redbook)
“You change when you’re together from 25 to 35,” she said, revealing that communication is the biggest challenge she and the “Magic Mike” star face.
“I think maybe in my early 20s, I might have tiptoed around issues or didn’t want to make too many waves,” she recalled. “Now it’s like, ‘This is how I’m feeling.’ You have to be okay with the other person becoming defensive, to let them be emotional and accept that it won’t be okay for a while.”
When it comes to making time for intimacy, that’s one problem Jenna said she and Channing don’t have – at least for now. As parents to 3-year-old daughter Everly, she hinted that could no longer be the case if they decide to expand their family.
“We are not sex schedulers – not yet! Give us a couple more years. Maybe with child No. 2,” Jenna told the mag. “There’s a beauty in being two busy people because we get a lot of time to miss each other. To continue to miss someone after so many years is kind of a blessing in disguise.”
The couple got a chance to reconnect during a Hawaiian vacation in February, but Jenna said she also spices things up at home – with or without Channing in mind.
“I think all women should keep it exciting for themselves. People always ask, ‘Do you do anything to keep it fresh for your man?’ I hate that question. I’m like, ‘No. Why is it for your man? I do things to keep it fresh for myself,” the 36-year-old said. “The lingerie I buy is not for him necessarily. It’s for us and for myself. If you feel sexy, then it’s good for you.”
Jenna’s Redbook cover hits newsstands on April 18.
— Erin Biglow