On the Wednesday, May 10 edition of “Tamron Hall,” multi-Grammy Award-winning artist Kirk Franklin and his wife of 27 years, Tammy, joined the TamFam to discuss their new competition dating show, “The One.” During the lively conversation, Kirk opened up about his personal journey with adoption, falling in love with Tammy and the bond he has with Tammy’s daughter Carrington, who he met when she was five years old and later legally adopted. See the video below…
Tammy Franklin on first meeting her now-husband Kirk at the age of 18:
“I had no idea [what I was getting into]. I just knew he was cute – he had on Cross Colours. He was 18 years old, he had vision, he had a plan and he was honest. I had on a swimsuit, he was fully clothed in Cross Colours. And I was like ‘Where are you coming from?’ He was like, ‘Well, you know, I’m a minister of music – I just came from choir rehearsal.’” She continued, “But this was a water amusement park, so everyone else had on swimsuits. He had on Cross Colours. So I’m like this is a little odd.”
Kirk Franklin on his upbringing and his journey to adoption:
“I didn’t grow up in a family where I got a chance to see things modeled. You know, I was, you know, abandoned by my mother and father, and the lady that adopted me was an older lady. She was 64.” He continued, “Now for me, Gertrude [his adoptive mother] was the one.”
Kirk on the love he has for Tammy’s daughter Carrington:
“I really married Tammy for her daughter. I fell in love with her daughter.”
Kirk on why finding a partner should not “complete” someone, but rather “complement” someone:
“There’s so much that I’ve just really started to kind of contemplate while doing this show [‘The One’], I also think though that it’s very dangerous to me, as a father of daughters – because, you know, when you start getting daughters it just changes your perspective – I do think that this idea of marriage being the sum total of who a person’s identity is, it’s a very dangerous concept that you’re not complete until you find this person.”
(ABC/Jeff Neira)
