Boris Kodjoe Says Your Partner Should Make You 'A Better Human'

I'm not a snack. I'm a whole garden in these streets—one that deserves to be showered with water, sunlight, and love.

And when it comes to relationships, if you don't have the potential to help me grow as a person, it's sorry (not sorry) to that man. On a recent episode of T.I.'s podcast, Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker echoed this same sentiment.

Earlier this week, the deliciously sexy couple, who have been married for 15 years, joined T.I. and his wife Tiny to talk love, marriage, and keeping what's personal, private. It was a whole word.

The rapper asked Boris and Nicole the question we've all had for years: How does the couple seem "so damn perfect" all the time? Here's what Boris had to say:

"I always say, life's not easy but it's simple. And what I mean—I tell my kids that all the time—if you make some right choices, life can be very simple. There might be challenges [and] adversity that might come up that you're not in control of, which is the not-easy part."

He explained that although marriage is no walk in the park, it can be one helluva journey when you choose the right partner. Along with mutual respect, Boris said grace has been the key to keeping their marriage strong after more than a decade. He continued:

"But if you have a solid constitution of values and principles, you can get over those challenges. And in a relationship, I think it's the same thing...when you are willing to give the other person the space to mess up, 'cause we all human."

It's "'til death do us part," not "'til he f*ck up and I get mad," and Boris and Nicole take their vows seriously. For them, the secret to a successful romance is having a genuine desire to be "a better human":

"You have to be willing to give your partner a chance to f*ck up royally and not run for the hills, but to stick it out, grow through the process with your partner as well as individually, and then you come out of the other end a better human."

When asked how they keep their dirt under wraps, both agreed that their missteps have only created an environment to grow. The tenured couple had this message about keeping their problems in-house:

"I don't think there's a lot of major dirt, but we're also private and we also respect each other enough that I would never want to embarrass myself or her or the kids or anybody."

To hear the full podcast, click here!

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