Back in 2012, when news dropped that Michael Ealy ran off and got hitched, you could almost hear millions of hearts around the world break in an instant. Four years later, he is a doting father and just welcomed his second child with wife Khatira Rafiqzada.

During a recent interview with Steve Harvey, the 43-year old DC native revealed that he discovered a whole new love after his daughter was born:

I just discovered a whole new love and I've never ever felt this way before. I was wondering if I could love another child as much as I love my son, and what I realized within hours of my daughter being born was that, not only do I love her just as much, if not more, it's a protective love. Within two hours, I understood your emotions at your daughter's wedding. I'm scared of the day.

Later in the interview, Michael reminded the audience that he played some dangerous characters as a warning to guys who will want to court his daughter when she's old enough to date.

Since Michael Ealy prides himself on keeping his personal life private, this little insight into his life and how he's navigating fatherhood was refreshing.  A few years ago, in a rare moment for Rolling Out Magazine, he spoke on his marriage for the first time and revealed that although he didn't marry what he would consider "his type," jumping the broom was a well thought-out mature decision after four years in a relationship. For Michael, he realized that it wasn't about trying to live up to the romance in the movies.

He found a woman he wanted to spend his life with and wifed her up.

On why he decided to get married

Well, you know me, and you know that I am an extremely private person. But what I can say is that I’m not a young cat anymore. I’ve gone through my share of relationships [...]. I can relate to Danny in [About Last Night], because I was him. So when I watched the film I was so happy that I had matured beyond that point in my life.

Don’t get me wrong. Marriage opens up an entirely different can of worms as it pertains to your evolution as a man. I’ve found that, for me, the timing of it was right … And that’s a personal decision that was not made in haste, because we were together for four years. But when you find someone - and that’s something that is very hard to do - but when you find someone that you actually want to spend the rest of your life with, you have to go for it. I was just very lucky that the stars lined up for me.

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Michael Ealy and 4-year-old son Elijah

 

On his advice to men who are apprehensive about taking the next step

While I don’t consider myself a person that should write a book, or give advice on relationships, what I will share is my personal perspective. What helped me along the way was I had two personal friends of mine whose fiancés died. And I went through a personal struggle where my father got really sick, and I spent a week with him and it just dawned on me that we don’t have as much time as we think. And when you’re done playing games, and you find someone who has qualities that are much more practical as opposed to romanticized ideals, then you’ve got to hold on to them.

People think that you’re supposed to marry your type … well, I didn’t marry my type. It’s much more practical, and based in a day-to-day existence. So when you have that, and you’re happy, and you love her, don’t waste time. Because time — and I’ve learned that at this point in my life — time is my most precious commodity. Nothing is more precious than time. Because when it runs out … that’s it.

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That's a grown man right there!

Related Post: Michael Ealy and Morris Chestnut Gives Tips On How To Find The Right Kind Of Love