CrossFit co-founder Lauren Jenai marries Franklin Tyrone Tucker while he’s under house arrest

CrossFit co-founder Lauren Jenai and Franklin Tyrone Tucker were married on Friday at their home in Oregon, the couple exclusively told Page Six podcast “We Hear.” The ceremony marked a happy ending for the pair’s romance that began while Tucker was incarcerated in Florida for nearly two years awaiting trial on murder charges, and Jenai fought for his freedom.

Tucker maintains his innocence, and is still under house arrest.

The couple tied the knot on their front lawn in front of fewer than 20 family members and friends. Local rules allow gatherings of up to 25 during the coronavirus pandemic. “We decided to do it on our front lawn, and we live on a fairly busy street, so that was kind of entertaining,” Jenai said, adding that the ceremony was “overwhelming.”

“Yeah, people were honking and waving and that kind of thing as the ceremony was going on,” added Tucker, who told us of the nuptials, “I never cry, but I came to tears when she was actually standing in front of me in her wedding dress, and I can’t even describe how much I love this woman — and it literally brought me to tears.”

The beaming bride wore a white dress and dyed her hair electric purple for the occasion. “We did a theme that was white, black and purple, and so the wedding party was a combination of that,” she said.

Tucker wore a matching purple vest, and their wedding cake was decorated with Day of the Dead sugar skulls and purple hearts. It said in purple icing, “Till Death Do Us Part.”

Adding to the edgy-meets-traditional affair, Jenai showed off her colorful tattoos.

The groom was released on $2 million bond last November, Page Six previously reported. The wedding was originally meant to take place in a Florida jail at that time, but Tucker was granted bail at the 11th hour, and Jenai put up the bond.

One wedding gift, Tucker said, was a framed photo of the couple sharing their first-ever kiss when he walked out of the detention center.

Various creative friends officiated the wedding, catered the affair with Italian and Brazilian food, and baked the cake. But a close photographer pal who was meant to shoot the wedding came down with coronavirus a day before the nuptials. “He got diagnosed with COVID the day before … so we had to hurry up and get a new photographer,” Tucker said, adding that the photographer, whom Jenai called a “dear friend,” had been very careful but somehow still fell ill.

Busy Jenai has also just launched a hot new fitness brand, Manifest.

Jenai and Tucker are still fighting to have his case tossed in the Florida Keys incident known locally as the “tree house murder.” The couple currently has a gag order and can’t discuss the case. Page Six reported in November that the prosecutor was changed after Tucker’s team claimed there was a conflict of interest.

Jenai and Tucker were former high school pals who reunited when she learned about his case on Facebook and she began a campaign to prove his innocence.

“One of the things I used to tell Lauren all the time when I was in jail was, ‘Baby if we can get through this, we can get through anything,’” Tucker said. “We’ve already gone through so much together.” He added, “I’ve had a thing for Lauren since I was 14 years old … I felt this was long overdue. I wanted to marry Lauren for a long time.”

Jenai reportedly sold her CrossFit shares for $20 million as part of her divorce from the brand’s co-founder and CEO, Greg Glassman, in 2013 after a messy, public divorce at the time.

CrossFit has been in the news as Glassman is selling the brand after abruptly stepping down from his role as CEO last month. He’s been accused of making racist comments to staff in the wake of George Floyd’s death, and also faced reports of sexual harassment, which he’s denied. Jenai said, “Watching what’s happened with CrossFit’s not been easy for me, or for us. It’s unfortunate that things have gone the way they have. And at the same time, I think that it looks like the changes that have been made are very positive … I’m optimistic it’ll recover from what it’s gone through and move forward.” The brand’s being sold to Eric Roza, the owner of a CrossFit gym in Colorado.

Jenai said of the allegations against her ex, “I was not surprised. Actually I was more surprised that something like this did not happen sooner. It wasn’t surprising at all.” And while, “I actually felt bad for Greg in a way,” as the situation snowballed online, “this could have happened at any time.”

Hear the full interview with Jenai and Tucker on an upcoming episode of the Page Six podcast, “We Hear.”

Share this article:

Source: Read Full Article