Ashley Graham and longtime husband, Justin Ervin, took to social media to share the good news.
“Life is about to get even better,” Graham wrote in an Instagram post on Aug. 14.
The 31-year-old shared a sweet video on Instagram, slowly revealing the baby bump. “Surprise!” the two said.
“Nine years ago today, I married the love of my life. It has been the best journey with my favorite person in the world!” Graham wrote.
“Today, we are feeling so blessed, grateful and excited to celebrate with our GROWING FAMILY! Happy anniversary, @mrjustinervin Life is about to get even better.”
Several celebrities took to the comments to offer their congratulations.
“Wow!! So happy for you both,” Reese Witherspoon commented on the post.
Hailey Bieber wrote, “YAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! I’m so happy for you guys.”
And Mindy Kaling commented, “Oh my goodness!!! What a blessing! Congratulations!”
Graham’s film director husband also shared the pregnancy news in a series of Instagram posts.
“To my forever love and my daily inspiration. Happy anniversary @ashleygraham,” he wrote. “These 9 years have played out like a lifetime. I guess it’s because my life really started once you came into it. Now that we’ve made a life together, let’s make a life together. I love you and I love us. All of us…”
Graham responded to her husband’s post, commenting: “You make me so happy. Thank you for these nine years!! I’m so excited for our next chapter together!!”
How They Met
The two met back when Ervin was volunteering at Graham’s church in NYC, she revealed in her book, “A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like.”
Graham wrote that she was drawn to him from the very beginning.
“All I wanted to do was keep talking to Justin… The consistency and openness was so new it felt weird. […] My romance with Justin was innocent and sweet. We went rollerblading and biking; we did karaoke, went to the movies, took an improv class together.”
“Because we weren’t sleeping together—for Justin, abstinence was a firm commitment to his faith—we never tempted ourselves by going over to each other’s apartments late at night,” she continued.
However, despite her attraction to Ervin, Graham’s family was anything but welcoming to him.
“When my grandparents met Justin, my grandmother was cordial but cold. She greeted him and immediately walked away. When it came time for them to leave, my grandparents didn’t even acknowledge him,” she wrote.
Graham revealed she “never told my grandparents that the man I was bringing home was Black,” as she was afraid of the reaction.
“I had never seen my loving, hardworking, and wonderful grandma be so hurtful and so racist,” Graham wrote. “I was in shock.”
Graham said her family wasn’t able to see beyond color.
However, Ervin didn’t give up. He thought of a plan that finally won the family over.
Ervin called Graham’s grandmother, wishing her a happy 60th wedding anniversary, Graham recalled.
“Afterward, Grandma called my mom and said, ‘You’ll never guess who called me,” Graham said. “And from then on out, she loved him.”
The two wed in 2010.
