This Historic Place Once Witnessed Russell Wilson and Ciara Wilson Holding Hands Together for the First Time in Public

Russell Wilson and R&B singer-songwriter Ciara tied the knot way back in 2016. However, the celebrity couple took a very different route from the rest when it came to announcing their relationship to the world. Russ and Ciara did it in the presence of a former United States President.

Yes, they met at a basketball game in March 2015 with Wilson just coming off his Super Bowl championship season. But the outside world had no idea what was cooking behind the scenes. The curtains came down a month later in April during the revered White House State Dinner.

Russell Wilson and Ciara couldn’t have picked a bigger stage

The Denver Broncos and former Seattle Seahawks quarterback had President Barack Obama in the room when he went public with his then-girlfriend and now-mother of his two children, Ciara. Also present in the room to honor Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe were the First Lady, director George Takei, and current US President Joe Biden, to name a few.

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Russell and Ciara didn’t come out to the public until later in June of that year. However, the chemistry between the football player and the singer at the State Dinner was electrifying. The duo went hand-in-hand as they made their way through the celebrated guest list.

President Obama held the honorary dinner three days after the actual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where Russell Wilson brought his grandmother. And left Ciara for the more intimate affair. “She’s back in Virginia,” Wilson had said about his grandmother’s absence during the State Dinner, according to PEOPLE.

It wasn’t all a walk in the park for Russ and Ciara

Wilson was smitten from the moment he laid eyes on Ciara at the Wisconsin Basketball game on March 26, 2015. Russ didn’t waste any time before asking Ciara out for dinner. “Next thing I knew, it was 12:00 [a.m.], 12:30 [a.m.], and I was sold on you,” the 7x Pro Bowler had said on an Instagram Live.

However, it wasn’t all roses and sunshine. Their relationship’s honeymoon phase came a lot later because of Grammy-Winner Ciara’s decision to practice celibacy until marriage.

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Russell Wilson spent three months between proposing to Ciara in Seychelles to exchanging their vows at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire, England. The couple welcomed their two children, Sienna and Win Harrison Wilson, in addition to Ciara’s son Future, from her former relationship with rapper Future. Last year, Wilson even made a request for a fourth kid on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which Ciara happily agreed to, having come a long way since her celibacy days.