Flex and Shanice’s love story spanned decades. Before getting married, Flex was on his way down the wrong path. Mark Alexander Knox — better known as Flex Alexander — didn’t have it easy while growing up. In fact, the cards were stacked against him from an early age. Instead of continuing to head down the wrong path, he decided to make some major changes, and that included finding a wife. He had no idea the woman living in his apartment complex would turn out to be his soulmate.
Here’s the truth about Flex and Shanice’s love story.
A troubled childhood
Flex was born on April 15, 1970, in the Bronx, New York. He was the youngest of four children born to Alethia Knox and Robert Whitehead, a bass guitarist who passed away in 1989. Flex only saw his father three times his entire life. In an interview with People magazine, he described his dad as a “rolling stone” and said, “He was a guy who was searching, but I don’t think he knew what he was searching for.”
His mom was forced to work three jobs in order to support their family. And after Flex’s brother Dwayne turned to the streets and got hooked on substances, Flex left home too at the age of 15.
Living on the streets
He became a street hustler, sleeping on subways and doing almost anything to make a living. In 1988, everything changed after his friend lost his life in a confrontation with a rival drug dealer.
Flex found himself in a similar situation. But, thankfully, when the dealer put his gun to Flex’s head, the weapon jammed. He knew it was time to leave the streets behind.
How Flex caught his big break
On a quest to make some legal money, he got hired to dance in New York clubs. With his acrobatic and breakdancing skills, the six-foot-four entertainer earned the nickname Flex.
After getting discovered by Salt-N-Pepa’s DJ Spinderella (pictured, left), he toured with the group for three years. He later choreographed for some big names in the industry, including Queen Latifah and Mary J Blige.
Flex the comedian is born
Many noticed how funny he was, and they encouraged him to get into comedy. After developing a stand-up act, where he would impersonate everyone from Jesse Jackson to Homer Simpson, Flex made his comedy club debut in 1989. The crowd went wild, and Flex the comedian was born.
The idea that started everything
He moved to Los Angeles in 1995. Like most people who move to the city, he gravitated toward the film and television industry. He landed a few roles in some shows, but they didn’t perform well. After seeing LL Cool J combing a young girl’s hair in a soft-drink commercial, he got the great idea to develop his own television show.
He hired a writer and produced a pilot episode in 1997. However, he would come face to face with a devastating tragedy before getting a taste of sweet success.
Experiencing a loss and guilt
While working on developing his television series, Flex received a phone call from his brother Dwayne. He told the Oprah Winfrey Network he was trying to rush his brother off the phone. The next evening, he received a phone call that Dwayne had passed away from AIDS.
Since that day, he carried an enormous amount of guilt for not having the chance to say goodbye. And he held on to that pain for many years.
How Flex met Shanice
In 1999, Flex got his big break when UPN loved his pilot. The show One on One hit television screens in 2001, launching his career as a primetime superstar. Things were looking up in all areas of his life. And things got even better when he met “I Love Your Smile” singer Shanice Wilson.
They lived in the same San Fernando Valley apartment complex. Shanice told HuffPost they ran into each other in an elevator. Although they were familiar with each other’s work, they didn’t really know each other. Either way, they exchanged numbers and became fast friends.
They would spend hours chatting about life. During one conversation, Shanice told Flex she had been praying for her soul mate. One day, when she was about to go on tour with NSYNC, Flex went to her rehearsal and told her, “You know, you’ve been praying for your soulmate, but your soul mate could be staring you right in your face.”
Shanice said she was stunned, and then it finally hit her. She said to herself, “Wait a minute. He has a good point. I think this is my soulmate!”
They refused to have a ‘ghetto engagement’
Shanice said Flex — who had become a born-again Christian — was always very respectful and never tried to put the moves on her. They made the decision to remain celibate until after marriage, but their courtship wouldn’t last very long anyway.
He invited Shanice to church, and the pastor was talking about “ghetto engagements.” Shanice explained to the Oprah Winfrey Network that the pastor was fed up with couples having five and six-year-long engagements. So he came up with the name “ghetto engagement” to describe those who were dragging their feet on their way to the altar. (*Cough* *Cough* Draya Michele).
Once they left church, they jumped into the car and Flex looked at Shanice and said, “Let’s just do it. Let’s get married.” They had only been dating for three months at that point. Flex said it was his way of testing the waters to see if she felt the same way before he purchased a ring. At first, Shanice was stunned, but she agreed to get married.
He brought laughter to their engagement
Of course, Flex and Shanice’s love story wouldn’t be complete with Flex adding an element of laughter to his proposal. After four months of dating, he was ready to put a ring on it. Shanice told Jet magazine that before getting down on one knee, he jumped on a table and started singing “You Are So Beautiful to Me.”
Their first time (ah sookie sookie now!)
She said yes, and they got married on Valentine’s Day 2000. On their wedding night, Flex was finally ready to seal the deal, but Shanice was a little apprehensive.
She told the Oprah Winfrey Network that she went into the bathroom for about two hours while Flex waited on the bed. She said she was “terrified” to get down to business because it was going to be the first time they were intimate. With Mad Cobra song “Flex (Time to Have Sex)” on repeat, Flex was waiting for so long, he passed out before Shanice could make her grand entrance.
Her timidness didn’t last long, though, and within their first year of marriage, she got pregnant. Sadly, things took a turn soon thereafter.
Shanice got dropped from her label
She had just released her fourth chart-topping album with LaFace Records. She flew out to New York and had a meeting with a major exec who said he was looking forward to her upcoming project. When she flew back home to LA, she received a surprising phone call from the label, saying they were going to drop her and let her “be a mom for a while.”
Shanice was five months pregnant at the time and completely devastated. She wanted to be a mom and a successful singer. She felt like that opportunity was ripped away from her.
She eventually bounced back and started her own label. It also helped that Flex remained by her side during all of the changes in her career.
Their financial struggles
They welcomed their second child in 2004. And in 2006, One on One was canceled after five seasons. With Shanice’s music career also in limbo, the couple went through intense hardships.
They were able to survive on residual checks from reruns of the TV series, and Shanice’s record sales kept them afloat for a while. But within a few years, it was clear they were in trouble. With all of their monthly expenses and not enough money coming in, their bills piled up.
Flex was able to pinpoint exactly where things went wrong in an interview with Yahoo! Finance. He said he grew up watching his mom and grandmother live check to check, and he adopted that same principle as an adult. At one point, he was making twenty-five thousand dollars a week, and he was spending it all and neglected to pay taxes.
He also spent a lot of money spoiling his wife. He said it wasn’t uncommon for him to go to Burberry and put eight grand on their American Express card.
With their mortgage payment totaling close to $5,000 per month, they fell behind on payments. In 2010, they found a foreclosure notice on their front door. and were eventually escorted out by a sheriff. With nowhere to go, they were forced to live at the Embassy Suites hotel, before moving in with extended family members to help split the bills.
Overcoming their setbacks
Most couples would crack under those circumstances. But Shanice and Flex said their financial situation brought them even closer together. Praying together and having open communication also helped. Shanice told Essence that when they got married, they told each other that divorce wasn’t an option. They knew they were in it for the long haul, no matter what they had to face.
To keep their relationship alive even during their darkest times, Shanice said she flirts with her husband all the time. She loves telling him how beautiful he is. They also enjoy each other’s company, whether they’re at a nightclub or just partying at home and dancing until five o’clock in the morning.
On February 14, 2019, they celebrated their 19th anniversary. Flex and Shanice’s love story embodies all the things a marriage should be about. We wish them the best and many more years of love and happiness!
What are your thoughts on Flex and Shanice’s love story?
Love and prayer conquers all. I love them together. I am so happy that they are still together. Sometimes darkness brings light into your life in ways that we couldn’t imagine. They are adorable 😍
All I have to say is, we have to take a moment and thank God, for moving flex into the right direction and getting him off the streets at a young age and his wife shanice, we also have to thank god for helping her find the love of her life, which was flex, because at some point of time if it wasn’t for God to help flex, flex could’ve been on any New York Street dead because of the gun, but luckily it did not happen, I’m wishing flex and shanice to live the rest of their life happy and… SMILES 😊.