Tyrese Gibson took the world by storm when he entered the music industry as an appealing R&B artist with major sex appeal.
The now 45-year-old singer kept the ladies entertained with his slow jams and even went on to get his first Grammy nomination in 1999 for his song “Sweet Lady.”
He’s said that he loves being in love. Tyrese told The Daily Mail, “I’m such a sucker for love, the sanctuary of marriage and anyone who is in love, it doesn’t matter what race, nationality or sexual preference. There was nothing better than the beauty of love.”
Here’s a deep dive into Tyrese’s dating history after two ex-wives and child support battles. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage)
And while love tends to be Tyrese’s main subject, it seems, just like with many people, he’s had his struggles with it.
The “Fast & Furious” franchise actor has been in love, and he’s had his share of heated and public breakups over the years with his ex-wife Norma Mitchell, his second ex-wife Samantha Lee, and his now girlfriend Zelie Timothy.
Many have also attempted to connect the “Bad Boy” star to his co-star Taraji P. Henson from that film. But the two appear to just be good friends.
Here’s a look at Tyrese’s dating history.
Zelie Timothy
In 2021, Tyrese publicly revealed his relationship with social media influencer and model Zelie Timothy as the new “Sweet Lady” in his life just months after splitting from Samantha.
The two seemed happy and in love, with both of them sharing their affection for each other on their social media pages. But the relationship seemed to hit a bumpy patch when the two called it quits that same year in September. The split seemed to make them both come to their senses rather quickly, because they got back together the very next month.
Tyrese and his girlfriend Zelie Timothy began dating in March 2021. (Photo: @zelietimothy/Instagram)
The happy social media posts of the two vacationing and spending time together resumed until July 2022, when Timothy revealed they had broken up again. But two weeks later they reconciled after Timothy shared a lengthy post dedicated to Tyrese where she admitted that her “stubbornness” was an obstacle in their relationship.
She added, “With you being my first serious relationship, I thought it would be easy to move on. Yet, with you not being with me, I have realized that the absence of my person is even worse than that. After all this, you’ve made me know that hell is just earth without you.”
While the pair seemed to be going strong for a while, Tyrese evidently expressed that he still had grievances about the divorce from Lee.
In February 2024, he said on social media that Zelie broke up with him after learning that he had several songs in his forthcoming album “Beautiful Pain” that were about his relationship and divorce with his second ex-wife.
Tyrese hinted at their reconciliation just three days after by making a Valentine’s Day apology post for Timothy.
In it he wrote, “If apologizing would’ve taken me another two weeks, I would’ve did it because you’re worth it. I’m sorry babe. I love you happy Valentines.”
Tyrese Gibson found love again after going to a tumultous divorce with his first wife. He met social worker Samantha Lee, whom he went on to marry in 2017 and welcome their daughter Soraya Lee Gibson in 2018.
But after four years of marriage the couple announced their separation in December 2020 after she filed for divorce.
Fans think Tyrese’s post about holding onto a king is a subliminal jab at his estranged wife Samantha Lee Gibson. (Photo: @tyrese/Instagram)
Following their divorce, Tyrese and Lee also had some legal troubles. While the judge denied either party from getting spousal support, Soraya’s dad was ordered to pay about $10,000 monthly for child support. Lee had to constantly take Tyrese back to court for not keeping up with his payments in a timely manner.
Last year, Tyrese shared his thoughts on Lee wanting $20,000 a month for child support on “The Joe Budden Podcast.” He said, “We never spent $20,000 on my daughter when we were together, and I had the money. Like, who spends that kind of money on a kid?”
That came one month after Lee visited the “Hardly Initiated” podcast where she admitted the decision to divorce because “I was very, very, hurt, I was very angry.” She went on to say, “The truth about the matter is that if I had different people in my ear at that time I would not have made that decision.”
The “Love Transaction” singer has opened up numerous times about how the painful split between him and Lee was, which led to public rants online. He even told Daily Mail he “wanted to be married until I had no teeth left in my mouth.”
Tyrese reveals that his ex-wife Samantha Lee is trying to make him pay $40k per month in child support after seeing his comeback in his finances
She originally asked for $20k.
But my question about this child support shit is
Why don’t court’s let the child live with the parent… pic.twitter.com/kZRqFNkSOu
The “Stay” singer even touched on why the marriage caused him so much pain in an Aug. 28 interview with Shannon Sharpe on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast.
He confessed, “I’ve never allowed anyone to matter as much as my marriage mattered. I’ve also never gave anyone so much of myself ever.”
Tyrese and Norma Mitchell began dating in 2002 after meeting in London, where Mitchell was pursuing a college education at the time. The two dated for four years before they decided to take their love to the next level.
The year 2007 was a huge transformational year for the “How You Gonna Act Like That” crooner. Not only was he about to become a first-time dad with Mitchell, but he also proposed to her as well. The couple were seemingly crazy in love, because just four short months after getting engaged, they were walking down the aisle saying “I Do” to each other.
Tyrese Gibson and his ex-wife Norma wed in 2007.(Andreas Branch/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Unfortunately, unlike their time of dating, the two didn’t last very long as The Gibsons, deciding to part ways the very next year. In 2009, their divorce was finalized, but similar to many celebrity breakups, that came with a whirlwind of drama that played out in court.
The “Fast and Furious” actor and his ex endured lengthy custody battles over the years regarding their now-16-year-old daughter Shayla and spousal support. At one point, Norma asked a judge for a restraining order as a result of accusing her ex-husband of child abuse.
She alleged that Tyrese, “pushed our daughter to the ground, pinned her face down, put his knees on her back, grabbed her hands with one arm and beat her with the other.” She was 10 at the time, therefore child services opened an investigation into Tyrese. Norma was granted temporary physical and legal custody of Shayla afterward.
About three months later authorities closed the investigation, the judge denied Norma’s restraining order, and Tyrese was granted 50/50 joint custody of Shayla. But unbeknownst to the former couple, the battle was far from over.
More petty accusations have risen from both parties, resulting in more trips to the court house, and emotional rants from Tyrese spiraling on social media.
The latest mess came earlier this year when he posted a photo of a court order between him and Norma, accusing her of “Blackmail, extortion, defamation, death threats, tax evasion forged signatures, falsified bank statements, domestic and international wire fraud” and “Money laundering.” Tyrese also alleged that Norma failed to pay their daughter’s tuition.
Norma hit back the very next month by suing Tyrese for defamation, and accusing him of sharing private information about her and their daughter after he shared a Google drive link to court documents on his Instagram page.
