Tag: Damon

Happily ever after came after Happy Endings for Damon Wayans Jr.

The Poppa’s House star met his future wife, Samara Saraiva, at a dinner where Wayans was actually being set up with her cousin. Despite not clicking immediately, the couple eventually started a relationship and married around 2016.

Wayans and Saraiva now share a blended family with six children, including daughters Amara, Aniya and Berlyn.

While he hails from a Hollywood dynasty and is a star himself, Wayans and Saraiva tend to keep their relationship out of the spotlight. But, that hasn’t stopped the New Girl alum from occasionally gushing about his wife.

“I’m like crazy about my wife,” he said in a 2018 BUILD interview. “I think she’s awesome and we have a lot of fun together.”

So, who is Damon Wayans Jr.’s wife? Here is everything to know about Samara Saraiva and her relationship with the actor.

They met at a dinner

The night Wayans and Saraiva met, he was actually being set up with her cousin at a “random dinner” in Miami.

In a 2020 interview with We Live Entertainment, the Love, Guaranteed actor recalled, “It was like me, her, a bunch of her friends, a bunch of my family and we didn’t really click that night. You know, like we talked a little bit.”

Wayans continued, “’Cause they were trying to set me up with her cousin and me and her just didn’t really get along either. Not in a bad way, just different kind of people.”

Soon after, they crossed paths again at a party and made each other laugh, which kicked off their relationship. “We’ve been together ever since,” Wayans said.

Wayans and Saraiva married around 2016

Wayans and Saraiva tied the knot around 2016.

While the comedian hasn’t shared many details about his nuptials with Saraiva, Wayans confirmed on Sherri in October 2024 that he and his wife had been married for eight years.

She fit right into his famous family

According to Wayans, it wasn’t hard for Saraiva to fit into his family dynamics.

The Poppa’s House star explained to Sherri Shepherd on her eponymous talk show in 2024 that the dynamic worked “’cause her family’s crazy, too.”

“They’re just as goofy. They make jokes all the time about people. Like they roasted me the first time they met me,” Wayans said, noting, “I roasted them back.”

Saraiva influenced one of Wayans’ characters

Wayans revealed in a 2018 BUILD interview that he tapped into his marriage for his character on Happy Together.

“I do put a lot of how I feel about how my character feels about my wife in the show. I pull that from my actual relationship,” he shared.

She shares a blended family with Wayans

Wayans and Saraiva share a blended family with six children.

“I got a Biblical amount of children,” the actor joked on the Sherri show in 2024. Wayans shares two daughters, Amara and Aniya, with his ex Aja Metoyer. He also has a daughter named Berlyn, as well as three younger children, including one son. In October 2024, Wayans confirmed his youngest child, a girl, was 4 years old.

Although the family isn’t often pictured together, Wayans, Saraiva and some of their children attended the Big Hero 6 premiere together in 2014.

The actor has also opened up about how he and his wife parent together. During a shoot for PEOPLE’s 2024 Sexiest Man Alive issue, Wayans talked about his “perfect date night,” which involves roasting his kids.

He said, joking, “[My wife and I] lie in bed, turn off all the lights, and then we just roast the s— out of our kids up to the point where we’re laughing so hard.”

Saraiva has made red carpet appearances with Wayans

Saraiva has supported her husband on red carpets over the years. Before they were married, she accompanied Wayans to the Hollywood premiere of his 2014 movie Let’s Be Cops. That same year, she, Wayans and some of their kids attended the Big Hero 6 premiere.

Ten years later, Saraiva joined her husband at the Los Angeles premiere of Netflix’s Players, where she was photographed hugging Wayans on the carpet.