Devale Ellis Shares the Key to His 22-Year-Long Relationship: 'We Have a Healthy Addiction to Each Other' (Exclusive)

Devale Ellis says it’s easy to keep romance alive when you’re still in love with each other.

While talking to PEOPLE about his new Netflix holiday novel, See you next ChristmasDevale admits that he and his wife, Khadeen Ellis, “have a healthy dependency on each other.” “I don’t apologize for needing my wife. I’m not one of those people here who say, ‘I could do it all by myself,'” he says. Khadeen is there to keep Devale grounded even when his work as an actor takes him away. “Not a day goes by where we don’t talk to each other, and not a day goes by without FaceTime,” says Devale, “We have to see and talk about the day.”

Meet Netflix’s real-life loves See you next Christmas Honor

Devale, 40, and Khadeen, also 40, first met while attending Hofstra University in New York. They have been together for 22 years and officially married in 2010, shortly after his NFL career ended and Devale began to focus more on acting. They have four children together: Jackson, 13; Cairo, 8; Kaz, 7; and Dakota, 3.

Devale and Khadeen Ellis with their four children on Instagram.

Khadeen Ellis/Instagram

“I would have to say the key to our longevity is wanting. There’s no secret. I want to be married. I want to be monogamous. I want to be with Khadeen. That’s my person, and Khadeen wants to be with me,” says Devale. “There’s nothing about why can’t we talk and solve it,” he adds. “You wake up in the morning and decide to be a better person, of course for yourself, but also to be of service to them. If you are a person who likes to be of service, it’s easy to be in a relationship because you wake up every day with work.” Devala and Khadeena’s life together is well documented on their YouTube channel, The Ellises, and their podcast, Dead donkey. But they are careful just to share a piece of their family.

Devale and Khadeen Ellis on their YouTube channel, The Ellises.

YouTube/@TheEllises

“I do it on purpose because I want to share my family, I want to share love,” Devale says. “But I also want to keep things sacred.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. He adds to PEOPLE, “My wife and I sit down and decide before we post anything, what’s off and what’s off. As long as she and I can produce what our life is going to look like online, we’re going to have fun doing it. Because just we want to show people what a black family looks like in a different light.”See you next Christmas is now available on Netflix.

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Source: HIS Education