Comedian Gary Owen shares how he met his wife Kenya and how he has fun with race

Dec 9, 2016

Actor-comedian Gary Owen knows how to cross boundaries that make everyone laugh.

From his early days on BET’s Comic View to his most recent roles in the Think Like A Man franchise, Owen has gotten a lot of love, particularly from black audiences, for his down-to-earth and hilarious takes on life.

In a one-on-one interview with theGrio‘s Natasha Alford, Owen opens up about his new BET reality series, The Gary Owen Show, and how he’s raising an interracial and blended family in the era of Trump.

“This presidential race that just happened, I think it just kept showing people at their worst,” says Owen.

“And I think with our show, you see a more accurate depiction of what people are like, especially when you talk about racism. Black and white. Because I think the majority of people, we get along. I mean, we all want the same things in life.”

Owen and his wife, Kenya Duke, have been married since 2003 and share a son and daughter together, as well as a son from Kenya’s previous marriage.

The comedian gushes when talking about his wife and explains that he was the first Caucasian man she ever dated.

“That to me is a bigger honor than having a show on BET!” Owen jokes. “The fact that my game was so strong, that I was able to pull this beautiful black lady.”

The two met at a comedy club years ago, and despite not thinking he had a shot, Owen got her number and called immediately.

“I was like, ‘Look, I know I’m supposed to wait three days, but you’re gonna meet a lot of dudes in three days. I’m just letting you know now I’m interested.'”

The risk paid off.

“Me and my wife have been together so long, and you know race doesn’t come up that much,” says Owen.

“It does — but it doesn’t come up that much. We have fun with it; we don’t take it so serious.”

Watch the full interview in the video above.