How Did LeeAnne Locken and Boyfriend Rich Emberlin Meet?
The #RHOD charity queen almost didn't give her beau a chance.
LeeAnne Locken's boyfriend Rich Emberlin had a couple of strikes against him before the two even met.
For one thing, the pair first got to know each other virtually when Rich, who works for the Dallas Police Department, sent LeeAnne a friend request on Facebook after noticing her from afar at The Ritz one night, she told The Daily Dish (clip above). The Real Housewives of Dallas cast member wasn't so sure she wanted to do the whole online dating thing.
She also didn't exactly like what she saw in his profile photo. "His profile pic, he really had major salt, less pepper [hair]," LeeAnne described. "And so I was like, 'I don't want to date another old man,' because I had just finished dating an old man who was really boring and no fun. And I really wanted somebody that wanted to live life, somebody that wanted to laugh and giggle and get up and do stuff."
Still, LeeAnne agreed to a date, and meeting Rich in person changed everything. "I opened the door, and that was it. I mean, history," she said.
Things went so well when they went out for drinks and dinner that LeeAnne even felt like she was falling in love. "He just makes me laugh. He's so funny. He's so charming. And he made me laugh," LeeAnne described their first date. "And I was laughing so hard, you know the two little voices in me? One was like, 'He's so funny. I love him.' And the other voice was like, 'What did you just say? Excuse me, you push the wine away. You're drinking water. Drink water for the rest of dinner.'"
But the couple knew from that night on that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together — and only with each other. "That night, I'll never forget the look on his face when he said, 'Don't share,'" LeeAnne said as she and Rich discussed how they would be moving forward in a monogamous relationship. "I was like, 'OK, I'm gonna need to be literal. What's the list? What are we talking about? Don't hold hands with people, don't go on dates with other people, don't have sex with other people? What are we looking at?' He was like, 'All of it. I finally found you. All of it.' And I was like, 'Oooooh, OK, I'm yours.' And I was in love, and that was it. We've never been apart since."
And now going on eight years as a couple, LeeAnne doesn't ever see them being apart. "I've never had this much honesty and respect and love from a man in my life, not even my biological donor," she said, referring to her biological father. "I just feel safe with him. Like, that's a hard thing for me. I don't feel safe with a lot of people, and so I feel safe with him, which I can't even begin to tell you what a comfort it is to be able to relax, like, to let your guard down."
But does LeeAnne think she and Rich will ever take their relationship to the next level and tie the knot? "Yes, 100 percent," she said. "I have zero doubt that I will marry Rich."
However, LeeAnne doesn't think she and Rich, who has a teenage daughter from a previous relationship, will ever grow their family. "No, I'm 48. If I popped out a kid at this point, God help it, right?" LeeAnne said of the possibility of having children of her own in the future. "No, I've never really been the person who wanted to have kids. I've always been the person who wanted to help people. I've always been the person who wanted to help, especially, people who are struggling because I struggled so much. So for me, if I had kids, I'd be focused on my children. I wouldn't be able to do what I do in the charity world."
Besides, it sounds like LeeAnne has all the love she needs — and then some — from Rich. "I think he's so romantic, and he really is. He's the kind of person that will go in my bathroom and he'll write 'I love you' in shoe polish on my mirror, and then I'll go and write 'I love you more' on his mirror. And then he'll put 'most' on my mirror," she said. "I leave it up because it's like one of those things when you have a really crappy day and you walk into your bathroom to wash your face at night, and you're like, 'It's OK. He loves me. As long as he's there, I'm gonna be OK. No matter what, he's gonna pick me up every time.'"
LeeAnne's bond with RHOD castmate Tiffany Hendra will also never be broken. But it wasn't always that way for these besties. Find out how they met, below.
