Featured Image Credit: Stockton Police Department
Topics: Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Britt Jones
Topics: Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
A man who was called the ‘world’s hottest felon’ after his mugshot went viral has admitted he’s voluntarily celibate now after becoming famous.
If you don’t know the lore behind Jeremy Meeks, it’s a wild story.
It all began on Facebook in 2014, when Meeks’ blue eyes and chiselled cheek bones circulated online after the Stockton Police Department posted his booking photo and detailed his crime.
The image immediately brought him a fan base, and little did he know, he would become a celebrity.
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At the time, he was facing five firearm charges and gang membership, per NBC affiliate KCRA 3, but when he got out, he ended up walking the runway for designers like Philipp Plein and Tommy Hilfiger.
He even became a movie star before he was given a multi-million-dollar fashion deal and free rein to create his own brand.
Meeks came from a broken home, telling the What’s Your Water podcast in 2019: "Both of my parents were heroin addicts. I was a heroin baby ... My childhood was very dark. My dad committed a murder when I was nine months old and killed my mom's best friend."
He was in and out of prison for a decade before he was released for the last time in 2016 and walked into stardom.
Now 41, his life is very different, and so are his priorities.
While attending the Dutch III: International Gangster premiere in July, Meeks revealed that he's been celibate for the past few years.
In 2018, Meeks divorced his wife Melissa Meeks after ten years of marriage.
The pair share a son and broke up after his affair with British actress Chloe Green, who bore his son in the same year as his divorce.
Away from the spotlight, Meeks confirmed in 2024 that he’s single, saying to PEOPLE in 2024: "I am single. I'm trying to focus on myself."
In the clip, Meeks was asked about his ‘biggest turn on’, where he explained that he's focusing on himself, stating: "I don't have a girl. I've been celibate for almost three years."
When asked why, Meeks replied: "Cause I'm not being distracted."
Meeks previously spoke of how his fame could help him to look after those he loves, as after signing with White Cross Management, he told ABC: "I'm in a place where I will be able to provide for my family and really change my life."
He said: "I'm in a place in my life where I am extremely vulnerable and want to tell my story, the whole story, and hope that people can connect to it."
In a 2020 interview with Extra, Meeks also revealed that he was single but had managed to create better relationships with his ex-wife and Green.
"We're all co-parenting. They are incredible mothers," he said at the time.
After finding out about his celibacy, people online said he was doing the right thing.
One person wrote: "Good for him. That's a lot of self control especially when you are hot," as another said: “Good for him... glad life has turned around for him."
Someone else wrote: "These guys be running the streets for years, until they’re tired then they wanna promote staying single and want to be a teacher."