Hollywood Couple Encourages Singles to Wait Until Marriage to Have Sex
Meagan Good and DeVon Franklin's new book adds to the premarital sex debate.
![Hollywood couple DeVon Franklin and actress Meaghan Good penned "The Wait" to encourage people to wait until marriage to have sex.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/Lifestyle/ht_celibate2_hb_160125_16x9_992.jpg?w=1600)
— -- In the age of hooking up, speed dating, and dating apps like Tinder, one Hollywood couple is encouraging singles to wait until marriage to have sex.
Actress Meagan Good took a vow of celibacy before she married her husband, Hollywood producer DeVon Franklin. After working together on the 2011 film, "Jumping the Broom," the two dated for 11 months before marrying in 2012.
Good and Franklin, 37, who had been celibate since his 20s, penned a book about the experience, titled "The Wait," which is out Feb. 2. It encourages singles to practice delayed gratification when it comes to sexual pleasure and think of celibacy as a tool to having a successful life.
"It's a tool to put things in perspective in your life," Franklin told ABC News. "A lot of times we give up ourselves and our bodies what we think is required just to be in a relationship or feel like we can date or feel like we can be an available option in the dating scene. What we're saying is celibacy is a tool to help you build a powerful life. When you take the power back ... you preserve clarity and can ask, 'Who is the person that I'm dating?'"
Good, 34, agreed. "It says something interesting for both women and men, especially women that a lot of our value that we put on ourselves and a lot of what can be insecurity is wrapped up and tethered to our sexuality," she said. "For me, learning that my relationship is not wrapped up in my sexuality was key."
The couple is not alone. Russell Wilson made headlines last year when he announced that he and his girlfriend, R&B singer Ciara, were practicing celibacy. Miley Cyrus, Lenny Kravitz, Jessica Simpson and model Adriana Lima have also publicly sworn off sex at one point.
Chance Cessna said she's going to wait to have sex until marriage. Cessna, who lives in Los Angeles, recently shared her decision on Facebook and is now being praised for her stance.
Cessna told ABC News, "I'm not a virgin. I'm not a saint. But I have come to discover the true mystery, beauty and power of sexual purity."
The 25-year-old actress explained she initially chose to become celibate in 2011 but slipped because she was "in a relationship with someone who wasn't on the same page."
![](https://s.abcnews.com/images/Lifestyle/ht_celibate1_hb_160125.jpg)
"I thought being celibate was impossible when I was coming into a woman," Cessna added. "I was like, 'I don't know how people do it.' But as I grow and matured in my personal faith, it became a lot easier to grasp the concept of actually waiting."
Good understands. She admitted that her journey in the beginning was "tough."
"There's no going back. There's no loopholes," she continued. "It did get easier because [DeVon and I] were in it together and having the support of someone, who was on board with the same goal, made a difference."
In her Jan. 16 announcement, Cessna said she has recommitted to a life of celibacy and has been sex free for 12 months. She said she's already gained peace of mind.
"When you abstain from sex, you don't have to worry about STDs, you don't have to worry about unwanted pregnancy, you don't have to worry about infidelity and you don't have to worry about being enslaved by lust," she explained. "I was in these relationships in the past that were driven by lust."
"I'm excited because I feel like I'm going to meet my husband," she added.