Taylor Rooks says her secret wedding was a “litmus test” — and the results revealed who her real friends were.
In a recent episode of the Unapologetically Angel podcast with Angel Reese, the 33-year-old sportscaster opened up about her private wedding to Shane Fowler, which took place in July. Around the 24-minute mark of the video linked above, Rooks explained how she managed to keep the details under wraps.
“I have a lot of close friends that are exceedingly famous that have lived their lives in the spotlight, and I just have an intimate understanding of like, ‘the world will take what you give it,’ and you have to be really careful of what you give it because of that,” she explained. “Because of them I just never really felt the need to make my life be entertainment or like post things that were really personal to me to get the opinions or comments of others, and obviously to each their own … you should do whatever makes you feel the best, but for me it was just: why did I want it to belong to anybody else?”
She continued, “Everybody that was in my life knew about him. It was ours, and if anything, the wedding was such a good litmus test on my friends. Like, the amount of human beings that knew that I was getting married— and there was no level of leak. People didn't take photos, like we really got to announce it, in the ways that we wanted to. So major, major shout out to my friends [and] my loved ones for just like respecting our wishes for like what we want for our relationship.”
Rooks said that when she finally shared her wedding photos, it became “a fun psychological, parasocial-like experiment” as strangers reacted with disbelief — and even a sense of betrayal.
“Why would you have any idea?” she asked. “I think some people almost felt betrayed that they didn't know this thing, but I'm like: if you see a stranger on the sidewalk, do you anticipate knowing everything about their lives? At the end of the day, so many people online are strangers to you. So not knowing something about their personal life is actually not weird at all. I would argue it's much weirder to know everything about somebody's personal life.”
According to People, Rooks married Fowler on July 19, 2025 at Gotham Hall in New York City, and revealed the news five days later. Guests included Kevin Durant, Donovan Mitchell, Draymond Green, and Rooks’ close friend Jack Harlow.
“It was the best day of my life,” Rooks told Reese as she recalled heartfelt speeches and a surreal moment when Durant and Fowler’s grandfather shared a conversation. “It goes by too quickly. It was so fun.”
The couple, who met while Fowler was in his final year at Harvard Law School, kept their relationship private until after the wedding.