Getty Nicole Murphy attends ABC's 30th Anniversary Talk Of The Town Gala at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on November 23, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California.
Eddy Murphy was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2020 Critics’ Choice Awards on January 12, 2020. Though Eddie Murphy is not currently married, he has been married in the past. His ex-wife, Nicole Mitchell Murphy, is a former model and is now an entrepreneur.
Nicole Murphy was born on January 5, 1968 in Sacramento. The 51-year-old former model was married to Eddie Murphy for over a decade before they divorced in August 2006. She is now an entrepreneur, owning more than one company.
Murphy now owns Nicole Murphy Fitness, a company that provides workout tips, workouts, clean eating recipes and more. Some of the videos the company creates feature Murphy’s own personal trainer. Memberships include fitness tutorials, workouts and nutrition. She also runs FLP (Friendship, Love, Peace) by Nicole Murphy where she sells handmade jewelry for men and women. On top of fitness and jewelry, Nicole is a beauty-care company owner. She owns Zobela by Nicole Murphy.
Here’s what you need to about Eddie Murphy’s Ex-Wife:
1. She Met Murphy in 1988
Actor Eddie Murphy and his ex-wife Nicole.
Nicole Mitchell Murphy met Eddie Murphy at an NAACP Image Awards Show in 1988. They started a relationship soon after and lived together for nearly two years before getting married.
The couple tied the knot in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York City on March 18, 1993. The couple remained married until 2006. Nicole filed for divorce in August 2005, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized on April 17, 2006.
“The welfare of our children is our main concern and their best interest is our first priority,” Eddie Murphy said in a statement at the time. He went on to date former Spice Girl Melanie Brown and businesswoman Tracey Edmonds. Nicole went on to get engaged to Michael Strahan, though the two split before they were married.
2. She Has Five Children
Eddie Murphy has ten children as of 2020. Five of those children are with Nicole Mitchell Murphy. The couple welcomed their first child, Bria, in 1989. Their son Miles followed their wedding, being born in November 1993. They welcomed Shayne Audra, their second daughter, in 1994.
They went on to have two more children between 1999 and 2002, both daughters. Their names are Zola Ivy and Bella Zahra. Eddie went on to have three more children, the most recent being born in 2019. Nicole has not had any more children.
Bria has appeared in a few films, and she, Zola and Shayne appeared on VH1’s Hollywood Exes in 2014 along with their mother. Bella will appear in Coming to America 2 alongside her father.
She now has one grandchild; Miles Murphy and his wife had their daughter, Evie in 2019.
3. She Was A Model and Actress
Along with appearing on quite a few talk shows and TV series as herself, Murphy has spent time in the acting business. She has appeared in a few different films and series, most recently Just Love, which released in 2006.
Prior to meeting Eddie Murphy, Nicole was a model. She began modeling when she was just 13 years old. Within a year of her first modeling audition, Nicole was a member of the Ford Modeling Agency and had won an international modeling contest. She was seen on the catwalk for Chanel, Velentino, Yves St. Laurent, Ungaro and more.
While she may not be a professional model anymore, Murphy still posts photos on her Instagram often. Her daughters dabble in modeling every now and then, though.
4. She Was Conned Out of Her Divorce Settlement
It was reported by the Sacramento Bee in 2016 that Troy Stratos, the man who conned Murphy out of much of her divorce settlement was finally on trial after being arrested for fraud in 2011.
Stratos claimed he and some foreign royalty invested in AOL early on in order to create his fortune. That turned out not to be true, along with many of his other claims. His claims gave him access to the world of celebrities, where he would gather money from investors for movies that never got made and made land deals that never ended up being developed.
Stratos and Murphy had known one another for 34 years. She agreed to let him manage her money after he promised he’d invest it in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, telling her she’d benefit from a high rate of return. He said he could help her sell the mansion she once shared with Eddie Murphy.
Instead of selling the house, he moved into it and convinced Nicole Murphy to refinance that house and another that her mother owned. The proceeds from those two transactions alone totaled around $1 million, both of which went straight to Stratos. Murphy never saw that money. Reports regarding how much Stratos stole are varied, with some saying $7 million and some saying as much as $15 million.
5. Murphy Was Photographed Kissing a Married Man
In September 2019, Murphy was spotted kissing married director Antione Fuqua, who had been married for 19 years at the time the images came out. Her first public statement said that the pair were just family friends extending a “friendly hello.” After, she took back that statement, as she said she was on a plane at the time the statement was issued. She later issued her own statement, apologizing to Lela, Fuqua’s wife. She also apologized to her own family.
In late 2019, Murphy appeared on the “Wendy Williams Show” to tell her truth about the image and what really happened by the pool.
“It was a frozen in time thing,” she said during the show. “Trust me, I wish it didn’t happen. It was a moment where I should’ve thought more through the situation, made better judgments, you know, so it’s something that I apologize for.” She went on to say the kiss was a mistake and there were many false facts that circulated after the kiss.
READ MORE: Eddie Murphy’s Age & Height: The Movie Star’s Stats