Television crews for the Oprah Winfrey Network visited Dolores last month to shoot a reality show about a local man engaged to pop singer Michelle Williams.
“Chad Loves Michelle” features Dolores native Chad Johnson’s relationship with Williams, of the hit R&B band Destiny’s Child.
The series will premiere on the OWN channel Nov. 3 (9-10 p.m. Eastern time. The episode focusing on Chad’s home town is expected to air Nov. 10 at the same time.
Filming occurred for two days at locations in Dolores and at the Circle K Ranch, said longtime local Jim Koenig, Johnson’s grandfather.
“It was a spectacle, with the camera crews and interviews,” said Koenig, 87. “It was different to be in the spotlight.”
Johnson, 40, grew up and went to school in Dolores. He found success in the ministry and as a life coach and has served as chaplain for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The home-grown pastor started his own spiritual retreat program in Phoenix that Williams, 37, attended. The chance meeting sparked the beginning of their relationship, and the couple’s engagement was recently featured in People Magazine.
Williams, along with Beyoncé Knowles and Kelly Rowland, formed Destiny’s Child, which became one of the best-selling female R&B groups of all time and sold 60 million records. Williams has also released pop and gospel solo albums. Destiny’s Child performed for the Super Bowl halftime show in 2013.
The couple plans to get married, but a date and time has not been set.
“Chad Loves Michelle,” from Relevé Entertainment and InventTV, will feature an honest inside look at the path to marriage between the Grammy-award winning pop singer and sports team chaplain, according to a Sept. 20 OWN press release.
The couple’s traditional, faith-based approach is a focus of the show.
“Having been together for a year and never in the same city for more than seven days, the newly engaged couple is turning to intensive premarital counseling to help prepare them for life together as husband and wife,” the press release states.
Both are relocating to Los Angeles from different cities in the months leading up to their wedding, but not to the same bedroom.
“Guided by their faith and unwavering values, the couple has vowed to consummate the relationship only after they are wed,” according to the press release. “Each episode will feature real issues the couple is tackling in their everyday lives, including Michelle’s high-profile battle with mental health issues, and the lessons they learn from the premarital counseling sessions that bond them stronger together.”
Chad’s brother, Brandon Johnson, general manager of Montezuma Valley Irrigation Co., participated in the two days of filming with his brother and Williams and hosted a barbecue for the couple that local friends also attended.
Williams was treated to horseback riding at Circle K Ranch, and got a fishing lesson on the Dolores River. She was amazed by the scenic San Juan Mountains bordered by red rock desert, Brandon said.
“I think it was her first go-around at fishing. We all had fun, and got to know each other,” he said. “They make a nice couple. She’s like the rest of us, down home and down-to-earth, not flashy like you might think with a celebrity. He made a real good choice.”
Part of the filming was done at the popular burger joint The Depot, Koenig said, and at his home on Fifth Street.
“All the regular customers looked pretty surprised when they came in for lunch and saw the lights, microphones and camera crews,” Koenig said.
On whether Williams might perform locally, Koenig said “he’d pass on” the idea.
The TV trucks in front of his grandfather’s house drew some onlookers too, Brandon added. “The neighbors came out and were like ‘What is going on?’”
Chad Johnson is the son of Monte and Barbie Johnson.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
