Published on Feb. 07, 2026, 12:17 A.M. / Edited Feb. 08, 2026
Some couples make you slow down just by being near them.
D’Maurier and Janell Johnson carry a warmth that feels lived-in; a love shaped by faith, patience, humor, and timing that couldn’t be planned. It doesn’t rush. It doesn’t chase. It simply unfolds.
Kern Magazine first connected with the Johnsons after Janell submitted a February Spotlight nomination for D’Maurier. But stepping back, taking in their shared presence, their humor, and the way love quietly anchors everything they do, it became clear that the story unfolding online and in real life was bigger than a single spotlight.
It is a love story.
The Johnson’s story began in Bakersfield, during a moment when the world pressed pause and people were left to sit with themselves—and, if they were willing, with each other.
In that pause, love took shape… and somehow, a feathered wanderer helped.
Before They Were ‘Us’
Before there was a wedding date or a shared ministry, there was simply time. Time to talk. Time to listen. Time to notice what felt different.
Father of two, D’Maurier Johnson was born and raised in Bakersfield and never left Kern County. Humor showed up early—sometimes in ways that landed him in trouble.
“I was a class clown,” he says. “Comedy used to get me kicked out of class.”
What once disrupted classrooms eventually found a more meaningful outlet. Before his life with Janell, D’Maurier was already working as a para-educator in an elementary school’s Behavioral Intervention Consultation program.
Fatherhood shaped him deeply. Faith was present, even before it found its full expression.
Janell Johnson’s path looped back home. A Bakersfield native, Janell moved to Texas in high school, later graduating from Prairie View A&M University and living in Houston, where she built her career as a registered nurse. When she returned to Kern County, it was with purpose.
“My godparents were close to their 90s and wanted me to stay and take care of them,” she says.
Coming back also meant naming what she wanted. “I was almost in a depression,” Janell says. “I was like, ‘I’m never going to get married. I want to date a Black guy that wants to date a Black girl.’”
They were both home. Janell knew what she wanted. D’Maurier wasn’t sure he was ready. And still, something was already in motion.
The Inevitable
Janell’s life in Bakersfield was already full, shaped by responsibility, faith, and care. Returning home was a decision rooted in devotion. She knew herself. She knew her values. And she wasn’t interested in convincing anyone to meet her there.
D’Maurier was coming off the end of something that had defined most of his adult life.
“I had just become single in December, 2019,” he says. “I had been in a relationship from high school all the way until that point. Nine years.”
The relationship had ended, but its gravity lingered. “I was very guarded,” he says.
Emotionally, D’Maurier thought there was time. Love could wait. “I felt like I was supposed to meet my wife at like 36,” he says.
Then Janell appeared, grounded and clear. “She felt different than any other person I talked to,” D’Maurier says.
He wasn’t ready. But he wasn’t able to ignore what was in front of him.
The DM That Started It All
Their connection started online.
“I went through his entire Instagram,” Janell says. “I watched the stuff on silent.”
A mutual friend mentioned Janell’s interest to D’Maurier. “He said she thinks you have a girlfriend,” D’Maurier recalls. “So I messaged her personally to let her know that wasn’t the case.”
They started talking. Almost immediately, something shifted. (Cue the tissue.)
Courtesy of D’Maurier and Janell Johnson: The DMs that changed everything.
“Day two of talking to her, I told my friends, ‘I think that I just met my wife,’” he says.
He told his mom, too.
“I met this girl and I think that I’m going to get rich with her,” he says. “Not financially. I just think she’s going to make me the best version of myself.”
Janell was intrigued—but practical. “I was like, he seems like a good guy,” she says. “Why are you not married?”
When the World Slowed Down
Those first DMs were in 2020.
“This is during the pandemic,” D’Maurier says. “So park dates and hikes and outdoors were the things you could do.”
Because Janell lived with elderly godparents, they waited. “It took eight days,” D’Maurier says. “It felt like a lifetime.”
When they finally met in person, the Johnsons planned to go to the bluffs at Panorama Park. But the heat rerouted them. “We ended up at Jefferson Park because there was shade,” he says. “We got there around five or six in the evening and we ended up being together for probably eight hours, just sitting and talking. No cell phones.”
Janell remembers one early boundary. “I made him wear a mask,” she says. With her responsibilities caring for elderly godparents, she couldn’t risk it.
“For probably the first part of us being at the park she was sitting on one bench and I was sitting on another bench,” D’Maurier says.
Photo Credit: Pixaby
The distance was care. It was patience. It was two people letting trust arrive at its own pace.
Then, without warning, something peculiar cracked the moment open.
A Feathered Interruption
Every great love story has a scene-stealer, and for the Johnsons, that proved true.
“We were sitting there and there was a chicken walking across the street,” D’Maurier says. “And at the same time we were both like, ‘Why did the chicken cross the road?’”
They laughed. Together.
Photo Credit: Betül Batmaz
“That was a major thing that connected us,” he says. “Hence [our podcast] name Love is Funny, because laughter is one of the foundational aspects of our relationship.”
That first park date turned into many. “That day at the park led to months of us being at parks just hanging out,” D’Maurier says. “We had these intimacy cards. Some were about childhood memories, some were about expectations—how you want to live your life, what you hope for.”
When one park felt too familiar, they found another. Music came with them. Sometimes dancing. “We’d have music on, get out of the car, and start dancing in the park,” he says. “At one point we were practicing a Michael Jackson line dance.”
In a season when everything else felt uncertain, the Johnsons found something steady, feathers and all.
Signs, Doors, and the Courage to Step Through
Patterns appeared early. “The day he messaged me was April 17,” Janell says. “The message was sent at 12:17.”
Both of their birthdays fall on the 17th. “We would always see the number,” she says.
Despite the connection, fear didn’t disappear. “I was very guarded,” D’Maurier says.
It took D’Maurier a year to officially ask Janell to be his girlfriend. “It’s not something I’m proud of,” he says. “I was scared.”
Janell was clear. “I told him, you have three years. That’s it,” she says. “What kept us going was him believing I was his wife. That was there from the very beginning.”
Courtesy of D’Maurier and Janell Johnson
Once commitment came, everything accelerated. “We got engaged in May 2022,” she says. “We got married in October 2022.”
“The day I proposed added up to 17,” D’Maurier says. “The day we got ordained added up to 17.”
They even made sure their wedding was on the 17th. “It was a Monday so we appreciate everybody who took time off to attend,” Janell says.
Courtesy of D’Maurier and Janell Johnson
After proposing, doors opened. When reflecting on this, D’Maurier says, “Once I made the commitment, things started coming that I wasn’t even pursuing. People started telling me, I feel like you’re going to be a pastor.”
He laughs. “I was like, you must not have seen my Instagram.”
When Marriage Became Ministry
Photo Credit: Damian Castruita “Shot By Dame”
Today, D’Maurier and Janell serve as youth pastors in Bakersfield. “That’s been our most important job,” D’Maurier says.
Out of that shared rhythm came Love Is Funny, a podcast rooted in their relationship, their faith, and their belief that healing often begins with honesty and laughter. “We plan on bringing it back in February,” Janell says.
Courtesy of D’Maurier and Janell Johnson
“Our marriage is our ministry,” D’Maurier says. “I’m way better than I was before. Knowing her has made me better.”
They believe love builds community. “If we can just show people love,” Janell says, “we can make this city better.”
Living Local
Courtesy of D’Maurier and Janell Johnson
Now, if you’re wondering where this love story lives when the park benches are empty and the credits start to roll, the answer is simple: right here. These days, you’ll find D’Maurier and Janell Johnson fully planted in Kern County, building life side by side—one laugh, one conversation, one commitment at a time.
When it comes to living in Kern County, Janell sees Bakersfield differently now. “I’m relearning Kern County as an adult,” she says. D’Maurier describes Bakersfield as “a big city with small city energy.”
When they’re not creating content or at one of D’Maurier’s comedy sets, the two of them serve together as youth pastors at Church of God Bakersfield, a church in southeast Bakersfield serving the community for over 80 years. It’s work the Johnsons do as a team, pouring into the next generation with the same honesty and humor that shape their marriage.
Courtesy of D’Maurier and Janell Johnson
The Johnsons are certified in Relationship Assessment & Guidance where they administer a relationship assessment to couples, married or not, then work with the couple evaluating and explaining assessment results in efforts to improve relationships openness, honesty, and communication.
Janell continues to step confidently into her own. Last year, she was crowned Mrs. Natural Beauty 2025. A pageant designed for women and young ladies of all origins and backgrounds, through confidence-building, public service, charitable outreach, and leadership development.
As for date nights, they’ll be the first to admit they’re creatures of habit. You might spot them grabbing a familiar favorite at Yard House, Texas Roadhouse, or Olive Garden, or catching a bite at spots tied to D’Maurier’s comedy shows at The Well Comedy Club. Dessert, however, is non-negotiable. If there’s cake involved, Jakes Tex-Mex Cafe is a must for the Johnsons.
Courtesy of D’Maurier and Janell Johnson | Photo taken during one of their car dates at Taco Fresco Drive-thru
When they leave town, San Francisco and Las Vegas are go-to escapes—not for the buzz, but for the quiet. Hotel rooms. Sleep. Turning their brains off for a minute. Rest, in its purest form.
And when they’re nowhere to be found? Janell and D’Maurier Johnson are probably doing what they’ve always done best—sitting close, laughing together, dancing, and trusting where love and faith will lead them next.
Roll the credits.
Janell Johnson
The Chicken that Crossed the Road
Special Credit to the Matchmaker
AKA Mutual Friend
That Brought the Love Birds Together via DM
Kyle Watkins “K-Lue Fit 2 Flex”
*No Chickens Were Harmed in the Making of This Story.*
And this one lives right here in Kern.
End Credits.
Post-Credits Scene: Advice on Love and Laughter
Credit: Damian Castruita “Shot By Dame”
Ask D’Maurier and Janell Johnson what they’ve learned about love, marriage, and staying when it gets hard, and neither one pretends it’s effortless.
Love, to the Johnsons, isn’t just a walk in the park… (even though for them, it kind of is.) “Things aren’t perfect,” Janell says. “There are teaching moments and learning moments.”
“[Marriage] is not something where maybe it won’t get hard,” D’Maurier adds. “It’s going to get hard.”
However, for D’Maurier, marriage shifted more than their status. “When a man finds a wife he finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord,” he says. “I have literally lived that.”
In a world that Janell describes as one that often encourages people to close themselves off, she says “don’t be afraid to love. Whether it’s your friends, your family, or an intimate relationship. Love covers a multitude of things.”
“Don’t quit when it gets hard,” D’Maurier says. “Be quick to forgive. Be willing to grow. That’s what love is. When we love people, especially in a community where everyone comes from different backgrounds and is going through different things, love is what holds it together.”
And finding a little humor doesn’t hurt.
“Humor helps you look back at things that were really hard and say, ‘That was painful, but there was something funny in it, too,’” D’Maurier says. “It doesn’t erase what happened, but it helps you heal.”
Janell smiles at that idea. “Laughter is just part of how we live,” she says. “It’s how we connect.”
For the Johnsons, that connection goes beyond humor alone. “Laughing and dancing are probably the two most universal languages,” D’Maurier says. “You can look at a person and tell they’re having a good time. You can laugh with a stranger. You can dance with anyone.”
The Johnsons believe that across backgrounds and experiences, movement and laughter create common ground. For them, that shared rhythm is how love stays present—connecting, healing, and holding people together.
For more stories like this, visit Kern Magazine’s On The Porch. Want to learn more about Kern Magazine? Visit our About Us page.
