Love Lives
How Did TLC’s ‘Jay & Pamela’ Stars Meet? What We Know About Their Relationship
TLC fans will get to know a brand-new couple when Jay & Pamela premieres on Tuesday, March 4. Jay Manuel and Pamela Chavez both have the same rare genetic disorder, Osteogenesis Imperfecta Type 3 (OI), which is more commonly known as brittle bone disorder.
Although they weren’t expected to live past their early childhood years, Manuel and Chavez surpassed their doctors’ expectations. He’s now 28 and she’s 30. However, they have to be very careful due to their medical condition, which has caused them to fracture more than 400 bones combined over the years.
Swooon rounded up everything you need to know about this adorable couple’s relationship!
How did TLC’s Jay and Pamela meet?
The couple actually met online! They first met in 2019 after connecting online and bonding over their share experiences. Despite living 700 miles apart, Chavez and Manuel spent seven months talking and texting before he finally visited her and her family during the holiday season. Their anniversary is in May 2019.
Where do TLC’s Jay and Pamela live?
Chavez and Manuel currently live in the finished basement of his parents’ home in Atlanta, Georgia. Chavez moved across state lines to be with her partner. In 2023, they adopted a dog named Cheddar together.
The two have plans to move out of the basement, but have run into some struggles because they both use power wheelchairs. “The couple crave more privacy and independence. They yearn to one day move out of the basement and into their own place — but disagree on where that should be,” a press release for the TLC show revealed. “Jay is happy to stay in the suburbs, whereas Pamela, restless after years in the basement, would love to be in the city. But finding any place that meets their needs as disabled power chair users proves to be harder than expected.”
While Manuel and Chavez have a close relationship with his parents, she is estranged from her own family. “Pamela misses her parents and siblings, who live over 700 miles away, and she hopes more than anything that they will be there on her wedding day,” the press release said.
Are TLC’s Jay and Pamela married?
Season 1 of Jay & Pamela will document the couple as they prepare for their wedding. They got engaged on November 12, 2022.
“I said yes to us, to his family (ours) & to forever,” Chavez revealed on Instagram at the time. “I look forward to our future & the day we say ‘I Do.’ I went from I’m never getting married to I can’t wait to be married.”
View this post on Instagram
She referred to Manuel as her “soon-to-be husband” in a January 2024 Instagram post. While the couple has not revealed whether or not they’ve tied the knot yet, he was noticeably wearing a ring on his left hand in another post from January 2025.
Jay & Pamela, Season 1 Premiere, Tuesday, March 4, 10/9c, TLC
