Because Baller Wives Chris and Stacey Chambers’ relationship has a colorful history (to say the least), the pair are often the subject of questions regarding their stalker-y origins. While they have been married for several years and by all accounts seem to be quite happy together, the way they got together still has fans and onloookers wondering: Did Chris Chambers really marry his stalker?
Here’s how the story breaks down. In 2009, Chris’ then-wife Christina accused Stacey–whose full legal name was then Stacey Bernice Saunders–of “stalking and harassing the wide receiver’s family,” per the San Diego Union-Tribune. According to both Christina and Chris, Stacey had “launched an incessant attack verbally” on the family, and that the attack eventually included Chris’ mother- and sister-in-law. The accusations had enough merit that the San Diego District Attorney’s office, upon investigating, filed eleven misdemeanor accounts of “stalking or harassing by phone on various dates from April through September” of 2009. Those charges were filed in late November of the same year (the Union-Tribune story’s dateline is December 1st).
However, in June of 2009, the Chambers’ request for a restraining order against Stacey Saunders was dismissed when neither party appeared in court. As it turned out, that was because before Stacey became Chris Chambers’ stalker, she was actually his lover. The paperwork he filed asking for a restraining order acknowledged that the two had had an affair; Stacey only started harassing Chris, Christina, and assorted Chambers family members when Mrs. Chambers found out about the affair in the early months of the year.
Fast forward to the following summer. BSO–which was the first blog to cover the unusual pairing–reported that Chris and Stacey Chambers were wed in Las Vegas on July 24, 2010. According to the site, the wedding took place a scant two days after Chris and Christina’s divorce was finalized. (Basically, they got hitched on the first Saturday after the divorce.)
So this is actually more a semantic distinction than anything else. Did Chris Chambers really marry his stalker? Technically, yes–but the word “stalker” conjures up images of an unstable fan who accosts a celebrity at the shoe store and leaves pubic wigs and dead cats in his mailbox alongside love notes cut together from old issues of Sports Illustrated. Stacey was Chris’ lover before any of the harassment went down–and, to be fair, “Chris Chambers married his harasser” is a pretty weak headline.
For now, you can catch the happy couple in action when Baller Wives airs Monday nights at 9 on VH1.
(Photo credits: Did Chris Chambers really marry his stalker via Instagram, VH1)
