Lyssa Chapman and her new wife, Leiana.Photo: Courtesy of Lyssa Chapman
Congratulations are in order forDuane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman’s daughter Lyssa Chapman.
Lyssa shared the news onInstagramlast week that she and partner Leiana Evensen had wed in a Hawaiian ceremony in the Pacific Ocean on June 3.
“Last week Lei and I boarded a boat at 7 in the morning with 7 of our closest family members and we dedicated our love and lives to one another,” Lyssa, who has taken on her wife’s surname, wrote on Instagram.
Lyssa Chapman and Leiana.Courtesy of Lyssa Chapman
Lyssa is the daughter of Dog and his third wife, Lyssa Rae Brittain, to whom he was married from 1982 to 1991.
“It was literally a dream day,” she wrote on Instagram. “The best part is@leiana13is my freaking WIFE !! I’m so happy, blessed, filled with love and gratitude. I never thought I was worthy or capable of this kind of love. The vibration I feel in my body hasn’t stopped since I met her and if you’re reading this from a dark place know that your happy beginning is out there somewhere too. 🌈”
The newlyweds wading in the water.Courtesy of Lyssa Chapman
In photos from the day, both women are seen wearing white, with Lyssa in a maxi dress and her new wife wearing a white button-down top paired with shorts. The couple also both wore colorful flower crowns around their heads.
Leiana and her parents.Lyssa Chapman and her new wife, Leiana during their Hawaiian nuptials.Leiana and her parents.PHOTO: Courtesy of Lyssa ChapmanLyssa Chapman and her new wife, Leiana during their Hawaiian nuptials.PHOTO: Courtesy of Lyssa Chapman
Leiana and her parents.Lyssa Chapman and her new wife, Leiana during their Hawaiian nuptials.
Leiana and her parents.
Lyssa Chapman and her new wife, Leiana during their Hawaiian nuptials.
Leiana and her parents.PHOTO: Courtesy of Lyssa ChapmanLyssa Chapman and her new wife, Leiana during their Hawaiian nuptials.PHOTO: Courtesy of Lyssa Chapman
Lei wished her wife happy birthday onInstagramover the weekend, writing that they had “instant magnetism” when Lei first visited Lyssa’s therapy salon as a client.
“on the very first day we noticed we have the same birthday 🥳 same day and same year! Whaaaat?!” she wrote. “Geminis almost always seem to bond but our bond was extra special, extra quick. Lesbians right? 😆 but this was different. This was the real deal! I jokingly told her ‘well sounds like we are either gonna love each other or hate each other’ 😆 we already knew, it was true love 🌈our love has only grown everyday since and I could not imagine a life without her.”
Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman.Getty Images
Though Lyssa’s father was unable to be present at the nuptials, she tells PEOPLE: “He was of course on the phone with me all morning and during. We FaceTimed him a bunch. He was there in spirit and also electronically.”
She acknowledges, “It’s really, really hard for him to come back to Hawaii” since the death of his fourth wife Beth Chapman (née Smith). The pair married in 2006, rose to international fame onDog the Bounty Hunterand lived together in a suburb of Honolulu until Bethdiedin 2019 at the age of 51.
Though her father — who has beenmarried to Francie Franesince September 2021 — has facedallegations of homophobiafrom Lyssa’s half-sister Bonnie (his older child with Beth), Lyssa tells PEOPLE he is fully supportive of her and Lei’s relationship.
“My dad’s always just loved me and it’s not been something we talk about,” she says. “I think it’s really hard for people who are Christian and do have that belief that marriage belongs to a man and a woman. But when your daughter falls in love with someone and you love that person, you can’t just say you don’t believe in it.”
She added, “I don’t want to put words in his mouth because I don’t know what his exact feelings about it are, but he’s never shown me anything other than support.”
source: people.com
