Deon and Karen Derrico have officially divorced, shocking fans of their TLC series, Doubling Down With the Derricos, who know that the parents of 14 spent two decades together.
Before the split, the couple managed to build a family of 16 and a five-season TV series on TLC on the foundation of their relationship. That foundation remains strong, with the Derricos promising to coparent their 14 children going forward.
“Together, we remain unified in the parenting of our 14 beautiful children — their well-being is our priority,” the TLC stars shared in a statement to Us Weekly in June 2024 amid the news of their split. “We thank everyone for their understanding and support as we move forward for the good of our family.”
That sort of level-headedness is necessary to keep a household as large as the Derricos from falling into chaos and it all had to start somewhere. Keep scrolling for their entire relationship timeline:
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2002
The Derricos met in a nightclub in Deon’s hometown of Detroit. Karen, a South Carolina native who had moved to Detroit to work as a flight attendant, says she was convinced to go dancing by a friend in lieu of regular bible study.
The pair hit it off on the dance floor and quickly realized that they wanted to have a large family.
“When my husband, Deon, and I met, he asked me how many kids I wanted to have. I'd always loved being around children. I babysat frequently and worked in early-childhood education,” Karen told Insider in 2023. “I told Deon I wanted to have as many kids as God blesses me with.”
She added, “God is really funny, because he decided to test me with that.”
2005
The Derricos were reportedly married in California. Deon’s estranged, adopted son Derron disputed this claim to the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2014.
“I had no idea of it,” Derron said at the time. “My father turned down [her] proposal on multiple occasions because he said if they ever broke up, he didn’t want her to get anything he acquired.”
A Detroit Free Press story on Derron and Deon’s relationship in 2008 referred to Karen as Deon’s “girlfriend” but Deon told the Review-Journal this was a miscommunication. He said reporters had followed them for years on the story and he never thought to tell them he had married.
“Just didn’t think of it at the time,” he said
December 2005
The Derricos’ oldest child, daughter Darian, was born in December 2005.
July 2010
The Derricos’ second child, son Derrick, was born in July 2010.
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October 2011
The Derricos’ first multiple birth came shortly thereafter. Both Karen and Deon have histories of multiples (twins, triplets, etc.) in their families, as they explained to Today in 2013. In October 2011, twins Denver and Dallas were born.
“I’ve been given this gift and ability to have babies and this big family,” Karen told the morning news program. “It’s really unspeakable. It’s making me want to be a better person and a better mom all the way around.”
September 2013
Just shy of two years later, Karen gave birth to quintuplets. The birth of Deniko, Dariz, Deonee, Daician and Daiten garnered the couple their first bit of national media attention.
The pair expressed their shock over discovering they had five infants on the way, as they initially thought they were due for another set of twins.
“I was in a daze and in complete disbelief, I needed someone to pick my jaw up from the floor! In hindsight, I realize that doctor was acting so calm because he knew there wasn’t a good chance we’d carry all of them to term so he didn’t want to react,” Karen shared with Today after their birth.
“I was still in shock learning there were four babies instead of two,” Deon said, “so when we were told there was a fifth, I told the doctor to turn her upside down and inside out to make sure there weren’t any others!”
December 2013
Deon was charged with 13 felony counts that included theft, fraud and false representation concerning a title, stemming from his real estate dealings in the Las Vegas metro area. He was acquitted of nearly all of these charges in April 2018 and the remaining charges were dropped in August of that year.
“Something that has this kind of chokehold on my life for so long, it’s just gone,” Deon told the Review-Journal at the time. “I have seven boys that I’m teaching to become men. I have four girls. I’m raising them for the outside world.”
May 2017
Deon and Karen welcomed Diez and Dior – the pair they call “triplins” – into the world in May 2017. While Karen carried three babies to term, Carter Derrico died shortly after birth.
July 2019
The Derricos had another set of triplets in July 2019, daughters Dawsyn and De’Aren and son Dyver. At this point, interest in a reality show began to bubble.
August 2020
Doubling Down with the Derricos premiered on TLC in August 2020. The show follows the Derricos and their 14 children at their home in North Las Vegas.
June 2024
The Derricos filed for divorce in early June 2024. The judge granted their divorce quickly, with Deon agreeing to pay over $1100 a month in child support and Karen agreeing to cover the children’s medical insurance premiums. Karen opted to keep the last name Derrico in their divorce, and the couple shared that they planned to split custody and coparent their children following the breakup.
