Jada Pinkett Smith Explains Why She and Will Smith Refer to Themselves as “Life Partners”

After two kids, a blended family and 20 years of marriage, Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband, Will Smith, no longer refer to themselves as a “married” couple.

Instead, the long-lasting couple say they see themselves as “life partners,” who stripped themselves of the expectations of marriage to focus on a successful partnership.

“I needed a different form to dissolve all the expectations that I had of marriage,” Jada told PEOPLE in a new issue, as she explained her husband’s July revelation about their labels. “I needed to do that to see Will outside of husband and see him as a human being.” 

“We have all these expectations,” the actress explained. “‘Oh, this is what a husband is. This is what a wife is.’ I started dissolving all the ideas and expectations and labels.” 

But to further explain the details of their relationship, Jada says her husband will be joining her on her hit Facebook Show, “Red Table Talk,” which returns Monday. 

“Will comes on the show for two episodes, and we talk about redefining our relationship, going from calling ourselves married to being life partners,” she added. “I felt like there was a way to speak about that that was open and transparent. But there are still aspects that are private.”