Chrissy Teigen Held a Surprise Math Competition for John Legend's Birthday

John Legend turned 42 on Monday, and to mark the occasion, Chrissy Teigen threw a "Math Off" competition—from which Legend emerged victorious.

  • Chrissy Teigen celebrated John Legend's 42nd birthday by hosting a math contest.
  • Legend defeated friend Mike Rosenthal (husband of hair stylist Jen Atkin) to win the trophy.
  • Atkin shared some relevant words of wisdom: "If we teach you anything in life, marry the nerd."

2020 has forced many of us to get creative when it comes to celebrating birthdays, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend included. Legend turned 42 on Monday, and to mark the occasion, Teigen threw a "Math Off" competition, with contestants Legend and Mike Rosenthal (husband of hair stylist Jen Atkin, who co-hosted the contest with Teigen) dressed for the occasion in checked pants, suspenders, bow-ties, and, in Legend's case, glasses held together with tape.

Teigen, wearing a glittery gown perfectly suited to the illustrious event, explained the rules of the competition on social media. "For all of you at home, I just want to let you know this is sixth grade math. They have a 40 question math test in their hands. There will be bonus questions throughout the game, and again, this is a sixth grade math competition show," she said, speaking into a bedazzled microphone as the Jeopardy theme tune played in the background. 

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As Legend and Rosenthal worked on their tests, hosts Teigen and Atkin shared some words of wisdom concerning their husbands. "If we teach you anything in life, marry the nerd," Atkin said:

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The contest's eventual victor was Legend, though he had to make do with a trophy from a previous iteration of the contest which declared Rosenthal the winner ("I had to make a choice for the suitcase okay," Teigen explained on Twitter.) When Teigen asked, "John, can I have one interview? How does it feel?" the math genius responded, "I feel like I might get laid tonight." Which, as a former math nerd myself, is refreshing to hear! Wishing you all the same good fortune, math nerds across the globe!

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Emily Dixon
Morning Editor

Emily Dixon is a British journalist who’s contributed to CNN, Teen Vogue, Time, Glamour, The Guardian, Wonderland, The Big Roundtable, Bust, and more, on everything from mental health to fashion to political activism to feminist zine collectives. She’s also a committed Beyoncé, Kacey Musgraves, and Tracee Ellis Ross fan, an enthusiastic but terrible ballet dancer, and a proud Geordie lass.