Melanie Wilking mentions her now husband, Austin Ekeler, a few times in the new Netflix documentary, “Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult,” sharing that she is “madly in love” with him.
The documentary explores the involvement of Wilking’s sister, dancer Miranda Derrick, with 7M Films, a TikTok talent management company that a 2023 lawsuit alleges is a cult tied to the controversial Shekinah Church.
Wilking and her parents, Kim and Dean Wilking, posted a video to Instagram in 2022, accusing 7M of exerting unhealthy control over its dancers, including Miranda Derrick.
A representative forMirandaDerrick and her husband James Derrick, 7M, and Shekinah pastor Robert Shinn denied the allegations and characterized the Wilkings’ claims as the result of a family disagreement.
“MirandaDerrick is a successful businesswoman and a loving wife and daughter who cares very much about her family,” the representative said in a statement provided to the Daily Beast. “While the recent portrayals of Dr. Robert Shinn and 7M Films have been wildly offensive and riddled with inaccuracies, those false claims will not deter 7M from supportingMirandain whichever endeavors she chooses to pursue next.”
7M Film CEO Robert Shinn, who is also the pastor of Shekinah Church, has denied allegations. He did not participate in the documentary, nor did Miranda Derrick.
Wilking opened up in the doc about how Ekeler has stood by her side as she navigates her complex relationship with her sister.
“My fiancé has only seen the hurt that my sister’s put me through. And he keeps saying, ‘This day is about you. It’s not about her. You need to be happy,’” Wilking said in the documentary’s final episode, referring to their wedding day. “He knows that this whole situation just brings me down, and he just doesn’t want me to go through it.”
Wilking also opened up about her grief about her sister possibly not attending her future wedding to Ekeler.
“There’s so much that has happened since the last time we (she and her sister) were truly together that I want to share with her,” Wilking said in the second episode of the three-part documentary.
“Like, I started dating someone who I am madly in love with. And before, I told her everything but now I’m like, ‘Nope, you don’t get to hear about certain things,’” she continued. “I would want to ask her to be my maid of honor, have her be there with me, because that’s what I always dreamed of. But right now I don’t trust that she can do that.”
Wilking and Ekeler tied the knot on May 25, and Derrick has said she attended her sister’s wedding, sharing Instagram photos of herself at what appears to be her sister's wedding venue in Las Vegas.
Ekeler was not interviewed in “Dancing for the Devil,” but he often pops up on Wilking’s Instagram page in sweet posts about their relationship.
Read on to learn more about Wilking’s newlywed husband, Austin Ekeler.
He’s an NFL player
In March, Ekeler signed a two-year contract as a running back for the NFL’s Washington Commanders. He began his NFL career in 2017 with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Ekeler is the only player in NFL history to record at least 30 rushing touchdowns and 30 receiving touchdowns within the first seven seasons of his career, the Washington Commanders said in a release.
The running back, who was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, previously played college football at Western Colorado University.
His younger brother, Wyatt Ekeler, is also an athlete, and currently plays as a free safety for the Wyoming Cowboys at the University of Wyoming.
Ekeler often shares Instagram photos of himself on the football field alongside inspirational messages.
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do,” he captioned one recent post, sharing a photo of himself playing football in the rain.
“It’s more than just a game… it’s an opportunity to express my ambition,” he captioned another recent post. “I hope you find that in something you do.”
He started a foundation to help youth and schools
During the 2020 NFL season, Ekeler launched the Austin Ekeler Foundation, which provides resources and support to children and schools in need.
“I started a foundation to help those that may find themselves in situations similar to mine growing up. With your help, we can give hard-working individuals the added support they need to achieve their passions," the website reads.
Some of the foundation’s projects have included providing backpacks with school supplies to kids in need, as well as providing washers, dryers and detergent to multiple schools in Los Angeles to help families struggling to wash their children’s clothes at home.
The foundation has purchased Amazon wishlists of multiple teachers in Southern California, and has organized the renovation of multiple high school gyms, according to the foundation’s website.
Ekeler often posts about his foundation’s efforts on Instagram.
In December, he shared that he was auctioning off a pair of his game-day cleats to support his foundation’s efforts.
He’s an avid gamer
When he’s not on the football field, Ekeler is an enthusiastic gamer with more than 36,000 followers on Twitch, a website where people often live stream themselves playing video games.
Ekeler is especially known for his love of “Call of Duty,” which he has said he’s played ‘as long as I can remember.”
“Back when, like, I didn’t really have internet or anything like that,” he told SB Nation in 2023. “And I used to play multiplayer with, like, my little brother and we do the split screen and I would put a piece of cardboard you know, on the screen. So he couldn’t screen peek me.”
He proposed to Wilking in August
Ekeler popped the question to Wilking in August 2023.
The couple revealed their engagement news in a joint Instagram post and shared multiple photos of the happy moment, including one pic of Ekeler getting down on one knee to propose, and another photo of Wilking’s shocked expression.
“Soooo this happened!!!💍Can’t wait to marry my best friend❤️,” the caption reads. “The last photo gets me every time.”
The couple met on Instagram when Ekeler slid into Wilking’s DMs, according to an interview they did with People.
They previously had a long-distance relationship, traveling to see each other between California, Las Vegas and Virginia, where the Washington Commanders are based, People reported.
“This will finally be the chapter where we are doing it all together,” Wilking told People. “Of course we will both have to travel in the future, but we will now call the same place home — Virginia during the season and Vegas during the off-season.”
He and Wilking often co-star in goofy social media posts
Ekeler and Wilking often post videos on social media showing off their shared sense of humor, like in a video from February when they rock cheesy t-shirts with each other’s faces on them.
They also attempted the viral somersault challenge in October with … mixed results.
“Idk about this one?🥴” Wilking wrote in the caption. “Low quality video. High quality memories.”
Ekeler also provided a voiceover to Wilking’s makeup routine back in a January 2023 Instagram video.
“First, looks like we’re going to strap in here,” he said in his narration, as Wilking put on a headband. “And then we’re going to get our eyebrows as pointy as possible … Put some makeup on there and smear it in with our fingers.”
