Newlywed content creators share highlights from honeymoon in Bora Bora

Emile Ennis Jr. and AJ Gibson’s romance has never been anything but public. Even their meet-cute was on camera: The two first crossed paths in May 2012 while hosting an episode of an online aftershow for America’s Got Talent. “Emile was super nervous and not even out of the closet yet, but I could tell he was checking me out, so I was flirting pretty hard,” says Gibson. “We watch back [the episode] sometimes randomly to remember and laugh at how young and low-key adorable we both were.”

Now, as content creators, Emile and AJ have been able to share each additional magical moment from their romance. In fact, the two just celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary this past June by finally embarking upon a planned honeymoon in French Polynesia. They recently chronicled the adventure in a film, “The Honeymoon,” that debuted on YouTube and which caps off a cinematic trilogy about their romance. (To paraphrase them, they’re extra as f*ck.)

Naturally, we decided to chat with Emile and AJ about their honeymoon travels. Read on for some sexy insider tips for the French Polynesian islands of Tahiti, Mo’orea, and Bora Bora.

GayCities: Emile, you say on your Insta that Beyonce knows who you are. Please tell us more.

Emile: On our actual wedding day in 2022, we found out in the morning that Beyoncé was dropping a brand new song (“Break My Soul”) that night … So we opened the reception with Beyoncé’s song “Party,” which we’d planned a year prior, and we were able to close the reception with brand new Beyoncé! After the wedding was over and we returned to LA, we started to share pieces of our wedding. One of the things we shared was dropping Beyoncé’s song at the close of our wedding reception and then had clips of us dancing to it. A few weeks went by and Beyoncé’s social team reached out asking if they could use the footage and we about passed out! Fast forward a few months and there is a clip of me at our wedding, dancing to “Break My Soul,” in Queen Bey’s music video! AJ is actually friends with the woman who runs Beyoncé’s socials and it was confirmed that Beyoncé did, in fact, watch our video and approved it, which is just wild! Also, AJ was cut from the clip. He’s in therapy for it.

Amazing. Now let’s talk a bit about your recent one-year anniversary and honeymoon in French Polynesia. When you visited Tahiti, where did you stay? Tell me a bit about any amenities you took advantage of. 

Emile and AJ: As a queer couple, international travel can be tricky. Thankfully, we partnered with Tahiti Tourisme and Air Tahiti Nui. They were so thoughtful and detail-oriented, they helped us create the perfect honeymoon experience.

We started our honeymoon in Tahiti and stayed at the InterContinental Tahiti Resort and Spa. It was a gorgeous property and such a short drive from the airport, which is so nice when you just want to get your trip started. One of our favorite things was the fresh pineapple juice. Tahitian pineapple is NEXT LEVEL and you could order fresh pineapple juice from the bar and it was incredible. They also have a sand-bottomed pool that is designed to feel like you’re at the beach which was really nice. However, our FAVORITE aspect of the entire honeymoon was the way the French Polynesian people celebrate their mahu community. At nearly every single resort or restaurant, they put this community front and center, because they are held in such a high regard, as they should be. It made us feel comfortable and like our community was not just tolerated, but CELEBRATED!

We also stayed at the Hilton Tahiti for one night before we left to return home, but feel like it deserves mentioning. We basically lived our best lives in their gorgeous pool and enjoyed their state-of-the-art gym, because we had lots of French toast to work off by the end of our honeymoon. The sushi restaurant was also delicious as well. Recommend 10 out of 10.

Are there any other restaurants that stand out?

As far as Tahiti goes, we ventured into town and found this place called Pietro – Pizzeria Napolitaine. It was arguably some of the best pizza we’ve ever experienced in our lives! The Tartufo pizza is something that we would fly back to Tahiti for. That’s how good it was. They make everything fresh in-house and cook the pizzas in a brick oven. We found the spot online and it was a great way to end our trip!

Bloody Mary’s in Bora Bora was also fun to try. We loved the presentation of the food and hearing about each region that the proteins were sourced from, but overall, the atmosphere and laid-back vibe is what would bring us back. Their live band was so talented and it made our evening even more special. It’s a hotspot for celebrities vacationing in Bora Bora, and after enjoying live music while eating a fresh dinner with our feet in the sand, we understood why.

Tell us a bit about your visit to Mo’orea.

We didn’t stay in Mo’orea, but we did do a day trip there. It felt like we did so much while we were on the island and, apparently, we did. We almost missed the last ferry back to Tahiti. First, the island is stunning! It’s so interesting to see how each island has its own vibe and personality. We were told that Mo’orea would feel like Jurassic Park, and that was absolutely accurate. As we were on our ATV going through the pineapple fields in the mountains, our jaws literally dropped at every turn. The visuals were just breathtaking! 

We also had the opportunity to plant coral at Coral Gardeners. What they are doing over there is powerful and so necessary. Not only are they educating people about the bleaching of coral around the world due to climate change, but they are actively working to repair the damage that’s been done while simultaneously getting others excited to assist. It was a great experience and worth checking out for sure.

Where did you stay in Bora Bora?

We actually stayed at a few different properties in Bora Bora and loved them all for different reasons. You can see room and property tours of all the places in our honeymoon video, but we started off at Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa, then went over to Le Bora Bora by Pearl Resorts. Then we ended our time on the island at Four Seasons Bora Bora. Honestly, we loved different things about every single place, but Four Seasons was a big splurge for us and we’re so glad we ended our honeymoon there.

What’s one experience you had in French Polynesia that you’ve never had anywhere else?

We swam with SHARKS! That’s something that we’ve never done anywhere else, but we would absolutely do it again. It’s not as scary as you would think. Once you’re in there, you feel at one with nature and it’s just stunning. One of us (AJ) had no fear at all, but one of us (Emile) needed a little coaxing; however, both of us had the time of our lives!

Beyond French Polynesia, our readers need to know: How do you personally overcome jet lag? 

When you find out, please let us know. At this point, we just accept that it’s going to hit us, but we try hard to adjust to the location’s time before we arrive. If that means more or less sleep on the plane to match the timezone there, then we do that. If it means getting massages on night one and falling asleep for 12 hours immediately after, we’re down for that too. When we travel, we do our best to disconnect from the world and reconnect with each other, so time sort of doesn’t exist for us when we leave the country.

Time for a few more non-Polynesia-related questions. What is the sexiest hotel you’ve ever stayed at?

That’s a tough question. We have similar tastes when it comes to style and a design aesthetic, but we still like different things. If we’re talking about the sexiest resort we’ve EVER stayed out, we’d probably both say Atelier in Playa Mujeres. It’s where we were married and we loved everything about it, especially the spa and the emerald green walk-in showers in each room. We enjoyed plenty of husband time in that shower, so for us, it’s very “sexy!”

What’s your worst travel nightmare? How did you cope?

The worst for us is when our luggage was lost heading to Ohio to surprise AJ’s dad for his 70th birthday. We already weren’t going to be there for a very long time, so it’s not like we had tons of luggage, but the airline still managed to lose it. It was so stressful because we had specific outfits planned for the short trip and had reservations at a really nice steakhouse and wanted to make my dad feel special. Ultimately, we were able to buy new clothes and we still looked cute. I can’t remember if we ever got our luggage back though…maybe we should look into that.

Where are you based? What’s your favorite spot in the gayborhood?

We’re based in LA near The Grove. Our favorite spot isn’t a bar or restaurant…it’s the West Hollywood Dog Park. They have two parks split up by large or small dogs and we love to take our son Kingston there to get out all of his energy and hang with his friends. After that, we might venture over to Bottega Louie to get a little snack to satisfy our sweet tooth or grab something healthy at Kreation. 

Our second favorite spot isn’t in the gayborhood, but it’s a little gem that we don’t tell too many people about because we don’t want it to become too popular. It’s a Japanese restaurant called Robata Jinya on 3rd Street and it’s AMAZING! We’ve been there over a hundred times and never had a bad meal. Every single thing on their menu is just fantastic and it’s a super cute restaurant. Chances are if you’re in town and decide to check it out, you might see us there. Be sure to say hi!

What’s your perfect Sunday?

Our perfect Sunday is a relaxing day at home with our dog, tidying up, doing laundry, reading a book, cooking a nice meal, and preparing for the week ahead. Every now and then I convince Emile to spend the day at the beach with me, but that’s more my vibe. As long as we’re together, we tend to have a good time. If we feel like letting loose, we ALWAYS love a good drag brunch and love to check out the local ones whenever we travel. Austin and Denver have some pretty sickening queens, FYI.

What’s your ideal night out?

The ideal night out for us is good food, good drinks and great friends! We love our chosen family and any time we get to celebrate each other have a good time is a great night out! Dance floors are less and less of a thing these days, but if the tequila is flowing, you’ll find us living our best lives on the dance floor at The Chapel in West Hollywood!

To watch Emile and AJ on their honeymoon, click here. If you want to catch up on the rest of the Emile and AJ Cinematic Universe, click here for Part One: The Proposal, or click here for Part Two: The Wedding.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.