Shemar Moore Doesn’t See Marriage in His Future Even Though Girlfriend Jesiree Dizon Is His ‘Partner in Crime’ (Exclusive)

The idea of marriage has never quite clicked for Shemar Moore. 

The S.W.A.T. star, 54, who welcomed his first child with girlfriend Jesiree Dizon, 41, in January 2023, tells PEOPLE that while Dizon is his “partner in crime,” he’s never seen marriage as part of his plan. 

“I didn’t have a good role model of marriage in my life. Not my mother, not my father. Nobody close to me,” he tells PEOPLE. “I struggle with ‘Who made that rule?’ I asked my mother one time. I’m like, ‘If people get married, then what’s this prenup thing? Oh, I love you. You’re the most amazing person in the world but sign this. So you don’t trust the person?'”

He continues, “To me, it’s just like tomorrow’s not guaranteed, but Jesiree, I’ll give you everything I got today and tomorrow. She is my partner. She is the mother of Frankie. Frankie has a dope-ass mama, and I’m going to try to be a dope-ass daddy. And we going to do that until God calls my name.”

Beyond his commitment to Dizon and their daughter, Moore tells PEOPLE he feels a special connection and obligation to the two children she welcomed in previous relationships, Charli and Kayden.

“I want to give her the best life. Not just material stuff. Just keep her safe,” Moore says of Dizon. “Keep them all safe. Kaiden, Charli, Frankie, Desiree. Kaiden has his daddy. I respect him. Charli has her daddy. I respect him. I don’t step on those toes, but I keep them safe. I mentor them as I can. I try my hardest to make them believe in themselves and watch them fly.”

And while Moore has now settled into his father-figure role, he says he carries guilt over the fact that it didn’t happen before his mother died in 2020.

“My mother’s dream, and I still feel guilty about it, was to be a grandma,” he tells PEOPLE of his mom, Marylin Joan Wilson-Moore, who died after facing multiple sclerosis and a heart condition.

Moore adds that he feels “selfish” for focusing on his career, “chasing girls and living my life and kicking it with my homies,” rather than settling down sooner. 

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Though his mother didn’t have the chance to meet Frankie, Moore says his daughter reminds him of her each time she takes a step. 

“She walks like my mother,” Moore says of his daughter. “Jesiree says, ‘That’s just a baby walk.’ I’m like, ‘Nah, that’s my momma’s walk.’ I told you my momma had this little waddle. Frankie got the same thing.”