Oh, Negan. Why do we love and hate you at the same time? Because let’s be real here, what’s there not to love about this rough, rugged and handsome savior—besides Lucille and the fact that he has already killed off two our favorite characters? Recently, we heard directly from Jeffrey Dean Morgan himself that Negan isn’t going anywhere...for at least one more season. That’s right, folks—we can expect to see Negan torturing and tormenting Rick and the gang for season eight. So, what does Negan’s non-departure from the show mean for us? Well, for one, we’ve definitely got a lot more bat swinging to look forward to. And since Negan’s going to be around for a while, we might as well cozy on up and get to know him—or at least Jeffrey Dean Morgan—a little better. Here are 15 things you didn’t know about Jeffrey.

15 He’s happily married (to ONE woman)

We recently learned in episode seven, "Sing Me a Song," that Jeffrey’s character, Negan, has not just one, but about five wives. One of these wives wasn’t so happily married and decided to sneak in a secret rendezvous with her pre-zombie apocalypse boyfriend...and we all know how that turned out. But in case you’re one of the few who aren’t quite caught up yet, no spoilers here but let’s just say, it didn't turn out good.

But in real life, Jeffrey is quite happily married and only has eyes for one woman—Hilarie Burton. The two met when a mutual friend set them up on a blind date. They had their first child in 2010, before anyone even knew they were in a relationship!

Speaking of wives...

14 He once played a (dead) husband on another hit TV show

Remember that super awesome 2005 show about a widowed mom and her two kids living in the suburbs of Agrestic? Ya, you know the one. We’re talking about Showtime’s hit eight season series, Weeds. The whole premise of the show was centered on the fact that Nancy (played by Mary-Louise Parker) had lost her husband to a freak heart attack while he was out jogging and had to start selling weed (in the suburbs) to make ends meet. That husband? You guessed it—none other than Jeffery Dean Morgan! While he never made a physical appearance on the show in real time (he was dead after all), Jeffrey did pop up in scenes via pictures Nancy had up around her bedroom and in one homemade video.

Speaking of Mary-Louise Parker...

13 He dated Mary-Louise Parker in real life, too!

In all accounts, it looks like life does imitate art. How so, you ask? Because for two years, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Mary-Louise Parker dated not just onscreen, but off. They met on the set of Weeds when Morgan played her dead husband. They began dating after Mary-Louise’s then-boyfriend Billy Crudup, with whom she was pregnant by, cheated on her with Claire Danes. She was seven months pregnant. That's pretty crappy if you ask us. But that infidelity lead to the real-life hookup of Mary-Louise and Jeffrey. But here’s what you may not know: they didn’t just date, they were engaged...for only two months before they called it off. The couple were always on and off again. Maybe that was part of the problem.

12 He’s got a serious sweet tooth

Get ready to overdose on sweetness—we sure did! Jeffrey’s sweet tooth is so serious that when he found out that his favorite candy shop (Samuel’s Sweet Shop) was in trouble, he (unlike his character in The Walking Dead) came to the rescue! But he didn’t play superhero to the upstate New York candy shop alone. He and his buddy Paul Rudd bought the candy shop TOGETHER. That’s right, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (who bashes skulls on TV) owns Samuel’s Sweet Shop with Paul Rudd. How cool is that?! And just when we start to think we couldn’t love him anymore more, we find out something that’s just so darn sugary sweet. And honestly, it doesn’t get any sweeter than that, folks. Or more un-Negan-esque.

11 He LOVES motorcycles

His motorcycle love began because he couldn’t afford a car (for ten years) when he moved to LA. Eventually, he was able to afford a car, but his love of motorcycles remained. How much so? Let’s just say, having five motorcycles puts you in the VIP membership of bike love. His favorite motorcycles? Harley-Davidsons of course! But his motorcycle love is more than just a cool rider for him, it’s an outlet and a way to escape...well, everything. But the coolest fact about Jeffrey and his motorcycles are the companions he chooses to ride with—his dogs! Bisou would hear the rumble of the bike and run out for her daily ride with her human—who was also known for falling asleep while riding!

10 He didn’t have to audition for the role of Negan

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is so good at playing villains and bad guys that he didn’t even have to audition for the role of Negan; they pretty much gave it to him on the spot. Maybe that’s because he looked so much like the Negan many Walking Dead fans held in their head. In an interview, Jeffrey said that he started reading the comics (he has always been a fan of the show) because people would randomly tell him that he should play Negan. Those comments must have gone directly to the casting director’s ears because Jeffrey’s agent called him up and told him he had been offered "the new, big bad guy" on the show. Immediately, Jeffrey knew it was Negan. The rest, as they say in Hollywood, is history.

9 He played the ultimate baseball player in a Lifetime mini-series

Speaking of Lucille...Playing Negan was far from Jeffrey’s first time with a bat in his hands—not hard to imagine seeing how he’s just so damn good at it. According to Jeffrey himself, “he grew up with a bat in hands.” But his swinging practice didn’t end there. In 2015, Jeffrey played Yankee star and second husband to Marylin Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, in The Secret Life of Marylin Monroe (a four part mini-series that aired on Lifetime). While his character focused less on the baseball legend and more on a lovesick man, it does leave us believing that the stars were always aligned for Morgan to play Negan. And the fact that he was always surrounded somehow with a bat, solidifies our belief that it was all meant to be.

8 But his real love was basketball

Jeffrey Dean Morgan was active in all kinds of sports—even football. But his real love was basketball. Now standing at  just over six feet, we can see how a young Jeffrey Dean had aspirations of playing in the NBA. And by the way his school years started out, it looked like he would. He was the captain of Lake Washington High School’s varsity basketball team and was even awarded a basketball scholarship. He attended college but was forced to leave both college and his beloved basketball due to a knee injury. With his dreams of being a basketball star crushed, he turned to painting and writing (some of which he sold to make money). And, lucky for us, he also turned to acting. That’s a pretty good plan B, don’t you agree?

7 He's played comic characters before

In case you were wondering, Jeffrey Dean Morgan is no stranger to playing comic book characters. In fact, he grew up reading comic books that belonged to his uncle at his grandmother’s house. So it would only be a matter time before he was sought out to act in one. And his first foray into comic acting came in 2009 when he played The Comedian, a character in The Watchmen. The Comedian, with his funny, cigar-chewing and whiskey drinking ways, is a far cry from the Lucille-swinging bad ass in The Walking Dead. In fact, it’s a complete 360 and total antithesis to his Negan character. But Jeffrey’s versatility in both his acting and the roles he chooses is one more reason why we love him.

6 He will go to extreme measures for a role

Jeffrey Dean Morgan takes his acting and his roles very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that he has been known to willingly put his body through extreme dieting just to nail the essence of a part. In fact, when he played Erastus “Deaf” Smith, a character with tuberculosis, in the History Channel’s mini-series Texas Rising, he took losing weight to the extreme. When Jeffrey accepted the role, he weighed in at 175 pounds. And by the time they started filming, he clocked in at dangerously low 135 for his 6’2 frame. That’s a drastic 40-pound weight loss, which he did without the supervision and guidance of doctors and eating only a can, yes ONE can, of tuna a day. That’s extreme dedication.

5 He lives on a working farm

When his son was born, Jeffrey and his wife wanted him to grow up outside the bright city life. You know—playing outside, digging in non-city dirty, that kind of old-school outdoorsy kid life. So, they moved to upstate New York (the same area where they own the candy shop) and the three of them live on a 60-acre WORKING farm. Wait, what? What does "working farm" actually mean? It means they have animals! Negan—the most evil dude on TV—has cattle, chickens and alpacas?! Yep, alpacas...named Tony (who he named after Anthony Hopkins after they did a movie together) and Stella. And if that wasn’t adorable enough for you, he also has a llama. Yes, a llama named Wally the llama. This is just too much.

4 He’s really good friends with Norman Reedus

Be still, our beating hearts, because we just might self-implode. If the hotness of both Norman and Jeffrey alone weren’t hot enough, the fact that they are really good friends in real life just sent us into hotness overload. They ride motorcycles together on their breaks. And now they not only live close to one another in Georgia, where they film The Walking Dead, but Norman recently bought a house in Hudson Valley one county over from Jeffery’s Duchess County estate. So the real reason why Negan stole Daryl and decided to keep him in his sanctuary is the bromance they have going on. Mystery solved. You know what this means right, Jeffrey? We are banking on seeing you and Norman ride together on his hit AMC Ride show.

3 All the tattoos on Negan are Jeffrey’s own

What’s a bad boy image without tattoos? Since (traumatically) meeting Negan in episode one, we (the audience), have never been able to catch a glimpse of what Negan looks like underneath that musty, black leather jacket. But in episodes last season, we were shown Negan’s softer side...and a bit more skin. The jacket-less Negan gave the audience its first glimpse at the ink the actor sports. The tattoo that's most asked about was the one with the hint of a word beginning with a 'B' on his right arm. What does it say? Bisou. Bisou was Jeffrey’s rescue puppy who passed away last year (it's the same one that we mentioned above that fell asleep riding). Jeffrey got her name tattooed on his arm as a forever reminder of their bond.

2 He plays guitar...sort of

In 2007, Jeffrey plays an Irish singer and guitarist in the movie P.S. I Love You. He had never played guitar before, never acted with an accent, never had a nude scene and never sang in front of anyone until this movie. But the script made him cry and he decided now is as good a time as ever! A week before filming began, they sent him a guitar and gave him an address to take lessons. When he pulled up to the Malibu home, he found out he was taking lessons from none other than Nancy Wilson from Heartwhom he had a huge crush on when he was growing up! This just happened to be the first words he uttered to her, too!

1 He never wanted to be a star

Don’t get us wrongJeffrey Dean Morgan loves acting. He just doesn’t love, or necessarily understand, everything else that comes with it—specifically the fame and celebrity of it all. Recently, his wife Hilarie told Hollywood Life that Jeffrey is an introvert and a really sweet guy—the complete opposite of the character he plays and she often goes into protective mode of her hubby. Jeffrey has said of seeing his face on billboards that “it’s a little embarrassing” for him and he’s much more comfortable with his private, quiet life on the farm. It’s gotta be hard to be one of the stars on the hottest show on TV. But the fact that he remains humble through it all is more telling of the kind of awesome person he is!