Nelly and Ashanti are opening up about their rollercoaster romance, and it turns out, love wasn’t always in the air.
The couple, who had an on-off relationship from 2003 before splitting for nearly a decade, admit they hated each other at one point. But things have clearly taken a sharp turn. Not only are they back together, but they secretly got married and recently welcomed their first child together.
In a newly dropped trailer for their reality show Nelly and Ashanti: We Belong Together, the 44-year-old singer reflects on their rocky past. “We were together off and on for 11 years, before the final…” she says. Nelly cuts in with a laugh, “I hated her.” Ashanti doesn’t miss a beat: “I hated him. I didn’t think that we would get back together.”
Despite the once strong feelings of resentment, Nelly beams as he says, “She got me y’all.” Ashanti quickly claps back, “He wanted to get got.” No chasing required, apparently.
Ashanti later shared that she was shocked when old feelings resurfaced. Speaking to E! News, she admitted she thought the love was gone for good. “It was, ‘I can’t believe these feelings came back. That’s what it was for me. When we first started talking and dating again it was like, ‘Wait a minute, these feelings were gone. How did they creep back?’”
Now parents to 10-month-old Kareem, aka KK, the couple is thriving. They kept their December 2023 wedding under wraps until mid-2024, and just weeks later, Ashanti gave birth. Nelly revealed on The Bootleg Kev podcast that the wedding was timed with her pregnancy. “I was like, ‘Yo, you know what? Let’s just knock this out because we’re going to be doing so much and everything’s moving so fast.’ I didn’t want her to be a baby mama, you know what I mean?”
He added, “Because we already knew where we were in life. If we’re back like this, this must be what it’s supposed to be.”
Ashanti says her life now feels complete. “I am feeling amazing, incredibly pleased, humbled. My life has completely changed for the better. I feel full, you know? My cup is full.” But the growing family might not be done yet. “We’re going to add some more. Definitely a girl to balance it out. I’m outnumbered in the house right now. So, a girl would be great!”
Between a reality show, a baby, and a surprise wedding, the Nelly and Ashanti relationship has made a dramatic comeback, proof that sometimes love really does find a way back.
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