It’s a match made in Top 40 radio: musicians Ashanti and Nelly are engaged and expecting their first child together, Ashanti shared with Essence Wednesday.
“This new year of my life is such a blessing full of love, hope, and anticipation,” she told the outlet. “Motherhood is something that I have looked forward to, and sharing this with my family, fiancé, and loyal fans, who have been so supportive of my career, is an amazing experience.”
The two R&B artists have had an on-again, off-again relationship: They previously called it quits in 2013, but were spotted together again last year and now, with a wedding and a baby in their future, are decidedly on. Nelly confirmed in an interview in September 2023 that the two had rekindled their relationship, saying “we cool again.”
“I think it surprised both of us though,” he said of reconnecting. “It wasn't anything that I don't think was planned.”
This is the first child for Ashanti, 43, and will be the fifth for Nelly, 49. The Grammy-winning rapper adopted his sister Jackie Donahue’s two children after she died of Leukemia in 2005, and has another son and daughter as well.
Ashanti and Nelly are not only romantic partners, but business partners as well. They are minority stakeholders of the company Proov, an at-home medical test company. In a reveal video posted on both her own Instagram and Essence’s, Ashanti confirmed her pregnancy while brandishing one of the company’s pregnancy tests.
“I’mma need about nine months,” she says, holding up the positive test.
Original article can be found on Vanity Fair
