Last year, Ashanti sparked rumors of a pregnancy with Nelly by placing her hands on her belly during an event. These rumors were confirmed in April when the couple announced Ashanti’s pregnancy and engagement.
However, the 43-year-old singer revealed she was unaware of her pregnancy during the belly-touching moment. “We actually did not know. I hadn’t even taken a test at that time,” she told Entertainment Tonight in an interview published Tuesday.
Ashanti clarified that she was adjusting the pendant on her dress when she touched her stomach, which sparked pregnancy rumors. At Nelly’s Black and White Ball in St. Louis last December, footage showed Ashanti with her hands on her stomach. Nelly briefly touched her accessory, prompting laughter and a comment from Polow da Don to “seal the deal.”
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Nelly touched her pendant again, smiling, as Ashanti bashfully turned them away from the crowd. “I was pushing it down and he’s like, making it look like something,” she explained to ET. “And I’m like, ‘No!’”
Ashanti told ET she suspected she might be pregnant after missing her period following the event. After confirming her pregnancy, Ashanti FaceTimed Nelly to share the news, she revealed.
“I couldn’t wait; (I) had to get it out,” she said. “And he was just like, ‘Oh I knew.’”
“He was so happy and we were both smiling and it was so funny,” she added. “I was actually at his mom’s house… He was in the studio. It was a really cool moment. It was a little bit of everything.”
Nelly has two adult children from previous relationships, Chanelle Haynes, 30, and Cornell Haynes III, 25. He adopted his late sister’s children, Shawn and Sydney Thomas, after she passed away from leukemia in 2005.
Recounting her engagement to ET, Ashanti said, “It was just such a beautiful, intimate moment. We were not dressy.”
“The way that it happened was just so funny. I’m sitting in bed, watching TV with boxers on. … It’s not sexy!” she said. “I cried. I gave him the biggest hug and kiss ever. I FaceTimed everyone I know. … I was overjoyed and shocked and surprised and happy kind of like all in one.”
Ashanti disclosed that their child will arrive before their wedding, and she has a specific month in mind for the ceremony.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Ashanti and Nelly had a decade-long on-and-off relationship, starting after both were nominated for and won Grammy Awards in 2003. Their reunion in 2021 at Fat Joe and Ja Rule’s Verzuz battle reportedly led to DJ City giving Nelly Ashanti’s phone number.
After months of rumor-mongering, Nelly confirmed in a September 2023 interview on “Boss Moves with Rasheeda” that he and Ashanti were back together. He described their relationship as “cool again.”
