More than two decades after they first got together, Ashanti and Nelly are engaged—and expecting. The singer and rapper announced both pieces of news Wednesday, via Instagram and an Essence interview with Ashanti. "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," she tells the magazine. The Instagram post also served as an ad for Proov, a diagnostic company offering at-home tests for people trying to conceive, which Ashanti and Nelly co-own.
According to an Us Weekly timeline, Ashanti, 43, and Nelly, 49, first met at a Grammys press conference back in 2003. After years of public speculation about their relationship status, Ashanti eventually revealed (in 2015) that they'd been together until 2013. Their first public reunion was in 2021, when Nelly went in for a hug (surprising Ashanti, who later said they hadn't seen each other since splitting up) while the two attended Ja Rule and Fat Joe's Verzuz battle. They performed together the following year, and were officially back together by 2023. Their baby will be Ashanti's first and Nelly's fifth; as People reports, he had children in 1994 and 1999 with ex-girlfriend Channetta Valentine, then adopted his sister's two children in 2005 after her death from leukemia. (More Nelly stories.)
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