When Ashanti placed her hands on her belly on stage at an event late last year, rumors started flying that she and Nelly were expecting a child as they rekindled their romance a decade after they’d split.
Though the speculation turned out to be true (the couple confirmed Ashanti’s pregnancy and engagement in April), the “Foolish” singer, 43, admitted she didn’t even know she was pregnant.
“We actually did not know. I hadn’t even taken a test at that time,” she told Entertainment Tonight in an interview published Tuesday. She also revealed she was trying to adjust the pendant on her dress when she touched her stomach.
In footage captured at Nelly’s Black and White Ball in St. Louis, Missouri, this past December, Ashanti was seen with her hands on her stomach as she stood onstage. Seconds later, Nelly, 49, briefly touched the accessory on her torso before they started laughing as Polow da Don exclaimed into a microphone that they should “seal the deal.” Nelly then touched her pendant again while smiling, and a bashful Ashanti 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!'”
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How Nelly reacted to Ashanti finding out she was pregnant
Ashanti told ET she suspected she might be pregnant after missing her period following the event.
“I was so shocked and happy and emotional,” she said. “I always dreamed about it. I wanted it so, so bad and I just feel like the timing was perfect.”
After confirming that she was expecting her first child, Ashanti FaceTimed Nelly to let him know, she said.
The big reveal:Ashanti and Nelly are engaged and expecting their first child
“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: daughter Chanelle Haynes, 30, and son Cornell Haynes III, 25. He also adopted his late sister’s children, Shawn and Sydney Thomas, after she died of leukemia in 2005.
Ashanti reveals details of Nelly’s ‘intimate’ proposal
Recalling 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.”
She also revealed they will welcome their child before their nuptials and she knows “what month I want the wedding” to be.
Ashanti and Nelly had privately dated on and off for around a decade, according to Entertainment Tonightafter they were both nominated for (and later won) Grammy Awards in 2003. In 2021, after the two reunited at Fat Joe and Ja Rule’s Verzuz battle, DJ City gave Nelly Ashanti’s phone number.
After months of speculation about the “Body on Me” collaborators rekindling their romance, Nelly revealed in a September 2023 interview that he and the “Foolish” singer were giving things another go. He said on the Philo show “Boss Moves with Rasheeda” that he and Ashanti were “cool again.”
For her part, Ashanti made their relationship red carpet official at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards in September by accessorizing her look with a clutch that had a photo of the couple printed on it.
“Never in a million years did I think we would be here,” she told ET. “Ten years ago, maybe yes, but after our breakup, you know, I didn’t even think we’d ever have a conversation again.”
