Ashanti is pregnant and expecting her first child with her rekindled love, Nelly, and that's not all: The couple is also engaged!
The 43-year-old singer confirmed the news in an interview with Essence.
“This new year of my life is such a blessing full of love, hope and anticipation,” she told the magazine on April 17. “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.”
That same day, Ashanti posted a teasy Instagram video, revealing her pregnancy. The clip shows Ashanti getting ready before a show with people asking how much time she needs.
"I'm gonna need about nine months," she says, holding up a pregnancy test strip.
"Baby baby baby baby," the Instagram video is captioned.
The confirmation comes months after fans speculated the singer was pregnant. Back in December, video circulated of Ashanti and Nelly placing their hands on her stomach at an event he hosted in St. Louis.
Nelly, 49, shares two adult children, daughter Chanelle Haynes and son Cornell Haynes III, with his ex-partner Channetta Valentine. The rapper also adopted Shawn and Sydney Thomas, his sister Jackie Donahue's two children after she died of leukemia in 2005, per Essence.
Nelly previously commented on the possibility of kids with Ashanti in the comments section of an Instagram post on Nov. 4 that thanked Ashanti for the blue convertible she gifted him for his birthday.
"Get her pregnant @nelly," read one comment. "TONIGHT!!"
Nelly replied: "I'm on it."
The two first met in 2003 and were rumored to be dating for years. But it wasn’t until 2015, after they had reportedly been broken up for a couple years, that Ashanti confirmed the split, per People.
The couple, who have a 20-year history, confirmed they are back together in September. Ashanti, on her end, carried a clutch to the 2023 Video Music Awards that had a picture of them from years ago printed on it.
She told TODAY on the red carpet at the VMAs: “This is where we first exchanged numbers. I was like, ‘Oh, this would be cute.’”
“Everything is lining up in the universe,” she added. “So I’m happy.”
Nelly gave an interview on “Boss Moves With Rasheeda" Sept. 12, and when asked if he and Ashanti were back together, he replied, "Yeah, we cool again." He flashed a bright smile.
Ashanti and Nelly reconnecting two decades after meeting has stirred up their fan bases.
"I swear @ashanti and Nelly are the cutest he spun the block and ain’t stopped smiling yet he IN LOVE with her," a fan tweeted alongside a video of the couple singing.
"I’m so genuinely happy for Ashanti and Nelly…like they went their merry way and found each other again…" another fan wrote.
"S/O to @ashanti and Nelly! This is easily the happiest couple I have ever seen," a third said.
