Music

Ashanti confirms pregnancy, engagement to Nelly: ‘An amazing experience’

By
Erin Keller
Published April 17, 2024, 7:58 p.m. ET

Y2K couple goals!

Ashanti, 43, and Nelly, 49, are engaged and expecting their first child together.

“This new year of my life is such a blessing full of love, hope, and anticipation,” Ashanti, 43, told Essence magazine in a statement on Wednesday. “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.”

Nelly and Ashanti arrive for the 25th Annual Mark Twain Prize For American Humor at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on March 24.
Nelly and Ashanti arrive for the 25th Annual Mark Twain Prize For American Humor at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on March 24. AFP via Getty Images
Ashanti confirms pregnancy, engagement to Nelly
Ashanti sported this ring at the Mark Twain Prize ceremony. Bonnie Cash/UPI/Shutterstock

The “Foolish” singer also addressed the news in a video posted to her Instagram, which shows her getting ready for a performance.

“How much time you need?” Ashanti momager Tina Y. Douglas asks her daughter about when she’ll grace the stage.

“I’m gonna need about nine months,” Ashanti replied as the logo for Proov, an at-home fertility and hormone marker test, flashed across the screen.

Ashanti and Nelly perform at E11EVEN Miami during the 10th Anniversary of E11EVEN celebration on Feb. 2.
Ashanti and Nelly perform at E11EVEN Miami during the 10th Anniversary of E11EVEN celebration on Feb. 2. Getty Images for E11EVEN

“Baby baby baby baby…” Ashanti captioned the post.

This will be Ashanti’s first child and Nelly’s third. He has daughter Chanelle, 29, and son Cornell Haynes III, 24, with his ex, Channetta Valentine.

The exciting news comes months after a source told Us Weekly in December that the ultra-Y2K couple were expecting their first child together. A rep for Nelly could not confirm or deny the news when contacted by The Post back then.

The duo, who dated on and off from 2003 to 2014, fueled pregnancy rumors in December onstage at his Black and White Ball in St. Louis when Ashanti placed her hand on her stomach, prompting the “Hot In Heree” rapper to do the same.

Ashanti confirms pregnancy, engagement to Nelly
This would be Ashanti’s first child and Nelly’s third. Instagram/@ashanti

“I want you guys to say ‘seal the deal,’” a man with a microphone encouraged the crowd to repeat back.

Despite the “Body On Me” collaborators going their separate ways for nearly a decade, they reunited in April 2023 at a boxing match between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia in Las Vegas.

In 2022, Ashanti told The Post why the lovebirds’ high-profile relationship didn’t last the first time around.

Ashanti confirms pregnancy, engagement to Nelly
Ashanti is 43. Instagram/@ashanti

“There were good times, and there were times where it was hard . . . just traveling so much and living in two different states,” she said. “Our careers were, like, taking off back then. It was really hard to try and just do everything.”

The “Rock Wit U” singer even claimed she was completely comfortable with not marrying.

“There have been situations that were very, very close to that,” she claimed. “I just want it to be the right person. My parents have been married for, like, 40-plus years. So, you know, that’s kind of like the template for me.”