Da Brat and wife Jesseca Dupart are living their best lives right now. In addition to breaking the Internet by announcing that they’re expecting their first child together, they also are celebrating their wedding anniversary today (Feb. 22). If you recall, the couple tied the knot in grand fashion in Atlanta in 2022. They had a star-studded wedding that included Jermaine Dupri walking Brat down the aisle, Rickey Smiley stepping in for her to do the father-daughter dance, and LisaRaye, Brat’s sister, showing up as one of the bridesmaids for the big event. Guests included Kandi Burruss, Porsha Williams, singer Nivea, Eva Marcille, Raynell “Supa Cent” Steward, Tokyo Vanity, Shamea Morton and more.
A year since they honored their love in front of friends and family, they’re preparing to welcome their first child. How sweet! It’s been quite the journey for the couple. Slide on down to see their love story from the very beginning all the way up to this joyful moment.
In 2017, the two met at one of Dupart’s Kaleidoscope brand events in Atlanta for the Miracle Drops product. Brat was interested, but shy. “I was real nervous and scared at first. I would hide behind furniture when she would talk to me,” the rapper said. “I would cover up my face when I laughed. Swag gone, okay? Nobody would probably expect me to act like that.”
The two got a bit more acquainted while going on their first “date,” which was at the studio. This was a surprise to Dupart, because she was under the impression that they were just working together on some promo for the Miracle Drops, but Brat used the opportunity as a chance to get closer to her. “She said ‘Let’s link.’ What is that supposed to mean to me?” Jesseca said in 2021. “I thought she wanted to link so I thought, we about to chill. We about to kick it.” Brat managed to make a good impression, despite spilling a drink. She went ghost for a time (“for months” actually) after they exchanged numbers, but was able to smooth things over with Dupart.
“In the beginning it was certain rules. If we meet, obviously it can’t be like, ‘Oh, we can go to the movies.’ So it just took some getting used to. And I was perfectly fine with it,” Dupart told ESSENCE in 2021. “I felt like it was a new part of life that I never really tapped into or explored, so understanding the perks of privacy, it just was like, ‘Okay. I get it.’”
In 2019, the ladies were in New Orleans, where Dupart is from, for ESSENCE Fest. During that time, Brat became less concerned about what other people might think or say about her being more open about being in love with another woman. “Now in the beginning, when we were first in New Orleans, we went to eat at Morrow’s. And I was still a little bit nervous because I walked behind the side of the building. And then she came around and she planted one on me. And I was like, ‘Oh my God. You kissed me outside,’” she told us in 2021. “And then at the ESSENCE Fest, it was just like, You know what? I didn’t care anymore.” Brat added, “It was just the way she made me feel.”
In March 2020, the two went public with their relationship after they were spotted hanging out together in NOLA and after the rumor mill got going. Around the time of her birthday, Brat shared the Bentley Dupart bought for her on Instagram and gushed about finding her person. “I’ve always been a kind of private person until I met my heart’s match who handles some things differently than I do,” she wrote. “Thank you baby @darealbbjudy for far more than this incredible birthday gift. I have never experienced this feeling. It’s so overwhelming that often I find myself in a daze hoping to never get pinched to see if it’s real so I can live in this dream forever.“
Soon after going public, the couple landed a reality show together on weTV called “Brat Loves Judy.” During a surprise birthday party Dupart threw for the rapper on the show, she popped the question, asking for Brat’s hand in marriage.
While it was never clear who was pregnant or if they were at the time, in January 2022, the couple shared a picture of Brat holding her hands in a heart over Dupart’s stomach. Fans and celeb friends took that to mean they were expecting. Brat has since shared that it was actually them marketing a new collaboration for the Kaleidoscope brand. Nevertheless, they had begun putting things in place to have a baby.
In Feb. 22, 2022, the couple officially said “I do” in a star-studded wedding. Brat’s sister, LisaRaye, was one of her bridesmaids, and the rapper was escorted down the aisle by longtime friend and collaborator Jermaine Dupri.
After saying “I do,” the ladies continued to press forward with plans to extend their family. In addition to Dupart experiencing some complications following her egg retrieval efforts, and Brat being told that fibroids and polyps would need to be removed before she could even think about carrying a child, the rapper experienced a miscarriage. “I had never been so excited about something that I didn’t even know I wanted,” she told PEOPLE. “I fell in love with the idea and then it was all snatched away from me.”
Things worked out for the best. A day shy of them celebrating their very first wedding anniversary, the couple announced in multiple ways (including with PEOPLE, on their social media accounts and on Sherri Shepherd’s show, “Sherri”) that they’re having a baby with the help of a donor from their cryo bank. “It’s just a blessing,” Brat told PEOPLE. “I’m excited!”
