In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ashanti shared that she was utterly taken aback by her beau, Nelly, once he proposed. “It was just such a beautiful, intimate moment, we were not dressy,” she told the outlet on June 18th. The songstress shared that she was wearing one of Nelly’s T-shirts and a pair of boxer shorts when he asked her to marry him. The singer said that she had “absolutely no idea” that Nelly, 49, would propose but had a feeling that the question would come soon. “I felt like [the proposal] was going to come soon,” she shared. “I didn’t know when. The way that it happened was just so funny. I’m sitting in the bed watching TV with boxers on.”
Although she joked that the moment wasn’t too sexy, she did recall bursting into tears when she said yes to his question. “I gave him the biggest hug and kiss ever,” she exclaimed. “I FaceTimed everyone I know. … I was overjoyed and shocked and surprised and happy, kind of, like, all in one.”
Ashanti also said she’s ready to walk down the aisle, alluding to the fact that a wedding might happen soon and sharing early details of the nuptials. “I think it’s going to be a combination of fashion, glam, and Caribbean vibes,” Ashanti told the outlet. Also, she noted that she and Nelly were both “very busy” while expecting their first baby together. “I have to have a beach, ocean, sunshine, and palm trees.”
Ashanti and Nelly have a love story for the ages. They split in 2013 after ten years of dating and got back together in April 2023. The couple will have their first child together, as Nelly shares daughter Chanelle, 30, and son Cornell Haynes III, 25, with ex Channetta Valentine.
Earlier this year, we exclusively spoke with the singer about her engagement. “This new year of my life is such a blessing full of love, hope, and anticipation,” she said to us in April. “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.”
Reflecting on her rekindled relationship with their past romance, Ashanti told ET that “the growth has been, like, superb, you know, like on both ends.”
She continued, “We are both at a place where like before, sometimes we would argue and walk out, slam the door, and not talk for a few days. Now it’s kind of like, ‘All right, you good?’ You know, give me a kiss goodbye and it’s over. It’s not, like, holding on and bickering and we find out what the resolution is. We apologize. … It used to take me a little longer to apologize.”