Jill Scott is no stranger to love. After all, this ESSENCE Black Women in Music honoree has written some of the most sensual and heartwarming love ballads of the last two decades. But her new role in Lifetime’s romantic comedy, With This Ring, has her reflecting on her past relationships and looking forward to new love.
“The movie made us all think about what we’re doing. For Regina and I, the two single girls, we really thought about what it is we want,” Scott told ABC News Radio.
So what does Jill want? In the film, Scott’s character and the other women feel pressured to “complete” their lives by getting married within a year. This pressure is nothing new to Scott, who’s been married once, engaged again, and is currently single. These days, she’s very focused on finding the right one and she usually knows when she’s met someone special after about six months of dating.
“I’m older now so I see a little bit better than I did before. My longest relationships now are about nine months,” she said. “Actually, now it’s grown to six months. There’s no need for me to waste my time or anybody else’s. I know by then. If you make it over the six month hump, you have done something. I must really like you.”
Scott says that in order for a relationship to work, in addition to really liking the man in her life, she has to really like herself.
“You have to be who you are and you have to genuinely love who you love in order to have a lasting marriage,” she advises. “Getting married is one thing; staying married is something else.”
