Congrats are in order for Ashanti and Nelly! The couple is expecting their first child together.
Ashanti, 43, confirmed the news in an Instagram video on April 17, putting to rest months of fan speculation about whether she and her rapper beau are expanding their family.
The clip shows the singer backstage preparing for a performance as her entourage asks how much longer she needs to get ready.
“I’m gonna need about nine months,” she says, holding up what appears to be a pregnancy test.
Ashanti teased fans further with a playful caption, writing, “Baby baby baby baby” alongside heart and laughing emojis.
She and Nelly, 49, first sparked pregnancy rumors in late 2023 when he was seen placing his hands on her belly in a video taken at a charity gala, but the couple had yet to comment directly on the situation until now. Ashanti tagged the hip-hop star in her new post and followers flocked to the comment section to offer their well wishes.
Fans can’t get enough of the pair’s romantic new chapter!
Last September, the Nelly confirmed that he and his fellow music star had rekindled their romance, telling Philo TV’s “Boss Moves with Rasheeda” at the time that neither of them expected more sparks to fly.
“Yeah, we cool again,” Nelly said with a smile. “I think it surprised both of us though. It wasn’t anything that I don’t think was planned.”
The “Country Grammar” artist and the singer originally called it quits in 2013 after a decade of on-and-off dating and he explained why having some time apart helped them reconnect better at this point in their lives.
“I think we both were pretty much doing what we do, but sometimes being separate you understand one another more,” Nelly said, also noting that their dynamic seems stronger than ever.
“Yeah. I mean, because it’s no pressure,” he added, when asked if things “feel good” now.
“Before I felt like both of us were doing what we were doing before career-wise, and when you got so many people in the middle of it, it can be tough,” the artist shared.
Though neither Nelly nor Ashanti had addressed their status until his interview, fans were well aware they had grown closer. The couple sang Usher’s “Nice and Slow” in a video Nelly posted to his Instagram story in August, and they previously stepped out together for Quality Control CEO P Thomas’ birthday party.
And in October, they made things Instagram official when Nelly wished his ladylove a happy birthday with a sweet montage video featuring cute moments they shared over the years.
“Such a beautiful, an incredible person inside and out and one of the hardest working women. I know,” he raved of Ashanti in his caption.
This will be the singer’s first baby; Nelly is father to two grown children from a previous relationship and he also adopted his late sister’s kids after she passed away from leukemia in 2005.
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