Nelly finally reveals reason behind rushed marriage to Ashanti

Nelly is finally spilling the beans about his rushed marriage.

The rapper first started dating Ashanti in 2003 after meeting the singer during the Grammys. The two dated for about a decade before they began seeing other people.

As fate would have it, Nelly and Ashanti got back together in 2023 after a ten-year gap and in December of the same year, it was revealed that the couple were expecting their first child.

Curiously, Nelly and Ashanti got married in a private ceremony on the 27th of December, just days after announcing their pregnancy and welcomed their first baby together on July 18, 2024.

Now, the Hot in Herre rapper is opening up about the reason behind his seemingly quick marriage.

In an appearance on the Bootleg Kev podcast, Nelly revealed he married Ashanti right after the pregnancy announcement because he did not want her to be labelled as a “baby mama.”

The 50-year-old further explained that he wanted to get over the marriage hump because “everything’s moving so fast.”

“I didn’t want her to be a baby mama. Because we already knew where we were in life, and if we’re back like this, this must be what this supposed to be,” Nelly said.

The rapper also reminisced about a much-talked-about hug between him and Ashanti in 2021 that seemingly reignited their relationship.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Nelly said as he expressed gladness for just going over there and hugging his future wife during the Verzuz battle between Fat Joe and Ja Rule.

RELATED: Playboi Carti takes dig at Lil Yachty amid 'MUSIC' success