Ashanti appeared on the Dec. 13 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and discussed her reunion with ex, Nelly, at a concert in Arizona earlier this month. A fan called in and asked how Ashanti felt about the reaction to the steamy performance, where the two sang their 2008 hit, “Body On Me.” The caller also pointed out that fans are hoping Ashanti and Nelly will be the next Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, who recently got married following a nearly 20 year split.
Ashanti couldn’t help but crack up over the question. “Oh my gosh,” she said. “I saw a lot of comments. My reaction was…wow. It was a lot of comments and a lot of people wanting that.” She then confirmed where her relationship with Nelly stands today. “What I will say is, we’re in a better place,” Ashanti explained. “Because before it was like [*punching*]. We have some conversations [now]. So it was cool.” When Andy Cohen flat-out asked, “But you’re not getting back together?”, Ashanti didn’t shut down the possibility, either. “I mean, I don’t….” she said, before trailing off in laughter.
Nelly and Ashanti met at the beginning of 2003 and eventually began dating. They were together for ten years before they split. Back in Sept. 2021, the two reunited after not seeing each other for several years when they both appeared onstage at Ja Rule and Fat Joe’s Verzuz battle. Nelly ran over and gave Ashanti a hug during the performance. “When I saw him kind of coming across the stage, I was just like, oh. And it was so weird because we haven’t seen or spoken to each other for over six years. So it was a weird feeling,” Ashanti admitted on The Tamron Hall Show. “It had been so long, I didn’t know how to feel or what I was going to feel when I did see him.”
In a subsequent interview, Ashanti shared that she had no idea Nelly was going to be at the Verzuz when she agreed to attend. She admitted that it was “a little awkward” and “very unexpected” to see her ex at the event.
Ashanti and Nelly didn’t talk much publicly about their split, but she did admit in 2015 that a betrayal led to the breakup. “I think sometimes when people have their own insecurities, it allows them to act out of character. I’ve been betrayed,” she shared. “I’m not a big fan of people being cowards. I’m in a different place now.”