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Nelly Details Why His Rekindled Romance With Ashanti ‘Surprised’ Both of Them

Nelly on His Rekindled Romance with Ashanti
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Nelly and Ashanti are throwing it back to the early 2000s!

Nelly, 48, confirmed that the long-estranged pair has rekindled their romance, per a clip of an interview on Philo TV’s “Boss Moves with Rasheeda” that was shared via The Shade Room on Tuesday, September 12.

“Yeah, we cool again,” the Grammy winner said when asked if he reunited with his former flame. “I think it surprised both of us though. It wasn’t anything that I don’t think was planned.”

The duo dated on and off from 2003 to 2013 after meeting at a press conference for the 45th Annual Grammy Awards. The possibility of the pair reuniting seemed unlikely after Ashanti, 42, said she had been “betrayed” by Nelly on The Meredith Vieira Show in 2015.

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“I think sometimes when people have their own insecurities it allows them to act out of character,” the “Rock Wit U” singer said at the time.

The two first sparked reconciliation rumors in April, when they were seen holding hands at a boxing match in Las Vegas. Ashanti also posted a video via her Instagram story, with what appeared to be Nelly’s hoodie visible to her right. She playfully captioned the post, “Oh hey,” with a winky face emoji.

Nelly on His Rekindled Romance with Ashanti
Ashanti and Nelly. Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Two months later, the “Hot In Herre” singer and Ashanti posed with their arms around each other at the 3rd Annual Birthday Ball for Quality Control CEO Pierre Thomas. In August, Nelly posted a video to his own Instagram Story of the two cozying up together while singing to Usher’s “Nice & Slow.”

“I just want to take it nice and slow,” they sang in the video. “See I’ve been waiting for this for so long.”

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Some time apart was seemingly what the couple needed. Nelly explained on Tuesday that being separated can lead to understanding the other person more.

“You be like, ‘Yo, let me see exactly what they see,’” he said. “You know, because we all can be defensive sometimes in our own relationships. We know we wrong but we going to stand on it. But we all a victim to that.”

When asked if the relationship “feels good now,” Nelly responded enthusiastically that it does “because it’s no pressure.”

“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,” he added.

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