Ashanti Addresses Nelly Reconciliation Rumors

Does Ashanti want that old thing back?

The R&B singer and her ex-boyfriend Nelly are sparking reconciliation rumors after they reunited for the first time in six years at Fat Joe and Ja Rule’s Verzuz event on Tuesday. Joe brought out Nelly to perform their collaboration “Get It Poppin’,” while Ashanti joined Ja on stage for their many hits. Towards the end of the live-streamed battle, Nelly walked up to Ashanti and hugged her just before the camera cut away.

Nelly really walked through these people’s concert to give Ashanti a hug 😂 #VERZUZ pic.twitter.com/J02cjG7XxD

— Kathleen Francois, MSW, LCSW, LCADC (@katfrancoislcsw) September 15, 2021

While going live on Instagram with Ja Rule, Fat Joe, and Remy Ma the next day, Ashanti was asked about a possible reconciliation with her ex.

“Listen, there’s nothing happening,” said Ashanti. “Now look, this is the crazy part. I had no idea he was gonna be there and I haven’t seen him or spoken to him since we broke up. Six years or something? So, I didn’t know what to expect.”

Ja then asked if there was “something still there,” prompting Ashanti to respond, “Stop playing with me, Ja.”

But there’s no chance of the former couple getting back together because Ashanti is off the market. When Ja told her that Nelly was single, she responded, “But I ain’t.”

However, there’s no animosity between the exes. “I didn’t know what to expect, but it was positive,” Ashanti said of their conversation.

Ashanti and Nelly started dating after meeting at a Grammy press conference in 2003 and broke up a decade later.

At one point, Nelly had even expressed interest in marrying Ashanti. “I think you really have to be friends first. It’s not about how long it takes,” he told Rap-Up in 2010. “I’m not a person that wants to get married more than once. If I’ma do it, I’ma do it. You’re dying if you leave me.”

Ashanti was recently romantically linked to Flo Rida, but she did not say who she is currently dating. In 2019, Nelly broke up with his girlfriend of five years, Shantel Jackson.