Nelly and Ashanti’s circle back to one another has hopeless romantics believing their second chance at love with “the one that got away” is coming full circle. Their new life together is chronicled in a new Peacock reality series, We Belong Together. Throughout the episodes, the newly married couple navigate new parenthood, where to settle their family, and their booming careers—all while being in the public eye.
Ashanti says this show is an opportunity for fans to see her in a different light and seemingly humanize her, as she has been more guarded publicly. “I think for us, once we got married, he felt like this would be a really cool vehicle and just something positive to do, especially in this day and age. And for me, we’re married, I’m a team player and I’m all in,” she told us in a recent interview. “And like you said, I’ve been a lot more private, so I feel like this was a chance to kinda open up just a little bit.”
Breaking the ‘reality TV curse’
Many marriages seem to crumble once they open up their lives for public consumption. There’s an idea of the “reality TV curse.” But Nelly says that’s not something he feeds into. “I don’t believe in curses,” he said. “I believe that everybody brings their own energy. And the energy that you create is the energy that will be around you. That’s why I try to get from around negative people. I try to clear all negative people from around me. I’m a glass-half-full type of person. And I think that’s just from the way you grow up.”
Balancing love, legacy and nonstop careers
In addition to being newlyweds and parents of a baby boy, Nelly and Ashanti also have full careers. The rapper has a new country record and a new single professing his love for his wife. He’s also re-launching his Apple Bottoms clothing line and celebrating the 25th anniversary of his debut album Country Grammar with a U.S. tour kicking off this July with Eve and Ja Rule as special guests. Ashanti is always touring. She’s also acting and involved in a number of brand deals. Nelly views the show as a way to expand their entertainment profile.
“I’m a lot more business-minded, and I would probably say as far as looking at things when it comes to who we are as artists, who where we wanna go as entrepreneurs, how we wanna set up generational wealth, how you wanna have and leave things for people that’s coming behind us—and I think the way you have to do that is you have to think realistically about it and not almost in a magical way. But we all work hard and I think that’s the key, and I think that this is a vehicle,” he said.
Nelly also believes the show is a treat to fans who’ve followed their love story from the beginning. It’s a full-circle moment.
“They’re emotionally invested a little bit. So, it’s almost like a reward for our fans just to give them a little bit more than what they would get, let’s just say if we were posting on Instagram or something like that,” he explained.
