How Many Children Does Nelly Have? He’s Expecting His Fifth

The Gist:

• Nelly and Ashanti were together for a decade but broke up in 2013 before rekindling their relationship and preparing to have a child together in 2023.
• Nelly has four other children — two of them are from previous relationships and two of them he adopted after his sister died from leukemia in 2005.
• The child will be Ashanti’s first and suggests that they are firmly romantically involved.

After a decade apart, Nelly and Ashanti started dating again in 2023 and then announced that they were expecting their first child together. While the news is exciting for the couple’s fans, it also led many to wonder whether Nelly has any children other children.

Nelly has been a fixture of pop culture for more than 20 years, but that doesn’t mean every aspect of his personal life is widely known. And, as it turns out, Nelly’s newest child won’t be his first. Let’s meet his four other kids.

Nelly already has four children. He has two children, a son named Cornell Hayes III and a daughter named Chanelle, from previous relationships. Nelly also adopted two children from his sister, Jackie, who died from complications related to leukemia in 2005. Nelly has made efforts to keep his kids out of the public eye, but he does occasionally post pictures of them on his Instagram page.

Ashanti’s child with Nelly will be her first. The two previously dated from 2003 to 2013 after they met at the Grammy Awards. They rekindled their romance earlier in 2023, and rumors had been swirling that Ashanti may be pregnant. Those rumors only intensified after the two appeared together at the Black and White Ball in St. Louis, and Nelly put his hand on her stomach.

Nelly confirmed the two were once again in a relationship in September 2023, and even admitted that neither of them thought they would be getting back together.

“Time does wonders for a lot of different things,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “And time is one those things that allows you time to reflect on what’s what, and you get a chance to see things in a different light and see your faults. So I think we both did that and it’s cool that we just friends.”

At the time, the two had rekindled a friendship, but things seem to have become much more romantic in the time since.

Now, Nelly is posting much more explicitly romantic things about their relationship, including a birthday message that was accompanied by a slideshow of images of the two of them together.