Ashanti and Nelly didn’t know she was pregnant when belly-touching video went viral

LOS ANGELES (TND) — R&B star Ashanti is sharing details about how she told Nelly she was pregnant with their baby.

She also said he had no idea she was expecting when he touched her belly during a now-viral video of the two of them performing onstage at the rapper’s annual Black and White Ball in December.

In the video, Nelly appears to rub Ashanti’s stomach and smiles at the crowd. She then playfully slaps his hands away and the couple erupts into laughter while producer Polow da Don encourages them to “seal the deal.”

The public started speculating Ashanti was pregnant, but she said SHE didn’t even know she was pregnant yet.

“We actually did not know. I hadn’t even taken a test at that time,” Ashanti said during an exclusive interview with Entertainment Tonight.

According to ET, Ashanti said she suspected she was pregnant when she missed her period. She told the media outlet she “immediately notified her fianceé via FaceTime” after she confirmed her suspicions.

“I couldn’t wait, [I] had to get it out,” Ashanti told ET. “And he was just like, ‘Oh I knew.'”

“He was so happy and we were both smiling and it was so funny,” she said. “I was actually at his mom’s house… He was in the studio. It was a really cool moment. It was a little bit of everything.”

In April, Ashanti made the pregnancy announcement on Instagram, wearing a fitted blue dress and showing off her baby bump. She also posted an endorsement video on social media for proov, a fertility company, simply captioning the post with, “Baby baby baby baby.”

The video shows her getting ready for a performance. When her mother asks how long she will need before she is ready, she says, “I’m going to need about nine months.”

According to PEOPLE, Nelly has two children, including a 26-year-old daughter and a 21-year-old son. He also helped raise his and nephew after his sister, Jackie Donahue, died of leukemia 31 in 2005.

Ashanti, 43, and Nelly, 49, each rose to fame with their own careers in the 2000s. Ashanti was often called the princess of hip-hop and R&B, while Nelly, a rapper, was most known for his popular hits “Country Grammar,” “Hot in Herre,” and “Dilemma.”

Nelly has won three Grammy Awards, including one for “Hot in Herre,” another for “Dilemma,” and a third for “Shake Ya Tailfeather.” He also has nine Billboard Awards.

Ashanti’s self-titled debut album won a Grammy Award in 2003 for Best Contemporary R&B Album. The album was later certified triple platinum in the U.S.