Niecy Nash opens up about falling for ‘hersband’ Jessica Betts
Nash is head over heels in love with her wife and has no qualms about how her fans may feel about that
Niecy Nash stunned many of her fans when she married longtime friend Jessica Betts during an intimate California ceremony last August. Now the Claws star is opening up about how she unexpectedly found herself falling in love with another woman.
Wednesday, during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Nash spoke candidly about her relationship with her wife, who she told host Ellen DeGeneres she refers to as her “hersband.”
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“A lot of people say that, like, ‘Oh, you came out!’ and I say, ‘Well, from out of where?’ You know what I mean?” the 51-year-old actress said of her sexuality. “I wasn’t anywhere to come out of. I wasn’t living a sexually repressed life when I was married to men, I just loved them when I loved them. And now I love her.”
She explained to DeGeneres that she and Betts were friends long before becoming romantically involved and that their relationship blossomed quite organically.
“We were probably friends for about four and a half years,” Nash recalled. “I was already divorced and we were still friends, and we went to go eat crabs.”
“Ah, that’s it. That’s the gay thing,” DeGeneres playfully responded before Nash teased back, “It’s a gateway, people. If you don’t want this life, don’t go eat crabs.”
“Do not go to eat crabs with your friend,” DeGeneres added. “That’s what will do it. I knew I was going to get to the bottom of it before the commercial.”
Love has no gender
Playful banter aside, Nash has always taken seriously how her elevated platform allows her to reframe the way her supporters see the LGBTQ+ community. And as we previously reported, Nash was tapped to host the 32nd GLAAD Media Awards, held virtually this year due to COVID-19.
“I am so thrilled to be hosting this year’s GLAAD Media Awards, honoring the LGBTQ stories and images that change the world by growing acceptance and understanding,” said Nash in a statement, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Read More: Niecy Nash on possibly losing fans due to marriage: ‘I’m happy’
“My wife Jessica and I are still thriving in newlywed bliss, and I’m looking forward to bringing that love and joy to GLAAD’s biggest night. Be ready for a surprise or two!,” she added.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Nash made it a point to be clear she fell in love with and then later married Betts because of their connection and that gender alone wasn’t enough to deter her from letting their love blossom.
“[My marriage] has absolutely nothing to do with gender and it has everything to do with her soul,” Nash, who divorced her second husband Jay Tucker in March 2020, said of the singer. “She is the most beautiful soul I have ever met in my life.”
“I love who I love. At one point in my life, I married twice and I love those people. And today I love this person. I’ve done everything I wanted to do on my own terms and my own way. So my choice now in a partner has nothing to do with who I’ve always been. It’s a matter of who I am in this moment,” she concluded.
Check out the full interview with Ellen below.
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