Kelly Rowland is opening up about meeting her estranged father Christopher Lovett for the first time. The Destiny’s Child alum paid tribute to her father on Father’s Day by recounting the moment the two reunited decades after her parents’ divorce.
Kelly posted a series of photos on Instagram that showed her and her father reconnecting. “This was the day I met Christopher Lovett, My biological father,” she said. “This was honestly one of the most pivotal moments in my life! After 30years of not seeing him, not speaking to him…what would THAT mean, for me, my family, my psyche?”
She added, “Well, this day in Oct. of 2018, I would find out. I finally found him, set up the meeting, and at this time I was filming ‘”American Soul'”, when I tell you I was petrified, I was walking to meet him, and my feet suddenly felt like they weighed A TON, needles to say I was overcome with anxiety, and I had a full on anxiety attack, in that moment I felt like the abandoned 8yr old.”
Kelly shared that she “cursed” her father in her head for leaving her so many years ago and implied that her mind was filled with negative thoughts such as: “Why didn’t you come find me?” “Did you love me?” and “Am I worthy?”
The “Coffee” artist shared that her thoughts shifted when she met him. “But, those feelings faded away once they reunited. And when I looked at him, and he looked at me, NOTHING CAME TO MY LIPS, not one word,” she expressed. “I felt the Holy Spirit say to me,listen. I listened to him, I was nervous to trust him, nervous to forgive him,nervous to love him nervous about it all. And the truth is, I already loved him.”
Kelly revealed that her husband Tim Weatherspoon advised her to forgive her father, and she added that the repaired relationship is now very close. “And since this time, I have forgiven, and we have spoken everyday since! I have come to know SO much about myself, my family history, and even where my love of music & voice have come from.”
She concluded her message by expressing her love to her father, sharing that she is a daddy’s girl at 39 years old.
In 2013, Lovett said in an interview with Star Magazine that Kelly was taken away from him when she was 7 following his divorce from her mother. He explained that he wanted to connect with Kelly before it was too late. “So many previous years have passed and I’m getting old. I just pray she comes back into my life before it’s too late. I hope I could make it up to her. But I’m still waiting for that day,” he said. Nearly five years after the interview, the two officially reunited.
