Months after mega superstar Usher revealed his ex Chilli Thomas turned down his marriage proposal, it seems that TLC singer is no longer afraid of marriage.
The former pair dated from 2001 to 2004 as artists under LaFace Records. Neither have revealed the exact cause of their split which came after a publicized scandal and rumors about Usher’s infidelities with other women.
Usher has recently got married and Chilli is currently dating “Boy Meets World” actor Matthew Lawrence.
After sharing that this is the first time she’s been in a relationship without any “no drama” in a recent interview on the Fox Soul talk show, “Portia,” Chilli explained how despite their differences, they have not had “an argument.”
“Do you still have that fear of marriage that you had?” host Portia Bruner asked.
Quickly and confidently, the “Digging On You” singer replied, “I do not.”
“I don’t have any fear at all when it comes to him,” she declared. “It is just the way he is as a man. You know, he’s just he’s a good guy. He has an amazing heart and I mean he checks off all of my lists except for a few … I don’t know yet to get married.”
This is a far cry from her previous comments about getting married. While Chilli has been involved with a few other celebrities, like producer Dallas Austin, with whom she shares a son named Tron Austin, and Nick Cannon, neither has been more high profile than her three years of dating the “U Got It Bad” singer.
Chilli and her label mate immediately became one of the music industry’s favorite couplings. Rumors say the relationship crumbled for a number of reasons. The “Ain’t To Proud to Beg” artist has admitted that they have great “working chemistry.”
Fans recall her cameo appearance in his 2001 music video for “U Remind Me” and his audience serenade during the 2002 BET Awards. That chemistry didn’t translate personal, but he was her “first adult love.”
“We definitely had some chemistry,” she told People in an interview. “But working chemistry does not mean it works in your personal life. If we were working, it was great, but outside of that, we’re different.”
Usher has admitted that Chilli was his first “celebrity crush.” But when it came to relationships and life, they just had different values and saw things differently. Twenty years ago, Chilli was 33 and Usher was 25, and both were paparazzi catnip, but there were fundamental differences that the mom of one could not overlook.
“It looked great, but in real life … he knew he had to be a certain way with me and he couldn’t,” she said in 2023.
Chilli also dispelled the rumor that he cheated on her and said his Grammy-winning album, “Confessions,” was not about her: “I was with him at the studio that whole time.”
After recently marrying for the third time, Usher shared that he wasn’t ready for her, even though he thought he was.
“I was a young man, and she had very specific rules that didn’t work for me,” he told People magazine this year. “We were missing each other. I really did want to have a different type of relationship where she was there with me, and she couldn’t be. She didn’t believe that I was actually in love with her as much as I was.”
Usher tells @Essence his first celebrity crush was his longtime girlfriend, Chilli https://t.co/EPY0OPjSnS pic.twitter.com/wE4spVnsoz
— Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) April 11, 2024
Usher added, “I wanted to marry her. I proposed, and she told me no.”
He never admitted when he proposed but her rejection broke his heart and gave him “a great deal of pain.” So much so, the “Coming Home” singer said, he stopped “trusting women or wanting to open up.”
In light of Chilli’s recent remarks, one online social media user said, “Usher really fumbled the bag with her” in the comment section of The Jasmine Brand‘s post. Two others said, “I’m just happy to see love win…. Congrats to them both” and “She really can’t still be this fine.”
In 2021, people flooded Chilli’s Instagram wondering how a woman so beautiful still doesn’t have a husband. She was clear and concise: “Because I’m not into settling for bulls—t.”
In her new relationship, it seems there is no smelly manure. The Georgia native is thoroughly in love and has been discussing marriage with Lawrence publicly for a year.
During an appearance on the “Tamron Hall” talk show in May 2023, she told the host after being asked about why she isn’t married that she “just waited it out.”
“I’m like, ‘Lord, if it happens, wonderful. If it doesn’t, I’m still OK.’ I’ve never been the one that’s hard up, saying I’ve gotta be in a relationship or I gotta be married and all this. I wanted it to be right,” she said.
Even her friends see the difference, including her surviving group mate, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins.
“It’s been great. I can, look, I’m living vicariously through her, so, it’s been great ’cause I’ve never seen her like this,” the singer said.
Lawrence has been vocal about his love for Chilli.
In the comment section of one of the social media clips of Chilli’s recent confession of love, he wrote, “The feeling is definitely mutual.”
