When Niecy Nash-Betts announced she was married to musician Jessica Betts, many people were surprised. The Emmy-nominated actress has a history of dating only men and was even married twice prior to meeting her wife. However, Niecy has become an example of the saying “love is love” and she and Jessica have been open about their relationship ever since.
The Claws star and her daughter Dia Nash stopped by the YouTube series Bumble Presents Luv2SeeIt with Teyana Taylor and dished on love and dating outside of what was expected. “The most rewarding thing for me is just that for the first time, I feel fully seen,” Niecy said. “I loved everybody that I was with until I didn’t. So, it wasn’t that I was living a sexually repressed life or I always wanted to do a thing but never did it, I just wasn’t on that side of the line.”
“Now that I am,” she continued, “the best thing about it is that I can be 100% who I am. I don’t have to play small, I don’t have to dumb it down. I can be bright, shiny. I can take up space and it’s well received.”
Niecy and Jessica got married in August 2020 and recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary. The actress reflected on the moment that she told her family including her three children about Jessica and what her 23-year-old daughter’s response was. While she said she would have preferred to tell everyone in person, she had to tell them on FaceTime because she was traveling.
Everyone was supportive but that didn’t mean jokes were off limits. Niecy said that Dia’s response was, “are you the same mom that said, ‘I’m strictly dickly?’” She added, “but she was like, are you happy? And that’s the most important part.”
The Rookie: Feds star also dished on her marriage with the Los Angeles Times and shared why she decided to keep her relationship under wraps when they began dating.
"[Early on] our relationship wasn't a secret, but it was private," she explained. “I couldn't wait to just be like, 'This is me.' I didn't know if people were gonna turn their backs on me. But I don't do secrets. It's not in my DNA."
While the 52-year-old has always had a vibrant personality, she believes marriage helped her to be more of her authentic self. "Being comfortable in my skin has been a gift. I liken it to my marriage because I've never been a person who lives my life in a closeted type of way," she said.
Niecy and Dia Nash discuss dating comfort zones | Bumble Presents Luv2SeeIt with Teyana Taylor
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