When Niecy Nash married musician Jessica Betts in August 2020, she became a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. However, Nash prefers not to use specific labels to describe her sexuality. The way she sees it, she fell in love with someone who happened to be a woman. It happened organically in a way that was out of her control. In fact, Nash’s relationship with her wife started out as a friendship several years before they married.
The “Claws” star had been raving about Betts’ musical talents since 2016 when Betts shared a clip of Nash to promote her music on Instagram. “Jessica Betts is an artist that feeds your soul. Get into it. I love you, Jessica!” Nash said. Betts also made a guest appearance on “Claws” in 2018. Nash once again showed her appreciation for her talents and paid homage to their friendship. “When you get to hang out on set with you homegirl,” she shared in an Instagram video by Betts.
Their relationship turned romantic in 2019, the same year Nash announced her divorce from Jay Tucker. Before then, the “Reno 911” star had only been in relationships with men — a point that came up when Nash came out to her children. “[My youngest daughter] was like, ‘Wait a minute mom, are you the same mom that was like girl, I’m strictly dickly?'” she said on Red Table Talk in 2021. But Nash fell for Betts for reasons beyond her gender.
Niecy Nash was surprised by her feelings for Jessica Betts
Niecy Nash understands why fans were surprised by her relationship with Jessica Betts. She was also surprised when she realized she had feelings for Betts as the two were eating crabs in New Jersey in 2019. “I was nervous at dinner, because I felt something,” she told Essence in 2021. They spent the night together, but Nash got cold feet the next day. “It [was] challenging for me to realize I’m having feelings for a woman that I’ve normally had for a man,” she said.
Nash eventually accepted she was in love with a woman, but doesn’t believe that realization amounts to coming out. “A lot of people say, “Oh, you came out.’ And I say, ‘Well, from out of where?’ I wasn’t anywhere to come out of,” she said on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2021. In her view, the concept would have the wrong connotation for her previous experiences. “I wasn’t living a sexually repressed life when I was married to men,” she said. “I just loved them when I loved them. And now I love her.”
That doesn’t mean Nash denies being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, an acronym she proudly displays on her Instagram bio. In many ways, she’s still exploring this new side of her sexuality — and loving the journey. “I’m a grown adult woman, but living this part of my life is still very brand new,” she told USA Today in 2023.
