Those “time apart” things couples do rarely work. The two, or at least one, generally finds the time apart refreshing and move on. But sometimes the love is too strong and the couple come back to one another. Thus is the case, it seems, with Ne-Yo and wife Crystal.
Last week, the “Let Me Love You” singer, 40, opened up to The Talk about how being forced to spend more time with Renay due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown allowed them the time to work on their differences.
“The whole quarantine thing was kind of a blessing,” he said, adding that it “allowed me the time to lock back in with” his wife and kids. Ne-Yo is father to sons Roman Alexander-Raj, 2, and Shaffer Chimere Jr., 4, whom he shares with Renay, and son Mason Evan, 8½, and daughter Madilyn Grace, 9½, from a previous relationship.
In February, the artist revealed that he and Renay had decided to go their separate ways and pursue a divorce — a decision he said they’ve worked through in the months since.
“Before the quarantine happened, we were definitely talking divorce,” he said, “and the quarantine forced us to sit still, block out the noise from the world — you know the world can get very, very loud, and we tend to let the world’s opinion mean more in certain situations than it should.”
Ne-Yo said he and his wife had “uncomfortable” conversations, hashing out their problems by being “blatantly, painfully, brutally honest.” He added that those “difficult” discussions can help or hurt, but in their case, it was productive.
“We’re actually stronger now than we were before,” said Ne-Yo. “Now we feel like we can really talk to each other.”