Kelly Rowland
Kelly Rowland got candid about the emotional reunion she had with her father after not seeing him for 30 years. The former Destiny’s Child singer was joined by her father, Christopher Lovett, while guest co-hosting the Today Show with Hoda Kotb and they shared how they were able to build a bond after not speaking for three decades.
Kelly was raised by her mom who passed away three weeks after the singer gave birth to her first child Titan in 2014. “I had a wonderful mom who supported me and loved me, but the truth is, there was always a piece of me that was kinda missing,” she said. “For 30 years, my dad was absent in my life.” Prior to making the connection with her father, the “Motivation” singer admitted that she originally didn’t want to have anything to do with him due to him being absent.
She even went as far as to tell security not to let him come inside venues where she was performing. Her father revealed that once he figured out that Kelly was his daughter, he did try to make contact with her numerous times, but was unsuccessful. However, when the 41-year-old mother of two decided it was time to meet her father, she reached out to him and they met at a hotel in Atlanta where they spoke for two hours.
Christopher called meeting his daughter for the first time a “dream.” “People would say I saw your daughter [on TV] and I used to sit there and say, ‘I didn’t’ and it hurt,” he said. He also shared that he felt “sad” when security wouldn’t let him see his daughter in the past.
Christopher wanted to use the opportunity of finally meeting his daughter to share his side of the story such as the fact that he didn’t know that Kelly and her mother left Atlanta and moved to Houston until three or four years later.
During the Today Show, Kelly reflected on the first time she heard her father say those three words every young girl yearns to hear: I love you.
“It was necessary to hear it for the little girl in me,” she said. “It was necessary to hear it from a man. It was necessary to hear it from my father. When I thought about all the tumultuous relationships and trying to figure out men, like, that is the base and the foundation of it psychologically. So when I’m talking to therapists, and I’m asking them about this, it all runs back to the abandonment issue.”
For people who are thinking about reaching out to an estranged parent, Kelly shared these tips.
“Brace yourself and ask yourself a couple of questions. Am I ready for this? Am I ready for no matter the outcome whether it’s good or bad? Because the truth is you don’t want to set yourself up,” she said.
“Everybody is always scared of the other side and you don’t know if it’s going to be this person embracing you with open arms or they’re not ready. And if they’re not ready, that’s okay. That’s kind of their way of shielding you from themselves.”
Featured image by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Disney Dreamers Academy
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