Nelly Shares Why Shantel Jackson Is the One, Talks Potential Engagement

Nelly is getting sweet and sentimental when it comes to his lady love. On Monday’s Dancing With the Stars, the “Ride Wit Me” artist dedicated his Villains Night dance to girlfriend Shantel Jackson, before delivering his highest-scoring performance of the season.

Lauren Zima after the show, Nelly reflected on his relationship, and comments he made during the episode about how much he loves Shantel.

“She’s great. She’s really dope. We have a great time, and we understand each other,” shared Nelly, who was joined in the interview by his DWTS pro partner, Daniella Karagach.

In a video package that aired just before his Freddy Kreuger-inspired Argentine tango on Monday, Nelly said the song they’d be dancing to — The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” — was one of his and Shantel’s favorite songs.

“I would not want my life to not have Shantel in it,” Nelly said in the DWTS video package. “We’ve been seeing each other for five or six years. Any time you can connect with somebody like that, it works out for the long run. She’s sweet, beautiful, and the more we got to know each other, she’s just as beautiful inside.”

Nelly also confirmed, when asked by Daniella, that he feels Shantel is “the one.” Nelly explained exactly what made him so sure of that.

“We have so much in common,” Nelly shared. “She grew up in the inner city, she knows what it’s like to go through certain things in life when you grow up in the inner city.”

“She’s very driven, very passionate about the things she does and she doesn’t accept anything but wanting to be better,” he added. “And that’s what I love. That’s exactly what I love.”

However, when the subject of possibly getting engaged came up, Nelly played a bit coy and simply said, “We’re working towards it.”

“When we know, I’ll tell you,” he added.

As for their Argentine tango that paid homage to Freddy Krueger, Nelly and Daniella pulled off a fantastic number that earned the pair three 9s from the judges for a total of 27 out of 30, which is the pair’s highest score of the entire season.