Angela Simmons On Her Broken Engagement And Being Judged For Having A Baby Out Of Wedlock
In an upcoming episode of Growing Up Hip Hop, Angela Simmons has a chat with her mother, Valeri Simmons, about the ending of her engagement to former fiance, Sutton Tennyson. The former Run’s House star also opens up about life as a single mom and the criticism that she’s faced after having a child out of wedlock. According to Angela, the criticism was particularly harsh because she’s the daughter of a reverend. Simmons and her former fiance share a 1-year-old son named Sutton Joseph.
The 30-year-old said that she arrived at an unhappy place with her ex-fiance, although she fought for the relationship to work. Angela said that the last thing she wanted was to split up with the father of her child and the man she thought she would one day marry, according to BET.
“I thought I met my husband. I’m going to marry him, we have kids. And it just didn’t happen like that. God had another plan for me.”
Simmons said that she tried everything she could to salvage the broken relationship, including counseling sessions. The daughter of the former Run-DMC rapper said that she never imagined that she would have a child out of wedlock and that her relationship would fall apart.
For Simmons, it was pretty overwhelming for the downfall of her relationship to unfold in the spotlight in addition to getting criticized for not being married.
“Everyone has to look at me and be like, ‘You’re not married. You’re Reverend’s daughter.’ I’m going through all of that and then I have to raise a kid in front of the world, single.”
In a separate conversation with her brother, JoJo, Simmons decided to remain quiet on the true reason behind the breakup. Although, when asked if it was because of cheating, the entrepreneur didn’t deny it.
“It’s a number of things, it’s not one thing. It’s a lot of stuff. Nothing that you would be happy about.”
When asked about her transition into motherhood, Simmons said that she simply became responsible for another life. A lesson she’s learned is that you can’t love someone more than you love yourself. According to BET, Simmons said that she was already a responsible person, but became even more responsible for the sake of her son. The former Run’s House star said that everything she does, she has her son in mind.
“It’s really amazing, having a kid is a life changer for sure.”
In terms of balancing motherhood and work, Simmons said that it’s just something that parents learn to do. The GUHH star said that she has to provide for her son so it’s important that she works hard every day. Simmons said that when you have a child, you just “figure it out, there’s no can’t, you just have to.”
Simmons has different businesses and projects that she’s involved in, from fashion to footwear and more recently, launching Built Not Bought, a health and fitness workout program.
Currently, Simmons is participating in the body-positive Swimsuits For All campaign. Angela said that the company embraces the different body types and that the women involved in the campaign were strong. Brooke Shields, supermodel Ashley Graham, professional swimmer Pat Gallant-Charette, and nurse Katie Duke were also chosen to represent the swimsuit line.
The new mom said that she was both flattered and honored to help spread the message that women should embrace their bodies.
