Angela Simmons has opened up about her deeply personal journey with abstinence, revealing why she chose to remain a virgin until she reached the age of 28.
During a candid appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s popular “Club Shay Shay” podcast, the “Growing Up Hip Hop” star credited her father and her faith for her decades-long commitment to waiting.
“I hold my dad in very high regard”
Simmons, the daughter of legendary Run-DMC member Joseph Simmons, known as Rev Run, recalled a pivotal moment from her late teens that shaped her outlook on intimacy. She said her father sat her and her sister Vanessa down when they were 17 or 18 years old to have a serious discussion about their future. During that talk, the hip-hop pioneer asked his daughters to “hold out, to wait” until they were married. “I hold my Dad in a very, very high regard,” Simmons said during the interview.
She explained that the message from home was soon reinforced by her spiritual life. After attending a church service where the sermon focused on the virtues of waiting for marriage, Simmons decided to commit to the path herself. She told Sharpe that she initially planned to wait until she found the specific person she intended to marry.
As the years passed, Simmons said she found herself surprised by her own longevity in the commitment. “Then, time kept ticking, and then I was like, ‘Dang, I’m 28. This is crazy,’” she said. The entrepreneur eventually shifted her plans when she met her former fiancé, Sutton Tennyson. The couple welcomed a son together before Tennyson was tragically killed in a 2018 shooting. Reflecting on those years of abstinence, Simmons said the decision allowed her to build stronger emotional foundations with the men she dated.
She argued that by taking sex off the table, she was forced to focus on the character and personality of her partners. “I think that it happened for a reason,” Simmons said. “I think it teaches you how to really get to know somebody without that on the table.” Simmons has previously addressed the fact that her life did not follow the exact “plan” she set in her youth, noting on “The Real” that life is unpredictable.
Despite the challenges and the tragic loss of Tennyson, she remains vocal about the confidence her choices gave her during her 20s. Today, Simmons continues to balance her career as a fashion designer and media personality while raising her son.
Leave a Reply