Kelly Rowland Gets Emotional As She Talks About Reuniting With Her Estranged Father After 30 Years: There Was A Piece Of Me That Was Always Missing

Kelly Rowland Gets Emotional As She Talks About Reuniting With Her Estranged Father After 30 Years: There Was A Piece Of Me That Was Always Missing

Kelly Rowland is reminding us all the importance of forgiveness!

On Tuesday (Mar.15), the ‘Destiny’s Child’ alum was a guest host on Today, where she was joined by her estranged father, Christopher Lovett, for their first public appearance together as they discussed reconnecting after 30 years of estrangement. During the segment, Kelly Rowland, 41, discussed the moment that she chose to reach out to her father in 2018 after not speaking for three decades. The “Motivation” singer has previously claimed that her biological father’s ”drunk and aggressive” behavior forced her late mother Doris Rowland Garrison–who passed away in 2014–  to leave him. Kelly explains,

“My understanding of where my dad was as a kid was that he was not really ready as a father..I think as a kid you just feel like if they’re not there they don’t want to be here. So that’s what I felt and that feeling sucked.” 

Kelly Rowland explained that she was raised by her single mother after her father decided that he wasn’t ready for parenthood.

“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. For 30 years, my dad was absent in my life.” 

She revealed that during the big success of her former girl group, Destiny’s Child, she specifically instructed her security to ban her father from visiting her backstage while they were on tour. During the segment, Christopher explained that he began to follow Kelly after her career took off and says it was hurtful to be turned away by security at her concerts.

‘”People used to tell me, ‘I saw your daughter,’ and I used to sit there and say, ‘well, I didn’t’, and it used to hurt.” 

The “Coffee” singer shared that it was JAY-Z who gave her a key piece of advice which led to her meeting her father in 2018.

“He said, ‘Love is all about risk. You gotta decide if you’re gonna jump,’” she recalled. “‘You gonna jump?’ That’s what he asked me: ‘Are you gonna jump?’”  

Jay-Z

Kelly Rowland recalled how her feelings toward her father began to change a few years after she had her first son Titan, which occurred three weeks after she lost her mother Doris in 2014. It was after those two major life events that she decided it was time to meet her father.

“At that time, I think I still had these feeling of ‘Oh my god, I have no parents’ and it was like, ‘No, you do, you have one left.'” 

In 2018, Rowland arranged to meet her father in a hotel in Atlanta and gave him the space to talk freely while she just listened. She explains part of her path to forgiveness was learning and understanding that parents deserve grace.

“I learned that we are not perfect, and it broke my heart to know that there is going to be something about me that my kids is going to be disappointed about. Something, you don’t do it intentionally of course. You have to allow space. You’re not going to get it right every time and that’s OK.” 

The singer and her father expressed how thankful they were to have repaired their relationship.

“I can only imagine what it felt like to have everything that you want to say for so many years to your child. I just allowed him the space, and it was incredible. Underneath all of the disappointment and hurt and anger and fear, that’s somebody you love.”

What are your thoughts on Kelly Rowland connecting with her estranged father? Let us know in the comments below!

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