'Behind Every Man': Who is Crystal Smith? Ne-Yo re-proposed to wife on New Year's Eve after announcing divorce
There may be a reason that the phrase "Behind every successful man, there's a woman" is famous. With one of its fall-premiere shows, Oprah Winfrey Network wanted to bring the spotlight on the Black women who stand behind the famous men the public looks up to and admires.
The show, 'Behind Every Man' focuses on the women's passions, struggles, and sacrifices they have made to support the men they love. 'Behind Every Man' is hosted by Melody Hold and has featured Usher's mother, Jonnetta Patton, gospel music legend Kirk Franklin and his wife, Tammy Franklin, and Grammy Award winner Ne-Yo and his wife Crystal Smith.
Each episode delved into how these women played important roles in the lives of the men they love -- something that is often overlooked when talking about these men's achievements. We get in-depth details about these women and learn about their own individuality as well.
One of the women we meet is Crystal Renay Smith, Ne-Yo's wife, a former reality TV star. Ne-Yo recently re-proposed to his wife on New Year's Eve after a year that was filled with drama. Read on to know more about Crystal Smith and her relationship with Ne-Yo.
Who is Crystal Smith?
Crystal Renay Smith is a model and a former reality TV star known for appearing on E!'s series 'Platinum Life' and BET’s reality show 'About The Business'. She also has a YouTube channel, Crystal's Creations, where she looks to share her passion for cooking and her recipes.
Crystal often made headlines for her shouting matches with fellow reality TV stars on the shows she appeared on. She also appeared on the talk show 'The Real' with Ne-Yo and his former girlfriend and mother of two of his four children, Monyetta Shaw.
How did Ne-Yo meet Crystal Smith?
In 2015, when Ne-Yo was working on his album, 'Non-Fiction, he wanted to shoot a short film with Crystal Smith and ask her to potentially model in it. He told People about their meeting, "Our meeting was initially strictly business." Crystal arrived two hours late because she was apparently busy "trying to get [information]" on Ne-Yo to know whether he really meant business or "if [he] was some creep."
However, Crystal and Ne-Yo (whose real name is Shaffer Chimere Smith) hit it off and started to get to know each other. Two weeks after they first met, the pair began to date, with Ne-Yo saying that it had been "bliss" since he met her.
At the beginning of their relationship, Crystal would tell Ne-Yo about her previous relationships, what worked and what did not, according to Ne-Yo who told Essence magazine. He said, “After that conversation, I had a laundry list of dos and don’ts in regard to being in a relationship with her, and I took that list and turned it into a song and that song is ‘Good Man’.”
The pair got married in February 2016 and have two children, Shaffer Chimere Jr, and Roman Alexander-Raj Smith. But not everything has been bliss and 2020 brought many ups and downs for their relationship.
Their relationship in 2020
The couple first announced they were going to divorce in February 2020 after they began to go through a rough patch, with Ne-Yo saying, "It’s not a sad thing, it’s more of us realizing — long story short, I’m never gonna talk bad about her. I’m not that person. There’s nothing bad to say about her."
On 'The Tamron Hall Show', Crystal spoke about being hurt because she found out about the divorce from the news rather than from Ne-Yo. Crystal said, "We weren't really talking at that time. I chose to leave the relationship because of issues, and at the time I felt like it was to get back at me or to hurt me, or whatever the case may be."
However, due to the lockdown measures implemented due to the pandemic, Ne-Yo and Crystal began spending more time together and called off their divorce, with Ne-Yo saying in CBS' 'The Talk Back' in June 2020, "The whole quarantine thing was kind of a blessing."
He continued, “Before the quarantine happened, we were definitely talking divorce, and the quarantine kind of forced us to sit still, block out the noise from the world, you know the world can get very, very loud, and we tend to let the world’s opinion mean more in certain situations than it should.” She continued, "He said that it wasn't so I took his word for that. But it definitely didn't feel good, it was embarrassing, to say the least."
On New Year's Eve, Ne-Yo proposed to his wife again. In a video uploaded to Instagram, the couple is dancing to Rihanna's 'We Found Love', with the singer telling Crystal, "I love you. We have decided that this is our forever, yes? I need you to know there is nobody else on the face of the planet I would rather be with, and with that being said," then pulling out an engagement ring and asking her to marry him. Crystal accepted and then the couple kissed.
'Behind Every Man' returns to OWN on Saturday, January 30, at 10/9c.
