Channetta Valentine met Nelly in 1990, years before he became a rapper anyone could name. He was a fifteen-year-old in St. Louis who still went by Cornell Haynes and had no record deal yet. They were together for nearly nine years and had two children before splitting in 1999, a year before his debut album Country Grammar made him famous. Today Valentine works as a travel nurse, and her name comes up mostly as Nelly’s former girlfriend and the mother of his two oldest children.
Table of Contents
How Channetta met Nelly
The two got together in the St. Louis area in 1990. The Sun reported that the relationship started that September, when Nelly was fifteen and his parents had recently divorced. Valentine, born in 1976, grew up in the same part of the city and attended University City High School, in the same St. Louis suburb where Nelly came up.
Their relationship covered all of Nelly’s pre-fame years. During that time he was building the local rap group the St. Lunatics and looking for a record deal that had not arrived yet. The couple had a daughter in 1994 and a son in 1999, the year they separated. They never married.
Here is how the relationship lines up with the start of Nelly’s career:
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Channetta and Nelly begin dating in St. Louis; he is 15, his parents recently divorced |
| 1994 | Daughter Chanelle Haynes is born in February |
| 1999 | Son Cornell Haynes III is born in March; the couple separates in June |
| 2000 | Nelly releases Country Grammar, later certified diamond by the RIAA for more than 10 million US sales |
Both children arrived before Country Grammar, during the years Nelly spent as an unknown.
Her two children with Nelly
Both of Valentine’s children with Nelly went into music.
Chanelle Haynes, born in February 1994 and called Nana by her family, has performed as a singer and worked with her father’s label, Derrty Entertainment. She studied at Columbia College Chicago. In 2023 she had a son named Ace, which made Valentine a grandmother.
Cornell Haynes III, born in March 1999 and known as Tre, played high school football before moving into music production. His name gets mixed up with his father’s fairly often, since Nelly’s full legal name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. while his son carries the third.
What Channetta does today
On the social media accounts she keeps, Valentine lists her job as a travel nurse. Her Instagram page, @cvaljack, gives the occupation directly, and her Facebook profile lists the same role and her St. Louis roots. Travel nurses take short contracts at hospitals and clinics that are understaffed, often relocating from one city to the next for each assignment.
She has never spoken publicly about Nelly or sold a story about the relationship. Decades on, the clearest detail she has put on the record about herself is her work in nursing.
Nelly’s life since has played out in full view. He married the singer Ashanti in 2023, about twenty years after they first dated, and the couple welcomed a son, Kareem, in 2024. Valentine, who was with him through his teens and twenties and had his first two children, has stayed quiet through all of it.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Channetta Valentine?
She is a travel nurse from St. Louis, known publicly as rapper Nelly’s former girlfriend in the 1990s and the mother of his two oldest children.
Were Channetta Valentine and Nelly married?
No. They were together for nearly nine years, from 1990 to 1999, but never married.
How many children do Channetta Valentine and Nelly have?
Two, a daughter named Chanelle Haynes, born in 1994, and a son named Cornell Haynes III, born in 1999.
What does Channetta Valentine do for a living?
She works as a travel nurse, according to her own Instagram and Facebook accounts.
How old is Channetta Valentine?
She was born in 1976, which puts her at about 50 in 2026.
