Niecy Nash & Jessica Betts Become First Same-Sex Couple To Cover ESSENCE

“What I was and am still attracted to is Jessica’s soul…”

Niecy Nash opens up about her love for wife Jessica Betts in ESSENCE’s latest cover story.

Source: Robert Ector / Essence Magazine

Emmy award-winning actress Niecy Nash and her wife, singer Jessica Betts, have made history this week by becoming the first same-sex couple featured on ESSENCE’s cover.

This isn’t the first time the romantic partners have turned heads with their romance in the public eye. Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts sealed their love in an intimate California ceremony back in August of 2020, stunning fans across social media. Fast forward to the present day and the partners tell ESSENCE writer Demetria Lucas about everything from what they love about each other to how they handled the public’s initial response to their union.

Niecy on what she loves the most about being with her wife, Jessica Betts.

“The least of my attraction is gender…What I was and am still attracted to is Jessica’s soul. She was the most beautiful soul I had ever met in my life. Now that I’ve experienced it, I can’t imagine going through life without it…”

Back in 2020, Neicy shocked social media by sharing photos from her and Jessica’s surprise wedding. The couple explained to Lucas what their initial reaction to the chatter was like:

“A lot of people thought it was like a movie or some promo,” Niecy recalls, still in disbelief at the reaction.

“They started calling everybody, and we were like, ‘This is insane.’ I never knew why where you lay your head is such a big deal to other people. I was like, ‘People care?’” “She was really shocked,” Jessica adds.

“I knew there was going to be some banter around it. But I didn’t know that it was literally going to”—Niecy chimes in with her wife, and they complete the sentence together, something they do a lot— “break the Internet!”

Hilarious! And don’t they look great???

Essence’s Deputy Editor Cori Murray said of the historic cover,

“We celebrate the Bettses as the first same-sex couple to make the cover of ESSENCE. Their union serves as evidence that true love can blossom in unexpected places if you’re brave enough to embrace it.”