Rev Run's Daughter Angela Reveals Why She Practised Celibacy Until 28

Faith, Family, and Focus: Angela Simmons Reveals Why She Practised Celibacy Until 28

LOS ANGELES — Television personality and fashion entrepreneur Angela Simmons has opened up about the deeply personal motivations that led her to remain a virgin until the age of 28, crediting a mixture of familial respect, religious faith, and a desire to build authentic romantic connections.

Speaking during a candid, wide-ranging appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s wildly popular Club Shay Shay podcast this week, the Growing Up Hip Hop star, daughter of legendary Run-DMC pioneer Joseph "Rev Run" Simmons, reflected extensively on the strict emotional discipline required to maintain her vow of abstinence throughout her teens and twenties.

The 38-year-old media figure revealed that the trajectory of her personal life was fundamentally altered during a pivotal conversation with her father when she was in her late teens, which was subsequently reinforced by her local church community.

"I hold my dad in a very, very high regard," Simmons told Sharpe, recalling the moment her father sat her and her sister, Vanessa, down to discuss their future boundaries. "He asked us to hold out, to wait."

From Family Guidance to Personal Conviction

While the initial prompt came from within her famous household, Simmons explained that her commitment quickly evolved from an act of parental obedience into a profound personal and spiritual conviction.

Shortly after the discussion with her father, Simmons attended a church service where the sermon focused heavily on the physical and psychological benefits of practicing celibacy until marriage. The message resonated so deeply with the teenager that she made a conscious, independent choice to commit to the path.

However, as the years progressed, Simmons confessed that she found herself increasingly surprised by her own longevity in upholding the vow within a fast-paced entertainment industry that routinely prioritises hyper-sexuality.

"It went from my dad telling me to hearing it in church, and then I was like, 'I'm just gonna wait until I meet the right person for marriage,'" Simmons explained. "Then, time kept ticking, and then I was like, 'Dang, I'm 28. This is crazy.'"

The Power of Taking Sex Off the Table

Looking back on her twenties, the shoe designer maintained that she harbors absolutely no regrets about her prolonged period of celibacy. In fact, she credits the lack of intimacy with helping her safely navigate the treacherous dating waters of the celebrity circuit.

By systematically removing the physical element from her early relationships, Simmons argued she was able to develop a far sharper emotional intelligence, forcing her suitors to communicate on a deeper psychological level.

"I got to really know people," Simmons reflected during the podcast. "I think it teaches you how to really get to know somebody without that on the table. You see who they actually are."

The Timeline of Angela Simmons's Public Celibacy Journey

Defying the Perfectionist Narrative

While Simmons’s original blueprint was to strictly preserve her virginity until her wedding day, she has always been refreshing ordinary about how life ultimately defied her rigid expectations.

At 28, she fell deeply in love and became engaged to businessman Sutton Tennyson. Choosing to step away from her marital timeline, Simmons became pregnant shortly after becoming sexually active a rapid transition that initially triggered a wave of public skepticism and online trolling from critics who accused her of fabricating her virginity.

Tragically, Tennyson was fatally shot outside his Atlanta home in November 2018 following an isolated dispute, leaving Simmons to raise their son, Sutton Joseph, as a single mother. Reflecting on how her life deviated from her initial strict religious plan, Simmons previously told daytime talk show The Real that human lives simply cannot be micro-managed. "The plan didn't work out. And you can't always plan everything," she noted at the time.

Currently embarking on a fresh creative chapter, including a newly announced spoken-word and hip-hop musical project under the legendary Ruff Ryders label, Simmons’s reflective interview serves as a timely testament to personal autonomy. For her global audience, her journey offers a fascinating template on how to unapologetically own one's intimate choices, regardless of external societal pressures or unpredictable shifts in fate.