Ne-Yo Explains How His ‘One Relationship’ with Three Girlfriends Works: ‘I’ve Never Been Afraid of Hard Work’

Ne-Yo is breaking down his “one relationship” with three women.

The 46-year-old Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and producer appeared on Sherri and detailed his untraditional love life on Wednesday, Jan. 14.

The “So Sick” singer, whose real name is Shaffer Chimere Smith, is publicly dating Arielle Hill, Cristina and Moneii.

When Ne-Yo asked host Sherri Shepherd, 58, what she didn’t understand about his relationship, she replied, “None of it!” prompting him to explain.

“I’ll keep this brief,” he began. “So after my very public, very ugly divorce, I made the decision that I was never going to tell another lie to a woman ever again in life.”

In August 2022, the musician’s then-wife Crystal Renay filed for divorce, claiming he fathered a child with another woman. He and Crystal share three children: Shaffer Chimere Jr., 9, Roman Alexander-Raj, 6, and Isabella Rose, 4.

Their divorce was finalized in February 2023, and he has four other children from two other relationships.

“I own the thing that I did in that marriage to mess it up. I own it completely,” Ne-Yo told Shepherd, adding, “And I decided I didn’t want to be the reason that anybody ever felt like that ever again.”

He then explained that “one of the three” current girlfriends had been dating him longer than the others when he presented the idea of a polyamorous relationship to her.

“I basically went to her and said, ‘Listen, you know I rock with you. You know I love you, but I have to be honest with you. It’s not just you. I would love for you to meet these other women, and if we can figure out a way to do something together, cool. If not, that’s cool, too,’ ” he said. 

Ne-Yo said he let all parties involved decide if they wanted to proceed together.

“Everybody chose to stick around,” the “Let Me Love You” singer said. “The main understanding is I’m not in three relationships. I’m in one relationship with three people.”

“We figure out ways to make everything work,” he continued, noting that each of his women “gets their individual time,” even though “group time is just as important.”

He also shared that for holidays like Valentine’s Day, he can’t do “blanket stuff” like red roses for all of the women, because that doesn’t work for everybody.

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Shepherd, seemingly intrigued, said it “seems like more work” to come up with thoughtful and individual gifts for three women with three different personalities. 

“I’ve never been afraid of hard work. Never ever,” he replied with a smile.