Niecy Nash Reveals How She Keeps Her Marriage Spicy — Including 'Skinny-Dipping' (Exclusive)
The actress married Jessica Betts in August 2020 after their longtime friendship turned romantic
Niecy Nash-Betts is sharing how she keeps the spark alive with partner Jessica Betts!
While walking the red carpet at the 2024 GLAAD Media Awards on Thursday night in Los Angeles, the Never Have I Ever star, 54, told PEOPLE she and Betts like to spice up their relationship with a little "skinny-dipping."
They also enjoy some bubbly. "Champagne," Betts chimes in when asked how the two — who married in August 2020 — keep their romance fresh.
At the event at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Nash-Betts also opened up about finding a same-sex partner later into her journey of love. Prior to dating Betts, the actress had only ever been in relationships with men. She was married to Don Nash from 1994 to 2007, and married Jay Tucker in 2011 before announcing their split in 2019.
Related: See Reneé Rapp, Niecy Nash-Betts, Orville Peck and More LGBTQ+ Stars at the 35th GLAAD Awards
"I guess I just give myself permission to feel what you feel and love who you love, and that's how I live my life and I'm not ashamed of it. I do it out loud," she told PEOPLE. "And I just think it was necessary for me to do it that way, you know what I mean? I mean, I'm basically a showgirl. How can I keep anything a secret or keep it in a closet?"
She called her romance with Betts her "favorite relationship I've been in by far," and shared that the pair — who first met and struck up a friendship in 2015 — enjoy collaborating on projects.
"Anytime I can get a chance for us to work together, I love it so much," she added.
Betts told PEOPLE it's "amazing loving" Nash-Betts, whom she said she affectionately calls "Cora."
"It's one of the greatest gifts that I could have ever gotten from the most high, yeah," she added of marrying The Rookie: Feds star.
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Nash-Betts wasn't kidding about the couple's love of skinny-dipping. When the actress won an Emmy Award in January — for best supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or TV movie for her role in Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story — she toasted the accolade with a celebratory swim with Betts.
“Okay guys, as planned, I am celebrating my Emmy win by going skinny-dipping,” Nash-Betts said in an Instagram reel filmed while she was floating in a pool. “I booked a hotel suite that has an indoor swimming pool. Now I’m just waiting for my better half so we can really get the party started.”
“The Betts are celebrating this Emmy win by going skinny-dipping in an indoor pool and having champagne. Tonight was amazing,” she added as Betts joined her in the water.
Shortly after the couple's surprise nuptials in 2020, Nash-Betts told PEOPLE her marriage was a "going into myself," not a "coming out."
"I'm not limiting myself on what that love is supposed to look like," she said at the time. "I love who I love."
"At one point in my life, I married twice and I love those people. And today I love this person," she continued, referring to Betts. "I've done everything I wanted to do on my own terms and my own way. So my choice now in a partner has nothing to do with who I've always been. It's a matter of who I am in this moment."
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