Angela Simmons reveals why she waited until 28 to lose her virginity: ‘I got to really know people’

The entrepreneur says faith, family and personal conviction shaped her decision, and helped her build deeper relationships.

Angela Simmons is opening up about one of the most personal decisions of her life, revealing how faith, family and self-discipline led her to remain a virgin until she was 28 years old.

During a recent appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast, the entrepreneur and reality television star reflected on the values that influenced her decision to practice abstinence throughout her teens and twenties.

Simmons said the journey began when she was around 17 or 18 years old during a conversation with her father, Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons of Run-DMC fame, and her sister Vanessa. According to Simmons, her father encouraged them to wait before becoming sexually active, a message that stayed with her long after the conversation ended.

That advice was later reinforced through her faith.

“I hold my Dad in a very, very high regard,” Simmons explained, adding that a church service discussing waiting until marriage further strengthened her commitment. What began as a goal to remain abstinent until marriage eventually became a personal choice she continued to uphold for years.

Simmons admitted that as the years passed, she began realizing how uncommon her situation had become.

“Then time kept ticking, and then I was like, ‘Dang, I’m 28. This is crazy,'” she recalled during the interview.

Simmons ultimately lost her virginity to her former fiancé, Sutton Tennyson. The couple welcomed a son together before Tennyson was fatally shot in Atlanta in 2018. Michael Williams was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison in connection with the killing.

Looking back, Simmons said she has no regrets about waiting as long as she did. She believes removing sex from her relationships allowed her to focus on building deeper emotional connections and understanding the people she dated.

“I got to really know people,” she said. “I think it teaches you how to really get to know somebody without that on the table.”

The television personality has spoken about the topic before, previously explaining that while her original plan was to wait until marriage, life unfolded differently than expected.

Now, Simmons says she remains grateful for the experience and the lessons it taught her about relationships, self-worth and making decisions that aligned with her personal beliefs rather than outside expectations.