Comedienne and The Real co-host Loni Love can now add “cupid” to her lengthy resume, because it was her foresight that helped actress Bresha Webb find true love.
Over the holiday weekend, the Run The World star got engaged to TV writer Nick Jones Jr. (Netflix’s Yasuke). Jones Jr. popped the question with a surprise proposal at Wally’s Restaurant in Beverly Hills and the couple’s matchmaker and good friend was on hand to see it all go down. Love sat down with ESSENCE to share how she played cupid for the couple in the beginning.
“Nick and I were developing a show together,” Love explains. “We became good friends so when Nick became single he talked about wanting to find the right woman to marry. Bresha came to mind instantly.”
Webb and Love became friends through the industry and would often hang out at events together. “I loved her energy,” Love tells ESSENCE. “She was that talented funny actress and every time we would hang out she was just cool.”
Of course, Love put a few feelers out first. “I asked Nick about Bresha and he was smitten,” Love recalls. “The one question I asked Nick [first] was: Are you serious? Meaning what was he looking for in a relationship. He told me he wanted to marry, so when I hit up Bresha I didn’t say all that I just asked her if she would want to meet him and to check out his IG (I told Nick to add a few more pics of himself looking finnnnee). The rest is their love story!
And what a sweet one it is. Believe it or not, Love’s introduction wasn’t the first time that Webb and Jones Jr. met. They first crossed paths back in 2016 at The Comedy Store, when they both attended a show with mutual friends, Webb tells ESSENCE. “I performed and then we all went to a party,” she adds. “I was in a relationship at the time, so I was off the market. I remember him being there and him being very nice and cute but it just wasn’t the right time for our story to begin.”
Jones Jr. noticed her too. “It was respect at first sight for me,” he tells ESSENCE. “She had a guy and I was dating someone at the time so it was a platonic vibe. But yes, I was definitely attracted to her.”
Fast forward to 2020 and both of their circumstances were different. “I was in quarantine and really frustrated that I couldn’t find my husband on a dating app,” Bresha jokes. “I, for the 100th time, took it to the Lord in prayer. I went to film a movie in Vancouver, Canada (Merry Liddle Wedding) and was stuck in quarantine for two weeks. On my podcast with my bestie Angel Tanksley, we interviewed my sis Meagan Good Franklin. Meagan suggested that I journal, pray, and focus on my own healing and manifest the husband I wanted, beause ‘if God don’t do it, it won’t get done!’’
Webb took Good’s advice and gave it another shot. “I prayed that night and left it there and that morning I literally got a DM on IG from Loni Love about Nick,” Webb shares. “Loni told me he had sent me a message, and if I was available, I should say hello. She sung his praises and directed me to his page. I stalked his IG and thought he was cute and looked familiar but he had a daughter and I just knew that wasn’t what God wanted for me. I spoke to my Dad and he was like ‘go say hi to that man. Every man in their 30s got a kid! You missed that boat. Don’t block yo blessing.”
So she didn’t. Jones Jr. was ready to commit too.
“I was single and looking,” he recalls. “That’s when Loni took me under her matchmaking wing and put me out here in the streets.”
Webb responded to his DM after her father’s words of wisdom hit home. “He responded right away and was so lovely,” she tells ESSENCE.
The soon-to-be-couple planned a Facetime date and hit it off famously. “We were both searching for the same thing,” Webb says. “Real love and genuine connection. We had the same morals and beliefs and understood each other’s needs for one another. I’m still learning and growing. Love happened very quickly. By the time I came out of Canadian quarantine, I was in a whole relationship. I was floating. We dated on FaceTime the entire time I was in Canada and when we finally met in person it was OVA! We were together-together!”
Jones Jr. was equally smitten. “I love our chemistry,” he says. “It’s so easy to just be in her space and love on her. We really are best friends. We confide in one another. We support one another, fully. I got her back no matter what.”
For Webb, it’s all about how completely he loves her.
“He loves the crazy, wild and free Bresha,” Webb adds. “He appreciates me and my efforts and even the small ones. We are supportive of one another and are each other’s cheerleaders. He doesn’t let me play small and I love him forever for that. He loves seeing me grow. I just love him.”
When it came time to propose, Jones Jr. got to work. He sought out the perfect venue and went ring shopping with Webb’s good friend Kelly Rowland. (Webb’s best friend Whitney secretly sent him her engagement ring ideas Pinterest board which had all of her dream rings right there.) Jones Jr. planned every detail down to a tea, ensuring he kept things local so that all of her friends could be on hand to celebrate, and boy was Webb surprised.
“Look at God,” says Webb. “Won’t He do it?! My friends are incredible, and they all came together to surprise me. It’ll be something I’ll cherish forever. It was perfect. Nick pulled off the impossible because I’m a hard one to pull one over on.”
The couple tells ESSENCE they’re planning to have an old Hollywood glam themed wedding centered on “Black excellence and opulence” with classic elegance but what matters most for them right now is that they’re embarking on this exciting new chapter.
“Whatever we decide, I’m just so happy and excited that I get to share my life with Nick Jones Jr. my soulmate,” says Webb.
Congrats to the happy couple. See photos from their surprise engagement below.
