Tracee Ellis Ross Expresses 'Grief' Around Never Getting Married or Having Kids

At 52 years old, Tracee Ellis Ross has never been married but refuses to be with the "wrong" person.

The actress, who also doesn't have children, revealed to Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, the "grief" she has around her singleness on podcast IMO. Ellis Ross' dating history is relatively private, although the former black-ish star last publicly dated Abou "Bu" Thiam, the younger brother of Akon and former manager of Ye.

"I did dream of my wedding growing up. And that's not to say that I didn't dream of the bigness of my life, but I could have spent a lot more time dreaming of my life," Ross said around the 22:30 mark below.

She continued, "As much as grief does surface for me around not having children and not having a partner, I still wouldn't want the wrong partner."

"I'm not interested in that. You have to make my life better," Ellis Ross insisted. "It can't just be you know, I'm in a relationship to be in a relationship. So even though the grief does emerge and that comes and I hold that, I think of what I've done and I think of I woke up every morning trying to do my best. I didn't wake up one morning and be like, I'm going to mess this day up. So I must be where I'm supposed to be."

The actress also commended herself for having the "courage" to "navigate" situations with "no one to hide behind."

Earlier in the conversation, Ellis Ross revealed that she's uncomfortable with being on dating apps, instead being used to her friends playing matchmaker or meeting potential partners at events. "I haven't had great luck lately, but I do have to say I'm moving up, on what it is that I'm looking for as a match," she said. "I've had some doozies."

In 2020, Ellis Ross spoke to Oprah Winfrey during the 2020 Vision Tour Visionaries and, around the nine-minute mark of the video below, shared that she's found meaning in her life despite being single and childless.

"But people might keep asking me and I don't mind if people keep asking me because every time they ask me it's an opportunity for me to change the narrative and expand the story of what we can be and who we are as women," she told Winfrey.