“I was petrified.” Kelly Rowland last saw her dad when she was 8. After 30 years, they reunited.

At eight years old, Kelly Rowland was taken away from her father. 

Christopher Lovett was a heavy drinker and would often lose his temper at Rowland's mother, Doris. One day, Doris decided to take her daughter and leave.

For the next three decades, Rowland did not know the now-74-year-old man she once called her father. 

"I've been without him for more than 20 years," she said back in 2011, according to the Daily Mail.  

“I do have a desire to speak to him. But I have to be ready when I make that decision, and I don't want to hurry."

It would be another seven years until they would finally reunite in October 2018. 

"This was the day I met Christopher Lovett," Rowland wrote in an Instagram post celebrating Father's Day in the US this week. 

"This was honestly one of the most pivotal moments in my life! After 30 years of not seeing him, not speaking to him...what would THAT mean, for me, my family, my psyche? Well, this day in Oct. of 2018, I would find out," she added, alongside a photo of her and her dad from two years ago. 

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This was the day I met Christopher Lovett, My biological father. This was honestly one of the most pivotal moments in my life! After 30years of not seeing him, not speaking to him...what would THAT mean, for me, my family, my psyche? Well, this day in Oct. of 2018, I would find out. I finally found him, set up the meeting, and at this time I was filming “American Soul”, when I tell you I was petrified, I was walking to meet him, and my feet suddenly felt like they weighed A TON, needles to say I was overcome with anxiety, and I had a full on anxiety attack, in that moment I felt like the abandoned 8yr old. My team calmed me down. And as I turn the corner, in my head I was cursing this man, “Why didn’t you come find me?” “Did you love me?” “Am I worthy?” And when I looked at him, and he looked at me, NOTHING CAME TO MY LIPS, not one word. I felt the Holy Spirit say to me,listen. I listened to him, I was nervous to trust him, nervous to forgive him,nervous to love him nervous about it all. And the truth is, I already loved him. I spoke to my protective husband and those closest to me and they encourage me to forgive and jump! And since this time, I have forgiven, and we have spoken everyday since! I have come to know SO much about myself, my family history, and even where my love of music & voice have come from! I Love you Daddy, and love being your little girl...even at 39! Lol P.S. we are making up for lost time, and when I tell you, him telling me how smart and beautiful I am....will never get old! #HAPPYFATHERSDAY #reunited

A post shared by  Kelly Rowland (@kellyrowland) on Jun 21, 2020 at 4:18pm PDT

The 39-year-old shared in the Instagram post that she finally found and set up a meeting with Lovett during the same time she was filming TV drama series American Soul.

"When I tell you I was petrified, I was walking to meet him, and my feet suddenly felt like they weighed A TON, needless to say I was overcome with anxiety, and I had a full on anxiety attack, in that moment I felt like the abandoned 8yr old," she wrote. 

"And as I turn the corner, in my head I was cursing this man,' Why didn’t you come find me?' 'Did you love me?' 'Am I worthy?' And when I looked at him, and he looked at me, NOTHING CAME TO MY LIPS, not one word. I felt the Holy Spirit say to me, listen. I listened to him, I was nervous to trust him, nervous to forgive him, nervous to love him nervous about it all. And the truth is, I already loved him."

The former Destiny's Child singer explained it was her husband and people close to her who encouraged Rowland to forgive and get to know her father. 

"I have come to know SO much about myself, my family history, and even where my love of music and voice have come from! I Love you Daddy, and love being your little girl...even at 39."

For Lovett, finally reuniting with his daughter was a day he had long awaited for. 

"So many previous years have passed and I'm getting old," he told Star Magazine in 2013. 

"I just pray she comes back into my life before it's too late."

Lovett told the publication that he had a drinking problem when Rowland was young and would shout at his wife in front of their daughter. 

"I couldn't control it. I hoped I could make it up to her. But I'm still waiting for that day."

He also said that he had previously tried to get in touch with The Voice Australia judge for years.  

"Whenever [Destiny's Child] was on the cover of a magazine, I would call and beg them to tell her I was looking for her." 

For Rowland, the main motivation for meeting her father was her five-year-old son Titan, who she welcomed with her husband of six years Tim Weatherspoon in November 2014. 

"I do want to know him, meet him, know his background for the sake of my son. I don't know, I'm just nervous to make that phone call," she previously told Vogue Australia in July 2018.

After she and her brother were raised by their hardworking single mum, Rowland says she's trying to ensure her son grows up having a very different childhood. 

"I felt like as a kid, my mum had this job - she was a nanny," she told Extra earlier this year.

"That moved her around a lot... I just wanted it to be stable a little more. With him - he doesn't really have to want for anything. I'm working my butt off for that, and his life is going to be different from mine, period." 

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HAPPY FATHER’s Day my Love! @timspoon YOU are our greatest blessing! We LOVE YOU!❤️❤️

A post shared by  Kelly Rowland (@kellyrowland) on Jun 21, 2020 at 11:27am PDT

Unfortunately, Rowland's mother passed away just two weeks after her son was born. 

"It was only then that I realised her strength. My mum taught me to stay humble, and I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job at it," the singer said in an interview with Marie Claire in 2019.

With one parent still in her life, Rowland says she continues to develop her relationship with her father and talk to him every day. 

"We are making up for lost time, and when I tell you, him telling me how smart and beautiful I am....will never get old!" 

Feature Image: Instagram @kellyrowland

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