Crystal Renay Biography

Crystal Renay Williams was born on September 18, 1986, in the United States of America. She is of African-American, Italian, and Spanish descent. She was raised by her grandmother in Fort Myers, Florida. Renay started working at a young age to support herself. She worked in the medical field before taking up modeling. In order to support her modeling career, she moved to Los Angeles, California, in 2011, after which she started landing several modeling offers.

Her popularity increased when she began dating Shaffer Chimere Smith, better known by his stage name ‘Ne-Yo.’ In August 2015, she revealed that she is working on a book, inspired by her relationship with Ne-Yo.

In 2016, she landed an opportunity to appear in a reality TV show titled ‘About the Business.’ She appeared in the show alongside actress Eva Marcille, celebrity stylist EJ King, marketing manager Danielle Crawley, and talent manager Sparkle Holmes. In 2017, she was seen in ‘The Platinum Life’ which featured seven women, including Renay, La’Myia Good, LoLa Monroe, and Shantel Jackson. The following year, Renay appeared in the popular talk show ‘The Real’ alongside Ne-Yo and his ex-girlfriend Monyetta Shaw.

Crystal Renay is passionate about cooking. On February 23, 2017, she created her YouTube channel ‘Crystal's Creations’ to post instructional cooking videos. She is currently working on creating a successful culinary show through her YouTube channel. Renay is also popular on Instagram where she has more than 445,000 followers. She posts pictures and video clips depicting her personal life on her verified Instagram account, ‘itscrystalsmith.’

Crystal Renay met Ne-Yo in 2015, when she was cast to model for one of his albums. Soon, their business meeting turned into a romantic relationship. In September 2015, Ne-Yo announced that he and Renay were engaged. Speaking about their engagement, Renay revealed that Ne-Yo proposed to her while cozying up to each other in a hotel room. On her 29th birthday, Ne-Yo proposed to her again with a fancy diamond ring. He also bought her a lavish mansion in Los Angeles and the couple tied the knot on February 20, 2016, in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. They welcomed their first child Shaffer Chimere Smith, Jr. on March 15, 2016. On June 14, 2018, Renay and Ne-Yo were blessed with their second child, Roman Alexander-Raj Smith.

Renay maintains a cordial relationship with Ne-Yo’s ex-girlfriend Monyetta Shaw with whom Ne-Yo had two children, namely Madilyn Grace Smith and Mason Evan Smith. In one of her interviews, Renay debunked the rumors which claimed that she had a controversial feud with Monyetta Shaw. She also said that Shaw was informed about her engagement before Ne-Yo and Renay posted about it on social media. Crystal Renay currently lives in Los Angeles, along with her husband and children. She loves taking care of her family and spends her free time creating new recipes for her culinary show.