Nicki Minaj has confirmed she secretly married boyfriend Kenneth Petty this week, after less than a year of dating. The Starships rapper managed to pull the wool over our eyes by appearing to have tied the knot quietly on Monday. In an Instagram post, Nicki announced the happy news by sharing a video of their matching bride and groom baseball caps and matching Mr and Mrs coffee mugs. Revealing the date of their nuptials, the rapper captioned the image: ‘Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty 10•21•19.’ It comes two months after Nicki, 36, changed her name to Mrs Petty on Twitter, sparking speculation they had already married. Around that time, the Anaconda rapper confirmed she and Kenneth, 41, had obtained a marriage license giving them less than 80 days to marry. Speaking on her Queen Radio show, Nicki said: ‘I have to work on my album and I have a lot to focus on that I don’t want to do the big wedding now. We’ll do the big wedding later.

‘I’ll be married before my album comes out, but will have my wedding after the album comes out. ‘Before the 90 days is over, yes, I will be married… I’m very happy about that because my baby makes me so happy.’ Nicki and Kenneth are no strangers to each other as they grew up together as teenagers in Queens, New York but got back in contact and began dating in December 2018. However, their relationship attracted scrutiny when it emerged Kenneth was a registered sex offender who was convicted of attempted rape in 1995, serving four years in NY state prison.

In another incident, Kenneth was later convicted of manslaughter for shooting a man and spent a further seven years in prison for that offence. Last month, Nicki shocked fans when she announced she would be retiring from rap to settle down and start a family with Kenneth. The Grammy-winning rapper tweeted: ‘I’ve decided to retire & have a family. I know you guys are happy