R&B singer Ne-Yo has credited the coronavirus isolation period with saving his marriage.

Shaffer Chimere Smith, better known by his stage name Ne-Yo, split from wife Crystal Renay Smith in February, and in March filed paperwork in a Georgia court seeking to legally end the 2016 marriage.

At the time, the Closer hitmaker claimed the union was 'irretrievably broken' and ruled out any hope of a reconciliation, but he has subsequently reunited with Crystal, and withdrawn his divorce documents.

The pair have hunkered down together with their two young sons in their Georgia home to wait out the coronavirus pandemic, and Ne-Yo admits the forced family time strengthened his bond with Crystal.

"The whole quarantine thing was kind of a blessing..." the R&B artist admitted on U.S. daytime show The Talk.

Explaining that: "Before the quarantine happened, we were definitely talking divorce," Ne-Yo told the show: "the quarantine kind of forced us to sit still, block out the noise from the world."

Ne-Yo and Crystal ended up having "blatantly, painfully, brutally honest" conversations about where their romance went wrong, and were able to confront their relationship issues head-on.

"We're actually stronger now than we were before," he declared, "Now we feel like we can really talk to each other."
Ne-Yos comments emerged days after Crystal heaped praise on the musician, who also shares two kids with his ex, Monyetta Shaw, for Father's Day with a sweet photo post on Instagram.

Alongside a slideshow of family snaps, she wrote, "You are truly a blessing to all of us. A king in every meaning of the word! We are blessed to call you daddy. We love you for all that you do and all that you are."