In 2001, Usher began dating TLC member Chilli Thomas, and their relationship lasted for two years. In 2003, Usher started working on the album that would become "Confessions", which contained songs inspired by the personal lives of Usher and his collaborators. The songs about infidelity and pregnant mistresses were not inspired by Usher's private life, but by Jermaine Dupri's own personal challenges at the time. Dupri deliberately intended to create an air of mystery about Usher, and arouse fans' curiosity about how much of the infidelity story was Usher's own confession. The unintended result of this was to arouse Thomas's suspicions about Usher. They broke up in December 2003.