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Tami Roman‘s daughters Jazz, 24, and Lyric, 26, are still virgins, and that has a lot to do with what was instilled in them by their famous mom.
Jazz is a member of the Fox Soul show The Mix, produced by Tameka “Tiny” Cottle and featuring, among other hosts, Romeo Miller and Zonnique Pullins. She revealed this information about herself and her big sister while the co-hosts discussed a former member of the popular group Fifth Harmony divulging that she’s waiting until marriage to have sex.
“I grew up in a household where my mom, we were Christian, but then she made me and my sister so afraid of sex,” she said. “Have you guys seen Mean Girls where it’s like, ‘If you have sex you gon’ die?’ [laughs] I was scared.”
“She made us, well me in particular, very afraid of it,” she added.
Roman has been open in the past about working in an HIV Health Care Center while she was auditioning for The Real World in the early ’90s and seeing some grim stuff, and she is still involved in HIV and AIDS awareness efforts. She also was very open about getting pregnant unexpectedly and choosing to have an abortion while on the show, which was a first for reality TV. With that in mind, it’s no shock that the star would have encouraged her daughters to wait as long as they could, even if it was in a manner that could have shaken them up.
“Then when I went to school and we had sex education, they showing every nasty picture of a STD they can find and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m never having sex!’ So, I’m 24 now. I’ve never had sex,” she said.
“But at the same time, what made it easier is my sister’s 26. So I always felt, if she’s not having sex, why am I the younger sister gonna go have sex? That would look bad,” she added. “So for me I was like, no, I’m waiting until marriage. And then my sister’s not doing it, she’s older than me. I definitely don’t need to be doing it. So it never really crossed my mind.”
While she said her intention is to wait until marriage, she mentioned that she was in a relationship for three years recently, and she and her partner struggled with temptation. While she maintained her virginity, her boyfriend ended up sleeping with someone else because he couldn’t wait. So now she said she’s easing up on herself and choosing to hold on to her virginity until she feels she’s truly ready to give it up.
“For me, I do want to wait but I’m realizing I do have those temptations,” she said. “That is a conversation that when I reach that point, I’m definitely going to sit down with my mom and say, ‘Look, I’m ready to lose my virginity.’ She instilled it in me. I think it’s the least I can do is say, ‘I don’t want you out here thinking I’m still a virgin.'”
Now when she dates, Jazz lets guys know early on where she stands and doesn’t judge them if they aren’t okay with it. She said she doesn’t want to waste anybody’s time. She also doesn’t judge anyone else if they choose to be sexually open and sleep with whomever they want, whenever they please.
“If you’re not having sex, that doesn’t make you a prude, that doesn’t make you a loser. None of that. And if you are having sex, that doesn’t make you a ho,” she said. “You have to live your own life. It’s about what you value and what you believe. For me, it stems from my household. For any other young girl out there, I don’t know what it could stem from for you, but hopefully you’re doing what you want to be doing.”
The Mix airs each Tuesday night at 7pm PT / 10pm ET on FOX SOUL.
