Considering all of the turmoil and negativity surrounding reality stars of today, it is great to see that some have broken free from the negativity and have grown drastically as a result of it. In a recent interview with Bossip, former reality star Neffe Pugh of BET’s Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is and Frankie and Neffe opened up about her decision to walk away from reality television, her new book and her current relationship with her sister Keyshia. Check out some of the interview’s highlights.
On what inspired her to write her book:
“My decision to write The Price I Paid came from making a huge decision in my life to walk away from reality TV and I’ve been off the market for almost two and a half years now. So when I made that decision to leave reality TV… it was a hard decision. But, it was a decision I had to make for the better of myself, my husband, my daughters, my family. I wanted my life to go in a different direction. I wanted to take control of me and I didn’t have that control doing reality TV… And if I’m going to be out there doing television, it’s going to be something that is going to change somebody’s life, versus you telling me ‘Oh my god I love you. You’re so hood. You’re so ghetto’.”
On the Neffe we’re used to seeing on reality TV vs. the Neffe we see today:
“I’ve always been this way [having a professional, calm demeanor]. I was in a time in my life when I was going through a real heavy divorce. My husband was dating my cousin. It was a lot going on. I didn’t know where I was […] I was still in a time in my life when I was going through. So what you guys saw was a angry, angry, angry, depressed, young African American woman with children that needed to find her way out. What you guys may have thought was ghetto or hood was hurt and pain. The tears, none of that was fake. I’ve always been a woman of God. I’ve always been a mother. I was married for 10 years. I’ve always worked. I graduated from high school. I chose not to go to college because I wanted to take care of my kids. I’ve always been this way but nobody had a chance to see it.”
On what we can expect from The Price I Paid:
“The Price I Paid is inspirational, it’s failure, it’s tears, it’s strength, sacrifice, it’s you, him, her, them, they… It’s the world. I think that as public figures we need to do that more often, instead of saying ‘Well, I have this million dollar home’ or ‘I’ve got my Bentley outside’ why don’t you tell the struggle you went through to get that because that is what people really want to know.”
On the status of her relationship with Keyshia and why she wasn’t at the wedding:
“I will say this. She did not like that me and mom did the reality show in the nature that it was done. What we thought was ‘Oh, you ain’t gonna do the show cuz I said so’ was really ‘You’re not going to do this show unless it’s done right. I’m protecting you’ and I didn’t realize that until after the fact. As far as me not being at the wedding, it was like a last minute thing so I couldn’t just hop up and pack up my five kids and my husband and dash off to Hawaii. So I ended up missing that. Do I regret it? No, but what I do regret is not being there for her when she wanted me to. So it wasn’t like we don’t get along or some type of sibling rivalry. It was just wrong timing, miscommunication and because of that I was unable to make the wedding. But, I did congratulate her and spend some amazing time with her and her husband and my nephew is a doll.”
She also shared the amazing news that Frankie has been clean for over a year and a half. It is great to see that whatever patches Keyshia and Neffe hit in their relationship are in the process of being repaired. In a recent interview with Z Hip Hop Cleveland, Keyshia also discussed her recovering relationship with her sister.
“Me and Neffe used to fight like cats and dogs. I remember fighting her plenty of times after award shows, after shows, we just fought. I just feel like if Neffe had a problem with me, then as much as we fight or argue, you can come and talk to me about these problems. We haven’t gotten to the root of the problem. We’ve had conversations about it, but we haven’t gotten to the root as far as an understanding […] I think it might take Oprah.”
Check out Neffe’s interview on the next page. What do you think of her decision to step away from reality television?
