Source: Twitter

Daphne Wayans’ presence in the spotlight is a conscious choice the ex-wife of Keenen Ivory Wayans made after purposely spending her time not being famous. The smart and stylish Daphne, who has five children with Wayans, says that divorce did not stop her from going back to being Keenen’s friend, creating a healthy structure for their kids, or cultivating her personal growth and friendships. In fact, she’s been friends with Sheree Fletcher and Nicole Murphy for two decades. So it might appear that Daphne Wayans came out of nowhere to join the reality TV bandwagon, but she’s been herself all along, and now we get to see the woman who was just a girl when she met the Wayans family. Since finishing season 2 of VH1’s Hollywood Exes, Daphne spoke with MN about her journey and why she finally decided to join the reality show business.

Madame Noire: What was it like being married to Keenen Ivory Wayans?

Daphne Wayans: It was many things, but mostly a lot of love and a lot of fun. I was 16 when I met him, and didn’t start dating him until I was 18. I learned a lot from him being very young. I had a lot of room to grow. We were together for about 13 or 14 years; 15 is an easy round number to say. By the time we got married, I had had almost all of our children. I like to include all of those years because we were creating a family.

MN: Why did you two decide to split after five children?

DW: There’s not any one reason why we decided. When I do these interviews people go, “what happened?,” as if I’m going to say he kicked me. So, I don’t like to call it a split or divorce because we were still together in so many ways. It was more of a shift, a change in structure. We live five houses from each other. We still operate as a family we’re not husband and wife for sure, but we’re definitely parents to our children. I think I can speak for him to say it’s our greatest creation in our lives. So you don’t separate so easy. In the legal world, the paper seals the deal, but in the real world there’s still a lot there. A marriage is maybe one quarter business and three quarters your heart, your emotion, and your life.

MN: How was it for you being a single mother after the divorce?

DW: Well, I would say that from a technical standpoint, I am a single mother. I’m not married to the father of my children and we don’t live in the same house. I tell people all the time don’t let me be the symbol of your divorce because people would be wanting to get divorced. I mean he has them one week and I have them the next. My children like it very well because they are very clear on who brings what. Often times you get this immersion of parents, and I don’t mean to say that that’s bad, but it’s more clear now. There’s times that we have to come together and make a decision as a family. It’s made us have mutual regard for each other, and I see that the roles exist for a reason.

MN: Why do you want to join reality TV as a Hollywood Ex?

DW: The producers and some of the other stars are very old friends of mine. Sheree and Nicole are very old friends, a couple of decades old. This show peaked my interest because my friends were involved, and I was a part of the original pitching cast so I pitched the show to all of the original networks with them. I had been asked so often to write about my experience and my journey, from divorce to now. So I thought I could share that, my experiences, broadly. If I can change any viewpoints or perspectives that would be good because people go into this cruel, nasty beingness of being a divorcee. I know that people are doing the best they can, but my thing is what did you guys start as? You were friends? Go back to being friends.

From StyleBlazer

Who’s your favorite “Love & Hip-Hop” star? When fans of the franchise were asked recently, they lit up twitter to proclaim who their favorite lady was and why. The person with the best answer would win a full makeover to look like the woman of her choice.

Tahiry Jose was chosen by Dianna Ramnarine, a newly wed school teacher and fan of “Love & Hip-Hop NY.” And we can totally see why! Tahiry style is tight—in more ways than one. Her heels are high, her hair is long and laid, and her makeup—soft with subtle pops of color.

With the help of the LHH glam squad, via the Teknique Agency, on hair, makeup, and nails; Necessary Clothing; and Shoedazzle, we transformed Dianna into a true LHH diva. Dianna will also be able to keep up her look with her prizes, including Jewelry from Yandy Smith’s Everything Girls Love, shoes from Rashidah Ali’s Encore Shoetique, makeup from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics and a Beauty Blender kit.

Watch the transformation on StyleBlazer.com

Just when you thought Oxygen couldn’t stoop any lower with their programming after they tried to give Shawty Lo and his millions of baby mothers a show, they’ve decided to prove us wrong with Pastors of L.A. Following in the trend of reality shows about the wives of pastors and the children of them out here acting wild, the show will be about the actual pastors themselves, their often rocky journey to preaching the word of God, and how the megachurch pastors from Southern California live their lives when they’re not in the pulpit. Knowing Oxygen, the home of the always ratch Bad Girls Club, this show will probably be far from holy, and I’m personally not too excited about it…Here’s an excerpt of  the press release about the show from Oxygen, courtesy of Shadow and Act:

“Pastors of L.A.” will give viewers a candid and revealing look at six boldly different and world renowned mega-pastors in Southern California, who are willing to share diverse aspects of their lives, from their work in the community and with their parishioners to the very large and sometimes provocative lives they lead away from the pulpit.

“‘Pastors of L.A.’ documents these larger than life characters who are rock stars in their communities, with a fresh, unique perspective that will resonate with our young audience,” said Rod Aissa, Senior Vice President of Original Programming and Development, Oxygen Media. “By teaming up with Lemuel and Holly who are some of the best creative minds in the business and heavily respected within this community, we can deliver this authentic series with integrity, while also staying right on brand with Oxygen.”

“We are delighted to work with Oxygen to develop this groundbreaking series on the extraordinary lives of some of the most prominent pastors in America,” said Lemuel Plummer. “I come to this project with a respect and understanding of their world, having grown up as the son of a pastor and religious broadcasters. We intend to portray the human side of these pastors and the real world in which they live and work.”

“This show documents a journey of transparency from one man to the next as they endeavor to lead others to their own truth and self-discovery,” adds Holly Carter who holds a doctorate of divinity with an emphasis on marketplace ministry and is the daughter of a pastor and an industry veteran in faith and inspirational development and programming. “It’s a dose of reality and a pound of redemption coming from a creative team reared in the church.”

The cast will include Bishop Noel Jones, the brother of entertainer Grace Jones; Deitrick Haddon, a divorced preacher whose church has shunned him; Bishop Clarence McClendon and Pastor Wayne Chaney, who is battling with his family to make his church, Life Church of God in Christ, the next big megachurch in the state; Bishop Ron Gibson, a former drug addict who has come far, but struggles with his wife to bring a child in the world; and Pastor Jay Haizlip, who reaches out to the troubled youth after being one himself and also battling crack addiction in the past.

Everybody (though Bishop McClendon seems the most tame) seems to have a back story, and if you’re really interested in getting to know them better, the show will debut this fall. That is of course, unless a Change.org comes out before then…

Holy smokes! A new reality show is coming to Fox on May 23, Does Someone Have To Go?  that gives the employees at three different companies the chance to vote co-workers out of the company.

The show was first discussed back in 2009, but the general thinking was that the job situation around the country was too dismal to air. Now that things are great (???) Fox has ordered up six episodes where three companies are put in the hot seat. Originally, people would be fired in the end, now the show has been softened such that it’s only a suggestion. That’s still really messed up. And it’s a clear sign you’re in the wrong job.

The trailer below doesn’t fully convey what all is really happening on this show. Check out the extended preview on New York magazine’s Vulture site where everyone’s salary is revealed, they criticize each other on video, and we watch as employees squirm, watching to find out where the hatchet will fall. That sounds great.

Is this something you would watch?

Just when we think Ray J can’t become any more disillusioned than he already is, Brandy’s little brother goes and one-ups himself.

I know everyone talks about Kim Kardashian on a nearly daily basis, but it seems no one keeps her name in their mouth more than the man who so proudly hit it first, Ray J Norwood. In an interview with the Jasmine Brand, the singer — term used loosely — talked a bit about his new gig as the host of Oxygen’s Bad Girls All-Star Battle, but inevitably the conversation turned to his relationship with Kim K. when he was asked about he and his old boo thang’s success with reality TV. He told the site:

We been there kinda from the start; like I think when reality first started people were a little bit afraid of it, but ya know now it’s the new wave, it’s the new TV, it’s pop culture. It’s everything in one as far as entertainment. It has its own space now and I think we saw it from the beginning and I think now it’s just evolved. It’s so big–everybody wants to do reality everybody wants to have a show about their life or their family and a lot of people think it’s easy but it’s not. I think people are really hand picking the right people to fit this space, and I just think we always kept it real always kept it 100 and we still here.

Where exactly is “here” Ray J? picking random women to date and sleep with on VH1? Say what you will about Kim, but her reality TV game is quite different, and I don’t think I’m going very far out on the limb when I say she’s the only one “still here.”

But Ray J also thinks he’s the sole reason Kim is famous and that he legitimately hit it first so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this nonsense either. Oh wait, one more joke from Ray J. When asked what he thought of Kim’s odd Met Gala dress, he (straight up lied) and told The Jasmine Brand:

“I haven’t got a chance [to see the dress], I don’t be on the internet like that. I got to step my internet game up. I don’t know, I’m sure she looked good though.”

Oh you don’t be on the Internet like that? I want him to stop playing. Do you consider Ray J a reality TV pioneer?

Source: MTV

If you find yourself watching ratchet reality shows and missing the days when show’s like Run’s House ruled the airways, you’ll be happy to know that Rev. Run and his family will be returning to a television set near you. While Angela and Vanessa have ventured out to the Hollywood Hills to build a life for themselves, most of the Simmons children are still living in the family’s New Jersey home.

According to MTV, the show will be a little different from Run’s House, as it will be a home improvement show that documents the family attempting to fix up their lavish nine thousand sq. ft. New Jersey estate. Can you imagine all of those personalities smack-dab in the middle of a home improvement show? Rev Run already seems to be struggling to contain his laughter.

“Can’t wait for everyone to see it .. Talk about funny ?? Lol!!!!!!!!,” he tweeted.

The show is slated to premiere in 2013 on HGTV.

Is this a show that you could see yourself watching?

Source: Instagram

You may remember Tionna Smalls from the 2010 VH1 reality show What Chilli Wants, starring TLC’s Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas. Tionna was the relationship guru attempting to help Chilli piece back together her mess of a love life, but what many don’t know about Tionna is that she has her hands in several industries. The 28-year-old media mogul has written a couple of books including Girl Get Your Mind Right and Men Love Abuse, in addition to launching her own book publishing company, Talk Dat Ish Books, which has published titles by Neffe Pugh and Tashera Simmons. She has also launched entertainment and film company, Talk Dat Ish Ent. Did we mention she also owns a jewelry boutique. It’s no wonder she’s earned the title as one of Brooklyn’s favorite entrepreneurs. Homegirl stays busy! And now, in addition to all of her thriving business ventures, we’ve just learned that she’s making history as well.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, MTV has just ordered 20 episodes of Smalls’ relationship series, Girl Get Your Mind Right. The new show is scheduled to debut May 20th and will air weeknights at 6 pm throughout the summer. The show will center around Tionna and her efforts to help young women conquer relationship issues. The folks over at THR are saying that each episode will document Tionna as she assesses her subject’s problems and “confronts them head on.” The ladies who make appearances on her show will also be getting makeovers that address their physical appearance and their attitudes.

“It’ll allow us to take a look into the specifics of many more girls and each episode will wind up being more relatable,” Tony Biari, senior vp of MTV series development said of the new series.

“Tough love, especially with a comedic tone, is something our audience is craving right now. They’re looking for guidance and boundaries from someone other than their parents. We felt the combination of the genre and the personality like Tionna, who is so unique, made a lot of sense for us,” he continued.

Girl Get Your Mind Right will also go down in history as the first daily MTV series produced by and starring a Black woman.

Way to go, Tionna!

So, will you be checking out Girl Get Your Mind Right when it debuts later this month?

Petitioners may not have succeeded in stopping TLC from airing a new reality show about preachers’ wives this past January, but they will be happy to know the channel has cancelled the show “The Sisterhood” and it will not be returning for a second season.

The news comes from The Jasmine Brand, which recently chatted with members of the cast about the cancellation. If you recall, the show centered on the lives of Tara Lewis, Domonique Scott, Christina Murray, DeLana Rutherford, and Ivy Couch — five Atlanta women who were married to current or former pastors. The backlash to the mere idea of the show was almost instant and a change.org petition urging TLC to cancel the series went viral within a week of the first episode. With AlwaysAList.com’s report that the “The Sisterhood” won’t be returning for season 2, the natural question is whether ratings or controversy is the culprit. In an interview with The Jasmine Brand, Dr. Brian Lewis, husband of Pastor Tara Lewis, said, ultimately, the women are the ones who got the show cancelled.

“There are so many factors that contributed to the cancellation of the show, but ultimately it was the cast members themselves that caused our core viewers, Christians, to be grieved by their conduct and turned-off and disinterested in the show. The premiere episode one was so way off base for those professing to be Christians and the sensationalized sexual content so blatant, the arguments so tense and the doctrinal differences so outlandish that it made people feel so uncomfortable that the show immediately lost 300,000 viewers and it undermined this phenomenal opportunity we had to witness His light in darkness. The bickering, pettiness, gossiping, backbiting, insolence and cliquiness of three of the ladies violated the one law that identifies true Christians.”

Although the couple is disappointed that “The Sisterhood” has gone by the wayside, along with the opportunity to minister to viewers, the Lewis’s are actually hoping to get their own show where they can continue to be the positive, uplifting examples they set out to be from the beginning. Tara said:

“So many people want to see us have our own show. So the answer to your question is “Yes!” We have developed a pitch for our own reality docuseries featuring Tara and I, as well as, daily talk show pitch. We plan to pitch the docuseries to the production companies and the top reality based networks and are confident that this will not be the last that you see of Brian and Tara Lewis in reality. We also have our weekly television broadcast Phenomenal Life Today, which airs locally here in Atlanta and is featured on Magic Johnson’s Aspire TV Network and we are in discussions to go on The Impact Network, the first and only African American owned global Christian television network. Tara and I still be in the call on our lives to use television to impact the world for Christ.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if TLC hopped on that.

What do you think about “The Sisterhood” being cancelled? Would you watch a spin-off show with Brian and Tara?

If you’ve caught only one episode of “The Gossip Game” this season, you’d know that journalists, bloggers, and radio personalities are not above falling victim to the set-up of reality TV. Already we’ve seen the ladies argue, nearly fight, and apparently spit on one another all in the name of getting to the top. After watching things unravel, we had no choice but to ask writer Jas Fly if she thinks the ladies’ behavior contributes to the glass ceiling women experience in the hip-hop industry. Here’s what she had to say.

From YourTango

Is it just me or is TV out of control with all the dating shows being aired? According to this article in The New York Times, three new shows aired this month with each program being worse and worse. The first program to air was Eva Longoria‘s show, Ready for Love, but it was cancelled after only two episodes. The idea was that three matchmakers had to scour the world to find matches for their clients. (My thought: if these matchmakers had to “scour the world” to find someone a match, this client was being way too picky, anyway.)

Next to hit the airwaves was Find Me My Man on Oxygen, featuring Miami matchmaker Natalie Clarice. The show, created to help Miami’s professional women find love, is clearly another reality dating series … sans the reality.

Read more at YourTango.com