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If you’ve watched the last couple of seasons of Love and Hip Hop and seen some of the drama that Sierra Gates and BK Brasco have been through, the news of their engagement might have come as a shock. But when we were given the opportunity to speak to the couple following BK’s proposal at the grand opening of his store Band of Brothers on December 5, it was evident how in love the couple really are. He detailed the lengths he went to spring the proposal on her, creating a text group with her closest friends and working with organizers of the store’s grand opening to make sure not only was he being celebrated, but Sierra, too. She heard the details for the first time during our conversation, and it was clear that she was moved. Listening to them, the troubles of the past, the confrontations and accusations, seemed to be in their rear view.

“Our love story is so crazy and so difficult,” Sierra remarked. “Everybody don’t understand it, but the best thing about me and him is it’s just me and him.”

To get some understanding about their love story, we talked with the couple about their beginnings, how celibacy strengthened their bond, their shared love of entrepreneurship, and what they see for their future. We also had to ask about who they see in it, including Sierra’s on-again, off-again friend, Karlie Redd. Check out the side of their relationship you don’t get to see on camera.

Sierra Gates and BK Brasco

Source: Lloyd Mackayi / @lloyd_mack

MadameNoire: Congratulations on the engagement! You’re getting married, ma’am. How does it feel? 

Sierra Gates: I’m still shocked. Still shocked. It was a long time coming.

MN: So you had no idea?

Sierra: No! Cause you know, I actually felt bad because I didn’t really play a part in putting the store together. From when I first seen it I was like uh uh, this store is kind of beat up. It’s going to take too much. So when I came in about a month ago and seen how well it looked from where it started, I felt so bad that I didn’t play a part in it. So I was like, let me plan the grand opening! So I hired the grand opening people, connected them with Romel’s assistant, and they tricked me! [laughs]

MN: Congratulations to you BK on your new business by the way! Why did you feel your grand opening for Band of Brothers was the perfect place and time to pop the question?

BK Brasco: You just said it: the perfect place and perfect time. It was just right. I’m going into a next phase of my life and she’s been talking about engagement. I was just trying to figure out what day I could do it. I wanted to make my engagement and my store the biggest thing for myself and for her. Everybody knew but her.

MN: People who’ve watched Love and Hip Hop, they’ve obviously seen you guys have your ups and downs on the show. How did you overcome that to get to this point?

Sierra: Well for me, when I first met Romel, he truly was like a best friend of mine because I was going through a divorce when I first met him. We really fell in love with each other being best friends. That’s literally how we made our connection. Starting out, we had so much stuff in common. While I was going through my divorce, I was falling in love with my best friend. So that’s what happened. A lot of times, people are like, “Oh he did this, he did that,” but in his defense, what the world doesn’t remember or pay attention to is I was technically still married. He was really just being a man and living his best life and I was going through a divorce but falling in love with this man at the same time. I feel like me, I call myself a light switch because I be clickin’ on and clickin’ off, but Romel is patient with me. I just feel like a lot of times when I’m clickin’ on and clickin’ off, it comes from my old marriage and me just living through that old trauma. But this is totally different. We’re really friends. I never really had a friendship with my ex-husband. So how we deal with it is just loving on each other. We love each other like love. A different type of love. We even took sex out of the equation for a whole year. Romel came to me and told me that God had challenged him to stop touching me because God wanted to bless him. He was like, God told him that He wasn’t going to bless him until he completely stopped touching me because I was a special child of His. When he told me that I was like, “Boy, you just wanna cheat! Do what you wanna do!” And he was like, “I really need to do this for my own mental. I really need to line myself up and I really need to be a better man for you.” Honestly, I promise y’all, once we took that sex out of the equation, we found a deeper love for each other. Inseparable. We can lay next to each other. Most people like to be physical with each other. We can lay next to each other and just don’t touch and be laughing, having a good time looking at movies, arguing, laughing again, cooking. Spending time with each other. So when you revert back to what people might say, we got all of this real life happening. We don’t even care.

MN: As you mentioned, you were previously married. Before the proposal, where did you stand on getting married again? Were you nervous about the idea?

Sierra: I would say the feeling that I feel when I’m with Romel, I feel like I want to feel it for the rest of my life. So the thought of getting married again, I kind of got a little scared but at the same time, I like what I feel. This feeling, I don’t want it to ever go away, so if I gotta spend the rest of my life with this man so I can get this feeling every day, then that was just what it was gonna be. And pulling up to the grand opening, I did feel weird because I’m like, dang this a big night for him. I literally seen Romel go from some of his hardest times in life to where he is now. When I first met him he was beating a court case from some different things he used to do in his past. So he was transitioning to being a businessman. I kind of pushed him like, “You need to boss up.” And he has pushed me in so many different directions. So I would say, walking up to the grand opening and to actually see he really did it and we together and our kids together, our families were there, I felt like dang, we ain’t even married. I’m not even engaged to him and he’s opening up this brand new store, all eyes about to be on us. I was like, alright, whatever. I’m just going to suck it up. I had went and bought me a whole bunch of diamond bracelets and rings and stuff, trying to cover up my sadness because I didn’t have my ring yet, not knowing he was about to propose as soon as I walked in the door.

Sierra Gates and BK Brasco

Source: Alston Media Group / AMG

MN: BK, I know Sierra has her children from her first marriage and you have children from previous relationships. Do you see yourselves having children together?

BK: Of course. I really want to have a kid in the house and be married. I never really got to see with my kids, a woman have the baby grow in her stomach or be the one to say, “What do you need?” The weird cravings. I know I’m gonna argue with her like, “Sierra you don’t need that!” But I want to be around for that. I want to see her stomach grow, and see from day one to when she pushes the baby out.

MN: Sierra are you up for that?

Sierra: …Uh uh. I don’t want to. We’ll have a baby, it’s gonna be a minute though. I’m not ready for it. When that other side of my Gemini clicks, I do want to feel that, but I’m in Money Monster mode. Uh uh. Not right now.

MN: Yes! Let’s talk about your business ventures. Sierra, can you tell me more about your Money Monsters Movement?

Sierra: Me and Romel came up with this movement about two and a half years ago. He said, “You know what you are Si? You a Money Monster!” And I was like, “You know what? I am.” He was like, “You really motivate girls to want to do better. You really motivate girls to want to expand and start businesses and be a monster in business and get money.” So I was like, I want to make a movement. It’s basically just showing girls how to get money, motivating them. Showing them how I made my first million, showing them how I lost it and made it back again. The dos and the don’ts in business and how success really starts with your mental. I’m giving them the real information to start a business. I have vendors lists. I actually went and did business in China to get these connections to help girls. We’ve got over 100 sales reps so that they can help them actually get in touch with these vendors and talk to these people. We got sales reps to walk them through everything so they can actually start a business and not just pay for a vendors list and then we leave them hanging.

MN: BK can you tell me how you came up with the idea for your store, Band of Brothers?

BK: Honestly, I wanted to do something with my friends. I wanted my friends to have a way to make money. I remember laying next to Sierra, I woke up and I went and got the store. I had a dream that we were going to be cutting the ribbon, it was going to be me plus four other guys and her, and we were going to be like, “Welcome to Band of Brothers.” When I went to my friends with the idea, they wanted to do it…but I don’t wait for people. I put all of my money into it and did it and honestly, I’m glad I did it like that. It’s a changed thing for me. Now Band of Brothers don’t just mean my brothers put together putting something together. Now it actually truly means I’m the man that’s going to band brothers together to have a different standard in life. Grow up and do different things. I want to put God back into a lot of people or just a conscience. Give guys a conscience again. I was in Miami for my birthday and I got teary-eyed when I found out that kid King Von got killed. Young kids. And I heard God say, “The reason you’re alive is because there’s more for you. I need you to tell people it’s more for them.” That could have been me. That could have been anybody losing their life senselessly like life is cheap. So Band of Brothers is to show men standards. To hold them accountable.

Sierra Gates and BK Brasco

Source: Lloyd Mackayi / @lloyd_mack

MN: So, we’re in a pandemic. I know it’s early, but have you guys thought about when you might want to get married and how, while keeping in mind everything that’s going on?

BK: We ain’t set no time, but I know it’s going to be Brooklyn vs. Atlanta.

Sierra: [Laughs] I haven’t really been thinking about the wedding. I’ve just been trying to let it sit and marinate that I’m actually engaged because I know everything that we’ve been through. I’m really like, God really changed this man and God made this man for me. Hanging as friends, he would tell me about this girl and I would tell him about that guy. Now look at us together for real. So I’m absorbing that. But I know I don’t want to be engaged for five years. He don’t even want to wait a year. Romel wants to get married in like eight months.

MN: Sierra, I gotta ask, will Karlie [Redd] be at the wedding? Where do you guys stand in your relationship?

Sierra: Me and Karlie is so up and down, but for now in our friendship…where it stands, she will be at the wedding.

MN: Awwwww. You said, “…but we’ll see!” [laughs]

Sierra: We’ll see [laughs]. But you know, I love Karlie. Whatever we go though, I love her. She’ll always be invited to my wedding because Karlie holds a special place in my heart. When I first got up on the scene with this television stuff, she was the one who gave me the ropes. Karlie’s the GOAT. She welcomed me and she showed me what I should be doing and what I shouldn’t be doing. I’m a always have a special love and respect for Karlie. Even though things went a little bit left with us, I love that lady.

MN: That’s awesome. And lastly, are you guys filming the new season of Love and Hip Hop? When can we see you guys on TV again?

Sierra: We just did a bubble show for Love and Hip Hop. They took all the franchises, New York, LA and Atlanta, and they threw us all in a bubble. We went to Arizona and we filmed out there. It’s going to be so good. I learned so much from all the different people that went on the trip. I also learned how the different states are really different. Even though we’re all a part of Love and Hip Hop, every franchise is so different. Atlanta is definitely the one that’s bringing the heat and the drinks to the room. I just really see the differences. I’m super excited to see that. Romel wasn’t a part of that, it was just me for that. But we do start filming, in January, me and him and our love story.

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