Ten years ago, VH1 aired one season of a show featuring exes of famous Atlantans like Ne-Yo and Usher dubbed descriptively as “Atlanta Exes.”
It lasted only one season.
Now WE-TV has launched a reality show “Bold & Bougie” featuring the exes of Ne-Yo and Usher, plus three other notable entrepreneurial women. It debuted Thursday night with episodes available on demand for anyone who subscribes to a cable or comparable network that offers WE-TV or pays for the ALLBLK streaming service.
Tameka Foster is the one common thread between the two shows. She was married to Usher from 2007 to 2009.
On “Atlanta Exes,” the ex-wife of Ne-Yo was Monyetta Shaw, who was engaged to the R&B singer from 2010 to 2013. In “Bold & Bougie,” it’s Crystal Renay Smith, who was married to Ne-Yo from 2016 to 2023.
Tameka and Malaysia are both friends with Monyetta so the first episode features the women awkwardly meeting.
Here’s a quick summary of the five women who are in the cast with some quotes from a Zoom interview with three of the women: Malaysia Pargo, Gocha Hawkins and Princess Banton-Lofters. (The two aforementioned exes were not available.)
Malaysia Pargo: Malaysia is a transplant from California who moved to Atlanta just a year ago and a reality show veteran who appeared for 10 years on VH1′s “Basketball Wives LA” as the wife of NBA player Jannero Pargo. They divorced in 2016. An owner of a jewelry line, she is a mother of three. “I always liked Atlanta,” Malaysia said. “A lot of my friends are here and I like the schools here. Atlanta is like a second home to me.” She said she decided to get back in the reality game because “God led me back in and I jumped into a phenomenal cast.”
Princess Banton-Lofters: Princess helped create “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” which has endured 15 seasons on Bravo and is now a reality show institution. “I thought I’d take a chance and do something in front of the camera,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to showcase female creatives. I’m not only in reality TV but I am in fashion and other businesses. I thought I’d just take the leap. And I already knew some of these ladies.” In the first episode, she jumps right into a serious topic: medical issues with her breasts that have involved multiple surgeries. She said despite knowing the genre so well, it was a challenge being so vulnerable: “I have new respect for the women who do this.”
Gocha (pronounced Go-Shay) Hawkins: She runs multiple restaurants in Atlanta including Gocha’s Breakfast Bar and Gocha’s Tapas Bar. “It was a great experience,” Gocha said. “We got along as a sisterhood. We’ve had our ups and downs but for the most part, we were able to get along.”
Tameka Foster: She has very little filter, which makes her understandably entertaining to watch. “She just says what she feels at the moment, good, bad or ugly,” Princess said. “You take her for what she’s worth.” Gocha added: “She has diarrhea of the mouth.” Tameka spoke to Page Six of the New York Post after she attended the Super Bowl, courtesy of VIP tickets from her ex. “It was phenomenal,” she said. “I had so much fun at the game.”
Crystal Renay Smith: On the show, she said she had been out of the public eye for a bit since her divorce from Ne-Yo. When she first meets Tameka, Tameka quickly notes her loyalty toward Monyetta, and Crystal gets annoyed when Monyetta keeps getting namedropped. “It’s the elephant in the room and we try to get that out of the way,” Princess said. “We touch on it and move on.”
The title of the show is loosely based on a popular Migos song. But the word “bougie” isn’t always perceived positively.
“I love bougie,” Princess said unashamedly. “I am bougie. It’s okay. It can be negative but for us, it’s about doing what we want to do and expressing ourselves.”
Gocha likes the “bold” part and sees the “bougie” portion in some of the cast members. Malaysia said she’s fine with it: “At least it’s catchy.”
IF YOU WATCH
“Bold & Bougie,” 9 p.m. Thursdays on WE-TV, also available on demand for cable subscribers with access to the network or ALLBLK subscribers
