By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Friday, June 19, 2015
Keyshia Cole, the R&B star, was a relatively early convert to reality TV while she was still a rising musician. Her first BET show "Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is" in 2006 also happened to create reality stars out of her more colorful, melodramatic sibling Neffeteria Pugh and her wild and crazy mom Frankie Lyons.
Frankie and Neffe, as the pair are known, nabbed their own spinoff show 2009. It didn't do badly but Neffe was sick of the spotlight and dropped out of the reality TV world.
"I was over it," Neffe said. "It was overwhelming. I just didn't want to be out there like that anymore. At the same time, it took a lot to back away from it. Reality TV is my job." But she felt it was hurting her family dynamics at the time. She got married afterwards, but income dried up.
'We lost homes," she said. "We lost cars. We stayed in hotel rooms."
She and husband Soullow had to find ways to stay afloat. They moved to Gainesville for a time but lost their home there as well. Last year, they began shopping around a new reality project called "Family Therapy." It was released free online as a way to re-generate interest in the family. (You can watch an episode here.)
It was pitched as "the show Keyshia Cole doesn't want the world to see!" This controversial take brought in eyeballs, while upsetting Cole. They had a bit of a Twitter beef that only gave more attention to the show. (Was it manufactured for that purpose? Who knows?)
Neffe said Keyshia didn't mind them having a show, just didn't like how it was presented to the world.
The end result: BET came back to the table and Neffe was back on reality TV with her mom Frankie. The show debuted earlier this month.
"We're back in the game," she said. "Crazy how God does things."
She and Keyshia are on good terms now. "We had a lot of tough moments but we're in a great place now. We talk as often as possible... I spend quality time with my nephew. There was a period when we were going in two directions. She wasn't connected. Now we can move forward as a family and sisters. I plan to visit her in a couple of weeks in Malibu."
Although Neffe has been in metro Atlanta for 11 years, she would like to move to Florida and be closer to the beach. She said Frankie moves around, spending time in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York and her hometown of Oakland. She said Frankie has been sober for about a year, if not longer.
If anything, she said she and Frankie have always gotten along. "I'm the first-born child. I gave her her first grandbaby."
She wouldn't say if BET is thinking of keeping them around for another season.
ON TV
"Frankie & Neffe,"
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