By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, filed Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Tiffanie Davis Henry, an Atlanta-based sex and relationship therapist, caught the TV bug when she was recruited in 2010 to help TLC singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas find a man on her VH1 reality show "What Chilli Wants."
Although Chili never found the man of her dreams, Henry became a go-to person for sex advice on shows such as "Good Morning America," "The Steve Harvey Show" and "The Dr. Oz Show."
She is now part of an ensemble on TLC's advice show "All About Sex," which concludes its first season this Saturday on Valentine's Day at 11 p.m. The cast features actress Marissa Janet Winokur ("Hairspray"), comedienne Heather MacDonald ("Chelsea Lately") and stand-up comic Margaret Cho, who lived part-time in Atlanta for six years while on the Lifetime dramedy "Drop Dead Diva." Henry is the medical expert in the group.
"These are amazing accomplished women," Henry said in a recent interview. "I feel honored to be in the same space and learn from each of them."
Married for eight years with a five-month-old daughter, Henry recently closed her private practice to focus exclusively on the media world.
We talk to her about her show, Valentine's Day and "Fifty Shades of Grey." Here is an edited version of our talk at Einstein's Bagels off Druid Hills yesterday:
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Q: In 2012, you were on an ABC talk show 'The Revolution." What did you learn from that experience?
Henry: It only lasted a year but I really enjoyed the show. It was a crash course in everything I needed to know about lighting and stand ups. I did a lot of field pieces. "Revolution" opened doors for me: HLN, CNN, different talk shows.
Q: You got to work with Tim Gunn ["Project Runway"]!
Henry: He was my work husband. I adore that man. We were on a plane. Some lady from coach came to first class to shake his hand. The flight attendant told her to go back. He went back to coach to speak with her. This is a gift. I'm not going to forget that. He's very humble for where he is. He put this in perspective for me. All of this is fleeting. Your show can be cancelled at any time. You have to savor every moment.
Q: So why "All About Sex"?
Henry: I grew up with [radio shows] "Love Lines" and Sue Johanson. I don't know if they were necessarily targeted for me but I soaked it all in. Sex education is something I want to do. In 'All About Sex,' we come from different backgrounds and have real conversations with real women about sex.
Q: How is that?
Henry: Margaret Cho is at one end of the spectrum. She is very sexual. Marissa is the other end. She loves her husband her family but sex hasn't been a priority. We need people like her on the show. We can't all be Margaret. Marissa is someone that ends up in my office, someone who needs to jump start her sex life.
Q: Your show is on Saturday night, which is unusual for a talk show.
Henry: It's a time when people are in bed and this can jump start conversations. We did a show on role playing. If you didn't know how to bring something up or are shy about it, let us bring it up for you.
Q: I hear your season finale will feature "Fifty Shades of Grey."
Henry: It's all about the movie and the book. We'll talk about kink in the bedroom if you don't know how. We'll school you on that. We'll talk about what the book meant to people. Whether you love or hate the writing, or love or hate the subject, it takes things beyond missionary. It's not just vanilla. There's this conception that the average person won't go out and buy handcuffs or whips or hogties. What we found with '50 Shades' is people have fantasies. They never knew this was possible in their relationships. It opened up a lot of conversations about sex and sexuality, about empowering women to voice what it is they might want to try but were too afraid to ask.
Q: What did you think of the book?
Henry: I never finished it. It takes a lot for me to get into a book. I found it redundant. It wasn't my thing. But I have high hopes for the movie.
Q: Are you a fan of Valentine's Day?
Henry: A lot of people get jaded by it. You get even more jaded if you don't have anyone to spend it with. It's a day to be our best at loving our partners. Hopefully, this is not the only day of the year to love them. You should take advantage of it. It's like Christmas. While you should give gifts all year around, on Christmas, you better bring it. Valentine's Day is similar. But what tends to happen is the guys get the shaft. They buy flowers and candy and surprise their partners at work. They take them out to dinner. It should be more of a two-way street. Why not take them to a Hawks game? A lot of women need to step their games up, too. We have to show we care about them as well.
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