Comedian and “The Real” host Loni Love always loved “Little Women Atlanta.” So she was able to convince Lifetime to create an after show called “Little Women Atlanta Unfiltered.”
“Unfiltered” enables fans to get more insight into what happened during each episode.
“I have been a super fan,” Love said. “I had questions as a super fan. I get to ask them these questions. We get to dig deep. Sometimes it’s serious. Sometimes it’s fun.”
“Little Women Atlanta” has become a mainstay on Lifetime since it debuted in 2016. The network recently started the second half of season six, airing new episodes at 8 p.m. Thursdays, followed by the after show at 9 p.m.
Love said until she started watching the show, “I had never thought about the trials and tribulations they go through. These are regular women that are going through things we don’t have to go through. They need special pedals to drive a car and they have to worry whether an average-sized guy might be dating them as a fetish as opposed to being just people.”
She said she fell in love with their personalities, be it Miss Juicy’s sharp tongue or the sweetness of the twins Amanda and Andrea Salinas. “They’re beautiful,” she said of the twins. “I love the sisterhood dynamic they have. In season six, they decided to separate. You are seeing two twins try to be independent. One wants to be a rapper. The other is trying to decide what to do. One is married, the other isn’t. One has children and the other is trying to have children. That’s fascinating to me.”
Getting to know the women personally, she said, has made her admire them more. For instance, Abira Greene, who was promoted to full-time status in season six, “is the mother of four. She has average sized kids and little people. She deals with each of them differently. That is such a great story to showcase. She is still into her music and becoming a rapper.”
The death of original cast member Ashley “Minnie” Ross from a car accident last year haunts season six. Minnie was the manager of the twins. “Out of the cast members, the twins are taking the death hard and you see that,” Love said. “We have also talked to Minnie’s mom, who has to really deal with the loss of her daughter. I’m glad Lifetime enables us to pay tribute to Miss Minnie.”
At first, Love said the cast members weren’t sure if Love would try to generate drama for drama’s sake.
But once she gained their trust, she said, “it was no holds barred. We laugh. We talk. We cry. What we do is totally different from a reunion show. It’s never my thing to ‘get’ somebody.”
She said the rest of the season will reveal whether Miss Juicy has a boyfriend, whether Tiffany “Monie” Cashette leaves her husband for good and whether the twins can reconcile. “There will be plenty of drama,” she said.
Love is entering her eighth season of “The Real,” the syndicated talk show featuring all women of color. (It’s on at 1 p.m. weekdays in Atlanta on Fox 5.)
“The show keeps evolving,” she said. “That’s why it’s been able to last. The chemistry with the different co-hosts has helped. I believe in the power of women. I believe in a show that inspires. There’s a heart to ‘The Real’ that has always been there.”
Plus, the show is known to bring in guests other daytime or nighttime talk shows wouldn’t book. “We were the first show to have Lizzo on before Lizzo even popped,” she said. “We have people you see on Tyler Perry shows. They’re important, too.”
“The Real” will be back in studio this season after going full Zoom last season. and she’s looking forward to being in the same room again with her co-hosts.
Whether the show gets a live audience this season, though, is “up in the air,” she said. “We hope to have some kind of audience. We are living in such uncertain times.”
WHERE TO WATCH
“Little Women Atlanta,” 8 p.m. Thursdays on Lifetime with “Unfiltered” airing right after the episode.
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