Basketball Wives 2 Reunion Interview - Tami Roman
VH1 did exclusive interviews with the ladies of Basketball Wives 2 during the reunion. Here is Tami's interview. Part 2 of the reunion special, concludes tonight on VH1.
How does it feel to be here?
It feels a little strange because I haven’t seen the girls since October.
Any of them?
No. Well, I saw Jennifer when we came to the VH1 digital office (for press), but everybody else I haven’t seen since that time.
Are you cool with everybody?
It’s awkward because for me, when we wrapped the show everybody was in a certain mindset. I am just the type of person that will reach out to you, but I am not going to always be the one reaching out. If it is reciprocal, then we are both checking in on each other. If I don’t feel the love coming back from you, I will just continue doing my thing. I think that’s the reason why a lot of us haven’t spoken: we are all doing our own things and back to our lives. I don’t really know how today is going to go. The shows have aired, so now people know what you said or know what you felt about certain situations. That can change people’s feelings towards you. For me there were a lot of elements of surprise.
Can you name specifics?
I think the one thing that kind of really stuck with me was the episode where Evelyn and Shaunie were together getting ready to go to Spain and she was like, “Should we check her luggage?” That was a little bothersome to see.
Do you ever feel like Shaunie plays both sides?
I think that’s her position! At the end of the day, even though she is on the show she is also the executive producer. She is in the business of making a great show. From a personal stand point, I think she would like to be friendly but at the same time, she still has to make a great show. She does what she has to do.
So you don’t hold that against her?
No, I don’t hold that against her. There may be things that I don’t like or I don’t agree with, but in the back of my mind I know why she has to do certain things.
When you say you haven’t heard from people, is that disappointing? In Spain, you made it a point to call out the “sisterly bond” you felt with these women.
I have spoken to Royce and Ashley more than the people that I thought I was bonding with the most. It’s weird because I thought that when we left the show that it would be more camaraderie, but I have found that social media plays a big part in how people deal with each other. With all the Twittering, we try to be friends, but then people say, “Oh the show is fake.” The show is not fake, but if they see us talking they are going to think that what they are seeing is fake, so you kind of lay off a little so that you don’t cause problems for the show. So there are a lot of different elements that make having a friendship very awkward in terms of the show and the public.
Speaking of Twitter, one thing I noticed on yours is that you said you didn’t know if you were coming back for Season 3. Seriously?
Yeah. I think that the show stands on its own, and that it was good the first season. I think it would be good the third season even if I wasn’t on it. It’s not necessarily that they need me to be apart of the show.
It would be really weird if you weren’t. What’s holding you back?
I think I am at a different point now then when I actually taped the show. I’m just not a fake person, smiling in your face and talking about you behind your back. I don’t care what happens on TV, if I have a conversation with you and we have an understanding or we are trying to build a friendship then that’s how I always think it is. Then to hear somebody say, “She said this about you,” “She said that about you”… To hear people think that I am ghetto because I had a drink, to hear people degrade my character, all of that to me seems I am paying more than it is actually worth to me. For me going into Season 3, if I were to do it it would definitely only be because I felt that I have something more to bring. I don’t want to be on the show just arguing and being catty. I don’t want that being the only element that I am bringing to the show, ’cause that’s not really who I am as a person in my entirety. I don’t want to be pegged the drama queen, the ghetto girl, the hood rat, so if that means that I have to step away, then that’s a decision that I have to make.
Do you have any idea how close you are to deciding?
I am still talking to my representation and we are deliberating. Like I said, if I feel like I can bring more storylines and more issues that are going to matter to people who are watching without them being misconstrued or my personality continually being downplayed and degraded, then I will participate 100 percent. If I go through things and I feel like all they want me to be is the person that has a problem with everybody, that’s not who I am.
Coming off this show compared to The Real World, was the noise of social media hard to deal with?
It was really hard to deal with because I feel everybody’s had that moment. If you are over 25, you’ve had that moment. You’ve had a point in your life where you’ve when out with friends you had a drink you did something crazy. You may not have even needed a drink to do something crazy, and so it’s just that camera’s happened to be there that night I had a drink and did something crazy. And now that’s all I am being tied. That’s so not who I am as a person in my entirety. I have a hood side, and I will bring it out from time to time, but that’s not who I am as a whole. So it was really hard to have people just bashing me because we didn’t have that when I did The Real World. There are a lot of things that I am thinking about going into Season 3.
Do you stand by your assertion that “every bitch in this circle is messy”?
I still stand by that. Every single person! If you are not good TV, then you are gone, so everybody has to have an element of messy whatever that is!
All in all, has the experience of the show airing been positive or negative for you?
I think it’s like 50/50. I think the people who are familiar with The Real World and the things that I have done with my acting are supportive, and I think that the people who are being introduced to me for the first time that have a love for the girls who were already on the show, so it’s like I am the s***-starter. So it’s a 50/50. It’s a double-edged sword. For me, it’s a good medium to reintroduce myself to people and have a visibility but I am also the type of person who wants to bring something to the table as well.
