From drama-filled housewives to heartwarming success stories we don’t see often, Black reality television has shaped pop culture for decades. On day three of the ESSENCE Festival of Culture, Shamea Morton (Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta), Yandy Smith-Harris (MTV’s Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta), and Quad Webb (Bravo’s Married to Medicine), and joined ESSENCE’s Shelby Stewart on the main stage to discuss the challenges of navigating fame, as well as spill some behind-the-scenes secrets.
“I actually started from behind the scenes. I was one of the creators and producers of Love and Hip Hop originally,” Harris shares. The 43-year-old business mogul says one of the biggest lies she told herself in the beginning was that she didn’t belong on the opposite side of the lens. “At that time, I wasn’t wearing makeup. I never liked to dress up. I really loved being behind the scenes and working with talent, so when I was asked to go in front of the camera, I fought tooth and nail,” she shares. That type of relatability could be why fans instantly connected with her. “I wasn’t here to be a star. I wasn’t trying to be famous. I was just trying to be myself.”
Original Married to Medicine cast member, Webb, who instantly became a household name in the show’s first season, shares a misconception she also had at the time. “I thought reality TV was going to be real,” she says. “The reason why I say that is because, if we’re cool in real life, don’t then get on camera and then turn up for the camera. I don’t comprehend that…and I don’t understand that. I think people should lean on their natural talents for entertainment, but when people don’t naturally have it, then they lean towards drama.”
“That’s exactly what my experience has been [as a full-time housewife],” says Morton, RHOA’s past friend of the show and now-freshman peach holder. “Watching it and being just a friend of [the show] is light work. But once that light shines on you and the world sees it, a lot of people can’t take it. They feel inferior to your light. They feel like your light dims their light. They want you back in the shadows. But baby when it’s your season and God says ‘Go,’ you go.” Without naming names, she continues, “Whoever is uncomfortable about it, they will show themselves, their skin will shed, and a snake is gonna be a snake.”
Although all three Atlanta-based shows have evolved over time – and not everyone seemingly keeps it all the way real these days – the ladies all agree that authenticity is the recipe for longevity.
“I think just being authentically you makes people draw themselves to you,” Morton shares. “When you don’t fake or put on for the cameras, you don’t have to try to figure out the story or your storyline because you’re being authentically you. And that’s a disappointing thing about a lot of these shows because a lot of ladies will put on for the camera and say, ‘What do I think the fans want to see? What do I think the fans wanna know?’ But if I’m your friend and I’m riding for you off camera, then we have to move the same way on camera. And that’s just not how it is all the time.”
“It’s also all about walking in your own light,” Harris adds. ”Understanding who you are, what you do, and your lane and your purpose – that is what is going to make you unique. I don’t throw drinks. I’m not here to shake tables, but I’m also not here to be played with. How many people want people playing with their family? Nobody. How many people here want people playing with their money? Nobody. So when you stick to what you know to be you, a lot of times you’ll find somebody that can relate to that. People will like you, people will accept you for who you are, and you don’t have to put on or become another character.”
“To sum it all up: if it’s in you baby, it ain’t on you,” Webb, 45, concludes. “Cause when it’s on you, it can wash it off, and it’s just not who you truly are. I think it’s just about being yourself and bringing the real story forward. Each one of us has something so real going on in our lives, and we have decided to be so transparent with you. Life is not always perfect for us, but it’s something that we’ve had to all go through when we decided to be a vessel to help each one of you, the fans.”
All unexpectedly color-coordinated in shades of pink, the ATL trio reminds us that while we may not see them together on camera, they help each other deal with the harshest reality that comes with being on reality TV: the public’s opinion.
“Y’all are not easy to deal with sometimes,” Harris says to the fans in the crowd. “We go through stuff with your relationship, we go through stuff with your friends, and we also go through stuff with the public. One minute, they love you. One minute, they hate you. So on top of trying to live our lives, we gotta deal with the opinions of our family, our men, our girl groups…but then dealing with the public’s opinion? You sometimes need a real good sister, a real good friend to lean on. Sometimes you just need that support to keep you strong.”
Still learning to navigate her transition from part-time to full-time RHOA cast member, Morton says her experience with the newfound public perception has been humbling, to say the least.
“Baby, the comments be commenting. I’m like, ‘Not I thought I was cute!’ And then the fans are like, ‘Oh, she looks crazy. Look at that hair!’ But honestly, I appreciate it because sometimes I’m like, ‘You know what? They were right, let me switch it up, let me not do this, let me not say that.’ You gotta take it all in stride. As long as it’s in love, then I’m okay with it. But when it comes from a place of darkness and hate, then I’m blocking and deleting, and that’s another thing that’s been my best friend.”
“Well I love the restrict button,” Webb adds, jokingly offering advice to Morton. “Because with restricting, you still might think you’re talking to me and everybody sees what you ‘re saying…baby nobody sees you. If you block the people, the people are just gonna create another account. Restrict. It’s ‘restrict,’ friend.”
Morton, 43, may take that advice under serious consideration, mentioning how tough the fans – and even fellow cast members – have been on her following this past season’s cast trip to Grenada.
“I got so much heat after [our cast trip to] Grenada because it was said that I was overexaggerating my daughter’s condition. Who would do that? Who would speak ill about a child that has had dozens of surgeries and is so blessed to even be here with us today? I wish I was exaggerating,” she says.
Following the trip, Morton’s parenting was questioned after claims that she went to Miami rather than returning to Atlanta to check on her youngest daughter who was dealing with a health complication. But fans only got half the story.
“We were flying out of Grenada the next morning [after my husband called me], and I asked him, ‘Should I have flown out that night?’ He was like, ‘No, baby, there wasn’t even a flight that late. Stop being so hard on yourself,’” Morton, 43, shares. “And [fans] don’t even know half the time my kids are in a hotel…right there with me,” giving more context to the Miami fiasco. “I have to tell myself these people only see a small edit of a show [I’m] on.”
That is just one of many misconceptions that fans have had about Morton, as well as Harris and Webb.
“People say that I ‘put on’ for the show. But if you know me, I’m always super energetic and I’ve been this way since I was a kid. I’m over the top. That’s my personality, and I can’t dial it down – not even for TV,” Morton says.
“For me, people think, ‘Miss Quad is all about Miss Quad,’ [but] that is completely untrue,” Webb expresses. “There has never been a time where someone has come to me, called on me, needed me…and I wasn’t there. I do everything and anything that I can do for people, and it brings me great joy to help everyone. I have stopped and sacrificed my own time… just to show up and be there for a friend.”
“I think for me, I am a super girl’s girl,” Harris says. “If I could have a sleepover once a week with my friends, I would. But you don’t get to see that kind of stuff on the show. You do see me being a girl’s girl – and I get in trouble for that on this season [of Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta] that you’re about to see – but I’m a complete girl’s girl. I love my girls and I love, love, love being with my girls.”
Harris shares even more about what fans can expect from her on season 13 of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, which premieres this week on MTV. “I would say this is possibly one of my hardest seasons because it’s super duper real and challenging with friends and family – the things I care about most. So, stay tuned because you’ll see me go through some stuff and get through some stuff.”
You can catch Morton and the rest of the peaches rehash all the season 16 drama when part one of the reunion airs Sunday, July 13 on Bravo. Married to Medicine fans will have to wait a little longer to see Webb back on their TV screens, as Bravo has yet to announce a premiere date for season 12 of the hit series.