Hit show Put A Ring On It has aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network for three seasons. They’re revving up for Season 4 and introducing a new relationship expert this time around who may be a familiar face to viewers. Stacii Jae Johnson, a former actress and relationship coach with over 10 years of experience, will be using the expertise she’s gained in the past decade to guide the couples starring on the latest season.
“I have been a person in search of what makes healthy romantic relationships work. And it’s not just love,” Johnson tells ESSENCE. “It’s having the tools and the emotional regulation and understanding—learning each other.”
Put A Ring On It is executive produced by Will Packer and Kelly Smith for Will Packer Media and Jeff Spangler and Rob LaPlante for Lighthearted Entertainment. The show follows three couples who have been in long-term relationships. They get the chance to date other people to see if their partners are truly for them. Specifically, they go on dates every week while still living with their partners.
“I push each couple, some of them to [the point] where they hate me. But what they know is that girl right there got a heart for us. I cry with them, I laugh with them, I hug them and I tell them, ‘I got you,’” the dating coach says.
“I’m not on the man’s side, I’m not on the women’s side, I’m on the, how are we going to make the third person with these two—remember three people: you, your partner and the relationship—work?”
By the end of the show, the couples have to decide whether they’ll stay together and get married or go their separate ways. Season 4 features Dunbar and Chance, Ricky and Catherine, as well as Joya and Jasha. All three couples have been together for two years.
Johnson says one of the biggest mistakes couples make on the show and in everyday life, is trying to fit a circle in a square to make a relationship work. Her advice? Don’t.
“The biggest mistake is trying to fit yourself into the design of someone that’s not made for you and wasting a lot of time doing it,” Johnson says. “Trying to fit yourself into what they want instead of becoming the best of you.”
Th new season of Put A Ring On It airs Friday, March 17 at 9 p.m. EST | 8 p.m. CST on OWN. Viewers can watch the show on the OWN app and discovery+.