For once (I know, I can't believe it either), I am going to reserve judgment on the following interview. In part, I think Basketball Wives' Tami Roman's chat with the Christian Post is sincere, but I can't help but think that all of these ladies are on a massive PR campaign to spiff up their tarnished images despite the same bad (albeit calmer) behavior this season. Plus, I don't want to get struck by lightning…
Talking to the magazine, Tami shares that the online petitions created by fans last season to have her kicked off the show caused her to fall into a deep depression. She says, "I was traumatized. I became an introvert and literally withdrew from everybody that loved me, the people that I worked with and I didn't know how to handle what was happening." Again, reserving judgment.
It was the power of prayer, according to Tami, that turned things around (perhaps things are still turning? No judgment, Lauren). She admits, "It caused me to just say, 'ok God help me out of this situation' and I decided to make all the necessary changes," adding, "But I needed to have people really know me, know Tami and not just the imagery that they see on Basketball Wives."
CLICK THE CONTINUE READING BUTTON FOR MORE!
Tami also explains that it was prayer that got her on the show in the first place. After turning down VH1 the first go-round, Tami found herself facing financial hardships. She reveals,"I honestly got down on my knees and just said 'God please send me what I'm supposed to be doing.' I know this is not right, I know I'm not supposed to be in this moment, and literally the next day I woke up and the idea came to me that VH1 had wanted me to be involved with Basketball Wives the year before. And I said maybe I should contact them now and see if they'll put me on season two."
Discussing the many struggles she's had to endure which make her a stronger person, Tami explains, "I've been in situations when I've been in domestic violence situations, my mother and I talked about it on the show. I've been molested as a child, I've been raped before, I've been homeless, I've been in a marriage where there was infidelity. I think I've run the gamut of things that are not right. So from an overall perspective, I always look back at what I think is the worst day of my life and then I say, 'you made it through that so you can make it through anything else.'"
Of course, Tami blames her BBW behavior on her past (I'm going to have to remind myself multiple times during this post to refrain from judgment, just FYI), stating, "I watch myself and I see myself on t.v. and I think what it has taught me is that I've been harboring a lot of feelings about my past. I have a defensive personality and I've learned through the course of this show that you can't do that. Sometimes the way you've perceived something is not the way a person intended that to be and I had to learn to articulate rather than get angry, rather than curse people out." And how is that working out?
Tami continues, "You know people saw me lash out at people on the show for three seasons and particularly the fifth season, I didn't want to be that type of person. Even in past episodes of this season, people saw me explode and be able to bring myself right back down because I don't want to continue to be that type of person that feels I need to put up my dukes in order to express myself."
Of her mother's recent passing, Tami says, "I know all things happen according to God's plan, so I had to come to the realization that even though I wanted my mother to be here with me, that wasn't His plan for her. But I think through his deciding to take her from me and my daughters, it's caused me to grow up."
She concludes, "Basketball Wives doesn't and will never define me. It's just one more step in my life that's afforded me a certain amount of popularity and vision in the entertainment industry. I'll continue it as long as it continues and when the next thing comes along I hope to be involved with something else. I want people to know and really try to understand that there's more to me than Basketball Wives."
So, um, how'd I do?
TELL US-WHAT DO YOU THINK OF TAMI'S INTERVIEW?
[Photo Credit: VH1]
