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LisaRaye and DJ Envy Reveal Why They Turned Down ‘Real Housewives’ Franchise Offers

LisaRaye McCoy and DJ Envy spilled all the tea about why they both turned down offers for themselves and their families to join the “Real Housewives” franchise during a recent conversation on “The Breakfast Club.”

The “A House Divided” actress and businesswoman joined hosts Envy and Angela Yee on June 12 and revealed why she gave a hard pass to the offer of joining the “Real Housewives” franchise.” “Now I heard that ‘The Real Housewives’ reached out to you to possibly be part of their show. Is there any truth to that?” Envy asked McCoy.

LisaRaye discusses why she passed on ‘Real Housewives’ franchise offers. @breakfastclubam/Instagram

Before answering, she took a big sip of tea — literally — then dove into details about why she decided against adding her name to the list of housewives. “It is. It was years ago,” she said. “That’s not my brand. That’s not what I want to do. I’m not interested in that at all, and so I declined.”

LisaRaye went on to discuss her reasoning behind not wanting to be associated with the franchise, explaining that it was a matter of maintaining privacy and boundaries.

“We got enough going on. And I believe in T.M.I.,” she told the hosts. “Some things it’s just T.M.I, too much information, and the way that reality TV is going now, you don’t even want your kids to watch it because you don’t want that to dictate or rot their mindset thinking that this is cool to be disloyal, dishonest, walking across tables. … See, first of all, that wouldn’t happen to me. At all. By the time you step up on a table, I don’t have to wonder why you stepped up on the table because you wouldn’t even be there long. It’s almost like you wasn’t there at all. … I’m too grown for that.”

Angela Yee, LisaRaye, and DJ Envy discuss reality TV. @breakfastclubam/Instagram

DJ Envy had his own “Real Housewives” story and shared that he and his wife, Gia, also turned down an offer that was made to her in 2013, while the pair were friends with “RHONJ” stars Joe and Theresa Giudice. “They definitely didn’t want me, but they did want my wife,” he replied when Yee brought up the offer.

McCoy followed up, asking Envy why his wife declined, and he took a beat to gather his thoughts before replying: “One, we didn’t need the money. Two, I’m not going to let them dictate what’s going on in my house. We have a real Black family with things that go on, and you’re not going to try to do fighting and try to create tension in my real household. I got five kids, this is real. Nah, you’re not going to do that. So we decided to, you know, back out and said, ‘Nah, we’re good.'”

“We got offered to do several shows,” he stated. “But if I can’t executive produce it and it can’t be real … you’re not going to put tension in my family for ratings. That’s not what you’re going to do.”

@breakfastclubam/Instagram
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