Shay Johnson returned for season five of “Love & Hip Hop: Miami,” bearing the baby bump of her now 5-month-old daughter, Shajiyah. The 39-year-old actress, who kept quiet about her pregnancy for two trimesters, gave birth to her first child on May 18. She had a successful C-section in the show episode that aired on Monday, Oct. 3.
Atlanta Black Star spoke to Johnson about motherhood, her relationship with Momma Dee, why she’s kept quiet about her daughter’s father and so much more.
“It’s not a secret, but I’m so protective of him,” she told ABS of the father. “This is someone I’ve known over 10 years. This is someone I love who absolutely loves me back. We’ve been through a lot over the years and because of the way that he is, he really doesn’t do the television thing too much.”
Shay Johnson has not revealed the name of the child’s father outside of revealing he does not live in Miami. “Our focus is our daughter,” she said. “He absolutely loves her.”
Very few people knew about Johnson’s pregnancy other than loved ones, including her manager, Julian. As her baby grew, she effortlessly continued working and promoting her health supplement brand, The Healthy Hand. The news also was hidden from her longtime friend Momma Dee from “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta.” The two have been in each other’s lives for years prior to Johnson dating her son, rapper Lil Scrappy, on the show. But the internet threw a fit when the 58-year-old suggested Johnson was pregnant with Scrappy’s baby and attended her gender reveal.
The reality star declared “It is not Scrappy’s baby.”
Johnson said she and Momma Dee have known each other for over 10 years but no one ever questioned their friendship until now.
“Because what’s funny is I’ve been hanging with her like this,” the reality star explained. “This has been going on for years, but because I was pregnant, all of a sudden everybody wants to know, ‘Well, why is Momma Dee around?’ And I’m like, ‘Momma Dee been around.’ This is nothing new. She never left.”
The pair has been through so much over the years that Momma Dee has become like her bonus parent. Momma Dee even refers to Shajiyah as her “glam baby” on Instagram.
“She’s like a second mom to me,” said Johnson. “Yes, Momma Dee is crazy as well. We already know that. She is hilarious. She’s funny, she’s fun. We’ve had our amazing moments. But that is a very close friend of mine. I love her to death. She loves me.”
She continued, “Listen, I never put out anything other than that’s my dawg, that’s my girl. My pregnancy has nothing to do with Momma Dee, or her son. But Momma Dee definitely was there for me during my pregnancy along with several other people.”
The “Losing Everything” star also withheld news about her pregnancy from her biological mother, Sandra Sims, who adores Shajiyah. The two have had a complex relationship due to Sims rarely showing affection. In an attempt to move toward a positive “direction,” Sims obliged her daughter’s request to be present in the delivery room while she gave birth.
“Nothing happens overnight,” Johnson said, before revealing their relationship status. “We’re definitely working in a better direction, my mom and I. But sometimes, you have to understand empathy has to be involved in this situation. You have to put yourself in her shoes.”
She added, “My mother was raised by her mother. Her mother did the same exact thing to her as she did to me. She never told her she loved her. She never showed any type of affection.”
Although Sims doesn’t show much emotion on “L&HH: Miami,” Johnson said she does “off-camera” and that she will never give up on her.
“My mother is not perfect at all, but she’s the only mother I have, the only mother I want, and I will love her forever, unconditionally,” she shared. “If we have to work at this relationship for the rest of our lives, I’m willing to do that. But again, the show has helped us a lot.”
The mother-daughter duo attempted to open up during a failed therapy session in a previous episode that aired on Monday, Sept. 26. Johnson claims the session with the life coach was “completely different” than her family’s appearance on Iyanla Vanzant’s show, “Iyanla: Fix My Life” in 2020. She felt the motivational speaker did a superior job at tackling the issues between her, her mother and her two brothers, Emjay and Joe Johnson.
“I did not get to finish the process with Iyanla at all on her show. It did definitely go to the left,” Johnson admitted. “But at the same time, in my defense, I had never seen a life coach. I’d never seen a therapist before.”
Vanzant’s approach to the Johnson family was described as “aggressive.” But the idea of reappearing on the show to finish dealing with their family issues is very much on the table.
“So when I was with Iyanla, her process of how she did things was very direct, very straight to the point, and it was very aggressive for me. What I will tell you is, it’s certain things I can’t say right now, because the show has surprises coming and I think you’re going to like it.
She concluded with, “Something’s going to happen on the show and I want the world to see that there is another side to Shay.”
Catch the next episode of “Love & Hip Hop: Miami” Monday nights at 8 p.m. EST on VH1.
