The first season of Single Ladies is over and much of the talk is surrounding whether lead star Stacey Dash will return. While it’s creator Stacy A. Littlejohn doesn’t provide any insights on a cast change, she did hint to adding additional stars and how she manages the criticism. Check out some excerpts from Stacy’s interview with Loop 21,
What inspired you to create Single Ladies?
I was actually trying to sell any project of my own. …but I wasn’t having any luck pitching. My representation had distributed a pilot that I had written throughout the industry and people were reading it and responding well to it. It got into the hands of Maggie Malina at VH1 and she really liked my writing style. She brought me into the office and informed me that Flavor Unit and VH1 were interested in working on a project targeting women and dating. They needed a writer to fill in the blanks so I thought about my life and my experiences and filled in the blanks. I created Val, Keisha and April, and they loved it and told me to go back and keep writing.
Is the show based off of your personal experiences?
Some of it; yes. I went home and thought about my own life. I thought about my friends, many who are single and I also thought about how hard it is to find a man in L.A. People can always relate to a show like Single Ladies, because there will be single people forever.
LisaRaye McCoy and Stacy Dash are veterans in the game. Why did you choose a mature cast instead of using younger actresses to play single women?
LisaRaye was chosen because I created Keisha with her in mind. She’s one of my best friends. I’ve written for her on four seasons of All of Us and I know her tone very well. Also, I wanted Keshia to have a comrade, someone who was on her level with certain life experiences and who had been in the game as long as her.
The experiences that I’m writing about, you have to have some years under your belt to have the kind of knowledge I’m bringing to it. I wanted to let Hollywood know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and young is a state of mind. I wanted to give them a chance. I didn’t want to discard them just because of their age. I like the experience that they bring.
SN: So Lisa Raye has a “in” with the creator could that be why rumors were rampant over Stacey Dash’s firing?
Is there anyone specifically you’d love to see be added to the show?
Yes, there’s definitely a lot of talent out there and so many people I’d love to work with. However, it’s all about where the story is going and who will fit the roles we write. We haven’t gotten that far yet, but we’re looking forward to any possible new additions.
How do you respond to the show’s criticism?
I pay attention to it, but I can’t pay too much attention to it. At the end of the day, you walk into it and you look at history, and you realize there’s not one movie, song, show or whatever that every single person liked. People have different experiences and that’s the beauty of the world. It doesn’t make me less important, less smart or a worse writer when someone doesn’t like my work. It just means it wasn’t for that person. What’s important is the people that are in your corner.
Stacey Dash’s future with Single Ladies may be uncertain, at least to the public, but Season 2 will begin filming nonetheless later this year! After that cliffhanger ending – how could Stacey Dash not return?!
