By: Shanelle Matthews
Jacque Reid will co-star in VH1’s hot new reality show “Let’s Talk About Pep”
Everything multi-media front woman, Jacque Reid, touches turns to gold. The fabulous southern belle has a decade and a half in the television journalism industry and a career that’s unparalleled.
She’s graced the halls of NBC and CBS, anchored for CNN and BET news, co-hosted the D.L. Hughley and Tom Joyner morning shows, engineered Jacque Reid Media and built supreme celebrity status networking power all while looking effortlessly fab.
She’s certainly not your typical drab anchorwoman. In fact she’s always flawlessly clad. Her voguish ensembles gracefully outline her petite frame and she doesn’t miss a beat make-up or hair wise either.
So it didn’t surprise us when we hard she’d recently been casted on VH1’s hot new reality show “Let’s Talk About Pep” featuring Sandra “Peppa” Denton formerly of Salt & Peppa. The show, which airs Jan 11, has been dubbed an urban “Sex and The City” providing real life advice to sexy, single, women. We had a chance to sit down with Jacque to discuss her perspective on the show and how she feels about letting the public in on some very private matters.
Shanelle Matthews: You are easily one of the most recognized black journalists on television today and also a fresh feminine face in what some would call a man’s profession. What, if any, pressure does that put on you?
Jacque Reid: Well, I don’t know if I would call it pressure but it makes me feel responsible about the things I do and the way I represent myself, more so because of my Christianity. The fact that I am a Christian makes me want to carry myself in a certain kind of respectable manner – more credible, more reliable and just a good role model.
SM: You’ve been newswoman, producer, radio show host, entrepreneur and worn a number of other hats. What pushed you to want to venture into reality television?
JR: Some good friends of mine, Sheryl and Sandy aka Salt and Peppa. We all go to Bible study together and they asked me if I would do it. I thought about it. I love many reality shows, but not all. I am not a fan of reality shows that show black women in a negative light. I met with the producers and gave it some thought. I went into journalist mode and did my homework. I was still nervous when we were shooting the pilot but I went forward with it. After I signed the contract and I saw the pilot I saw that the producers kept their word and set out to do a classier reality show, something that was more about issues. About four women who were close friends who were trying to deal with the craziness of dating.
SM: After watching the trailer for the show, I’m both excited and anxious to watch the series in its entirety. What can we expect from you on this season of “Lets Talk About Pep?”
JR: People always ask what “Sex and the City” character would I be? I guess I am a combination of Charlotte and Miranda. I am definitely the one at the table that’s saying please stop cursing. I am not overly nice but I am the proper, southern, traditional, not going to kiss a man on the first date girl and aint no man sucking my toes on the first date. My friends will tell you “That’s who she is!” It really is me.
SM: You speak openly about some personal issues in your blog and on your website, but do you have any concerns about your fans and the media being privy to parts of your personal life that may air on the show?
JR: No, because again I feel like it is an extension to what I already do as a journalist. We have an issue that we end up exploring and then we have a story. That’s what I love about the show; it is a way of giving people who are going through it a few ways to look at it and people who may not be going through it more understanding about it.
SM: In the trailer you mention your plight to have children, and that because you’re single your OB/GYN suggested asking an ex-boyfriend to consider donating his sperm and fathering a child for you. Is this a reality for you?
JR: That’s what I am dealing with right now in my life. You know, your clock is ticking and you don’t have a man you don’t know what to do but you aren’t going through this alone.
SM: I have to ask, is it true that you’ve really never had an orgasm?
JR: People try to make you feel like you’re a leper. I don’t feel like it’s anything to be ashamed of. I got to keep it moving. I know that there are other women out there who are dealing with the same thing.
SM: Do you have any expectations of the show?
JR: I don’t know if I have any expectations in that sense. I just hope that it’s a show that people can relate to and have fun with and be entertained and uplifted by – especially for women who are dating. It can be depressing and a down right drag. I want them to know they’re not going through this alone, and laugh at themselves, like we laugh at ourselves.
SM: So, you are single, right?
JR: Yes, unfortunately. I went on a date last night – disaster. People think because your known that your meet the crème de la crème of guys. No. I meet the crazy of the crazy. Its like either lower your standards or wait for what you deserve and stay single. I am not going to have a man to have a man. I am okay with being single, I don’t want to be but I am okay with it. That keeps you from dating desperately.
SM: What are three qualities a man must have in order to date you?
JR: Someone who is Christian – Christianity is so big for me. They don’t have to go to church everyday but I would like someone who believes in God. I want someone who is hard working, who has their own goals, their own plan about their career, goals and a focus. There are a lot of men out here who are lazy. I can’t stand a lazy man. Someone who is family oriented, who respects and loves a woman, who wants to be married, who wants to have kids and respects a sense of family.
SM: Does your busy schedule and career make it difficult to met men?
JR: I don’t even blame my schedule and career. If I were to meet the right man who wanted to have a family and we were compatible – I would give up everything up for family. I would trade it all in to have a family.
SM: What, if anything, has the Tiger Woods saga forced you to think about in regards to your own relationships?
JR: It has forced me to think about … so many things. Let me rattle off the things: one, how many men out there really want to be monogamous. How many of them think it is the norm for men to cheat, which I don’t accept but it is interesting to me how many of them really embrace this. Two, it has made me think about his wife and what she should do. If it was me, I wouldn’t even stay I would divorce him and do what I could to get on with my life. It is amazing how many women out there who would stay and try to make that work. I would be astonished if he could change or if he wanted to change. It made me feel discouraged about the institution of marriage. I am still optimistic but definitely discouraged.
SM: Where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years?
JR: Married of course, hopefully. I definitely plan to have a baby in the next five years, one way or another. But I would love to be married in the next five years. I would love to be producing more projects. I have become this multimedia person but I would love to do some news issue related documentaries.
