As a new season of WE tv’s Braxton Family Values kicks off, many fans are excited to see the drama, laughter, and trials of the Braxton women. Singer/songwriter Trina Braxton is taking over VIBE.com as today’s Guest Editor. The hilarious fifth sister gave us the scoop on what to expect this season, cleared up rumors surrounding her divorce, and gives us the secret to how she balances it all. Check out what this Braxton sister had to say. –Krystal Holmes
VIBE: What can we expect from this upcoming season, focusing on you?
TRINA BRAXTON: Focusing on me, I’ve got a lot of surprises this season. One of which as we all know I came out with my single “Party or Go Home” but my video’s finally finished and everyone can finally see it! And they’re also gonna see me try and help Toni find new background singers.
Do we get to see your performing anything?
Just the video. And you’ll see me practicing. I promise you, I am the least choreographically skilled [sister] in my family! They always tease me about it! But I think I did pretty good for myself though.
What feedback have you been getting from your fans on your music?
A: So far, it’s been really, really great. And I just feel really wonderful about it because when you go outside of the box like that, you never know what type of reception you’re going to get. But so far they have really receptive to the music, really pulled behind me. They’ve been like, “Oh my God, I love your song” and I’m like, “Oh my God! Thank you!” Because you just never know how it’s going to be received.
Now that your sons are older, what do they think about you and the show?
I think they’re indifferent. They don’t feel any type of way. We don’t really talk about it but my kids are a little older. They’re 17 and 14, so it’s not the same for them. They’re over it! I think my youngest boy, I think he gets jealous whenever fans come up and talk to me and recognize me because it’s like I’m taking time away from him. They want pictures and autographs, and he’s like, “Oh God, Mom”. But my oldest son, he just doesn’t care.
What did you think of your sister Tamar on VIBE’s Sexy Issue?
I thought she looked fantastic! Even when we were babies, Tamar was always beautiful, so I wasn’t shocked.
How do you balance everything? Your career, doing the show, and motherhood?
It’s not always easy, but you prioritize, especially for the day. I don’t like to map out my weeks and months because it never comes to fruition. I like to take it day by day and whatever holds the most precedent for the day gets the most attention. My kids are always first. But after that, it’s whatever folds into the highest form of necessity. And that’s how I have good balance because if not, if I try to do this and then do that, everything’s a wreck because I already have ADD! So I have to definitely prioritize.
So now that you’re officially divorced, do you have any plans on getting back to the dating scene, or are you just looking to focus on your career?
Well, I am not officially divorced quite yet, but I am officially separated. I am not officially, or legally, divorced.
Well that’s a good misconception to clear up.
Yeah, it’s not something that easy to delve in to, especially when you have children involved. So it’s nothing I’m going to jump into lightly. I want to exhaust all of my options, and really think it through. And let it be my choice and my decision or what people think I should do because at the end of the day, people are living their lives and I’m stuck with the decision you made for me. So that doesn’t work for me. I need to make my own decision and own mistakes.
Since you’re the fifth child, do you and your sisters still bicker about little things like when you were growing up?
We definitely don’t hold on to things for to long because that just doesn’t make sense, like “Oh Trina, you broke my Barbie when I was eight, so I’m still mad at you”. The thing is with the show though, we are faced to deal with some underlying issues that were still there or always looming. Like one fine example is that we never knew Tracy was still very, very angry about not singing with us. And that was something we really had to address. Like a lot of people like to skirt the issue even as they see the elephant standing right there and yet they try to act like its not there. And it was great because we ended up going to counseling for it and we heard each other out and heard everybody’s opinions and that wasn’t always easy. It’s very, very difficult to hear that you’ve hurt somebody that you love and to know that you’ve done something or said that hurt them for an extended period of time. It’s very hurtful to hear. Absolutely. But the good thing about it is that we were able to work through it. We never knew she was in so much pain through that.
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