Congrats on Season 10! Fans love seeing you and Cecil in a happy place, and you’ve been honest about crediting your co-stars with saving your marriage or helping to save your marriage. What else helped you two come through the other side?

Dr. Simone Whitmore: Counseling also played a big role in helping our marriage get on a better foot. And just the desire to see it through and make our relationship better. Once we got rid of being stubborn and petty, both of us let go of those two traits, and we were able to get back into a good, healthy space in our marriage.

I also love the dynamics of the two of you with your boys — or young men now. We see the two of you play good cop/bad cop in setting expectations for them as young men. But you are having real honest conversations about young adulthood, specifically how that looks for Black men and what successfully leaving the nest looks like. Would you say you’ve coddled them while trying to give them the best opportunities? And where do things stand with Myles and Michael now?

SW: I think that, No. 1, we are not playing good cop/bad cop. We are good cop/bad cop. Cecil wants to just be this cool and friendly dad. He does not want to put the hammer down. I’m the mean mom. I’m always going to put the hammer down on the boys. And I feel like we spoiled them. Our mothers spoiled us, but it was just at different income levels. And now that they are in manhood, my thing is you’re not going to stay in my home, stay on my payroll forever. It’s time to start thinking about leaving the nest, especially for Myles. Myles is 25 years old. He’s handsome, and morally, he is just a really good guy. However, he is not even ever thinking about paying bills. And I’m like, It’s time that we start moving him in that direction. But if I left it up to Cecil, Myles could just stay in our pockets forever. 

And that’s my thing with Myles, it’s time for him to start thinking about what manhood is going to look like for you. I want them just to have financial independence. And, and let me be honest, when I was 25, 26, I was in medical school. My mother was still helping me financially whenever I needed it. But these dudes are just taking advantage of a good situation.

And if there are no consequences, then why change? So you have to give them that push to go ahead. Now, outside of what’s happening within your family, much of the conversation this season surrounds the newest addition, Sweet Tea, and the dynamic of what that casting has created with Quad. What were your initial thoughts on that casting choice?

SW: Well, I had no problem with it initially because Quad was barely coming around and acting like the friend group was so negative and that she didn’t need us anymore. Gregory and Cecil have always been friends and have always maintained a relationship despite his and Quad’s divorce. So I’ve seen Gregory date over the years. And to finally see him in love again, ready to marry again, I think, was a beautiful thing. I liked spending time with Sweet Tea, so when she mentioned that she was thinking about joining the group, I thought it was a great idea. I’ve not been close to Quad in years, and I did not think that it would be awkward for Quad because Quad doesn’t even come around this group. She doesn’t see the value of this group of friends.

Quad has alluded to the fact that she feels no one else could handle this situation. And that if you ladies were in her shoes, you wouldn’t be able to take it. Do you understand where she’s coming from with the optics of all of this and how uncomfortable this could be?

SW: I definitely think Quad has a point about the fact if any of us were dealing with our ex’s new friend, it would be tense, and it would be uncomfortable. But she has had us as a group of friends on ice. And so she can’t expect that we’re just going to rise to the occasion and have her back. She hasn’t been around. She’s given us her backside to kiss. So we can’t have your back when you’re not even around.

What do you think is the root of Quad’s issues with you guys?

SW: I think she has gone through some personal challenges and wanted to keep that a secret. But any challenges, especially those that have been public, like your divorce, you got to talk about it on the platform. And I think that she’s been reluctant to talk about some of her issues on this platform. She hasn’t been willing to share her dating, and she’s been treating us like we’re a group of mean girls, which is not the case at all. We all throw shade, including her, and there has been nothing done to her that she hasn’t done to somebody in this group. So she’s got to get that part figured out for herself. She plays the victim a lot.

You’ve been supportive of Sweet Tea and Dr. G’s union. What would you say makes them a good fit?

SW: Well, I think making them a good fit is because Lateasha is so into Gregory. She’s catering to him and his needs. She loves cooking for him every day. And there is something to be said about feeding a man’s ego. Gregory seems to be that guy who needs that kind of nurturing, and that’s working for them, and it’s working well for them. She’s a nurturer.

There’s also a lot of chatter surrounding Sweet Tea as a wife versus Quad as a wife for Dr. G and which one was ill-matched. What is your take on all those conversations?

SW: I would have to say that I don’t think any of those conversations are appropriate because maybe Quad was what Gregory needed at that time in his life, and when it didn’t work out for him, he decided that he needed something a little bit different. Somebody a little less glamorous, somebody who’s wearing her own hair instead of wigs. Maybe he decided that. And relationships are not just built on somebody’s external appearance. And as long as he’s getting what he needs emotionally from Lateasha, that’s all that matters to me. And it should be all that matters to our fan base.

And I also love that you and Dr. Jackie are back to being two peas in a pod. How will you ensure that what happened in the past with your friendship doesn’t happen again or resurface in the future?

SW: She and I have regular conversations about the dynamics of the ladies in the group, and we promise, we pinky swear, that we won’t let anyone else come in the middle of our relationship. But I think in any relationship, whether it’s with my husband, it’s with my girlfriend, it’s about communication. And she and I, the year that we had our breakdown, we really didn’t talk. We should have had more of those one-on-one conversations with each other. 

The show continues to spotlight Black maternal health with your and Dr. Jackie’s work. What is your take on the state of Black women in health care now, and how can we continue to progress?

SW: There’s a long history of healthcare disparities within the African American community. And I would just like to see us as brown women advocate more for ourselves and understand that we have rights. And if you’re with a doctor who’s not answering your questions, change doctors. There is a wealth of information on Google, not to say that Google is a doctor because Google is not. But at least know how to do some research for yourself so that you can come in with some good, educated questions to ask your doctor. And just knowing that you have the freedom to leave that doctor. And while I love that I’m in women’s health care and I would want all brown women to see brown doctors, that’s not realistic in most cities. And it is OK. There are good doctors in every race and every ethnic group. They are great doctors. It is just finding that right doctor that fits you and your personality style.