When you think about the Love & Hip Hop franchise, the first name that probably comes to mind is Joseline Hernandez. The self-proclaimed Puerto Rican princess made her splash in the reality TV realm in 2012. At the time, Hernandez was a 24-year-old former exotic dancer who had her eyes set on musical stardom. Unfortunately, her heart was clouded as she was mixed up with Bad Boy Records producer Stevie J, who also had a longtime relationship with his child’s mother, Mimi Faust. 

The love triangle between Faust, Stevie, and Hernandez would play out over several seasons. The two women fought each other and Stevie for years. Eventually, Stevie and Hernandez claimed to be married. After Hernandez revealed her abortion in season 1, the two would welcome a daughter, Bonnie Bella, seasons later. At the time of Bonnie’s birth, Stevie and Hernandez were estranged. 

They would never reconcile. Hernandez and Stevie would fight in court over custody and allegations of both being unfit parents. Both have since moved on with other partners: Stevie is married to Faith Evans and Hernandez is boo’d up with Ballistic Beats. 

After years of toxic love with Stevie, fighting her co-stars and producers, Hernandez quit the show in 2017. She hasn’t looked back. She’s since blasted the show’s creator and EP, Mona Scott Young, accusing her of being a slave to VH1 and orchestrating drama for the show.

In an April 2021 interview with Shadow and Act, Hernandez made it known she has no plans of returning to the show. But, she admits she learned a lot from her experience. “It allowed me to learn how to do reality TV, it allowed me to [learn] how to executive produce, how to ask for ownership, how to keep my IP – which is my intellectual property,” she said. “Now that I have my own show, it’s so easy for me to produce, to play in [the show], to direct it.”

She also says she’s not proud of her behavior on the show. “I regret everything,” she admits.” “More recently, I’ve stopped regretting. Now it’s like I’m grown, I said it, it is what it is, if you don’t like it I can’t help you and then I keep it pushing. It’s life…we live and learn and we just have to grow from it.”

Hernandez is now focused on her show Joseline’s Cabaret, which recently wrapped its second season. The show is the No. 1 show on the streaming network Zeus.