Loni Love, comedian and co-host of Fox’s The Real, has been killing the game for over 20 years.

She took over Blavity’s Facebook Live to dish about her career, the pandemic and lessons she’s learned along the way. 

Dubbing her live takeover “Quarantine with Loni,” she revealed that she was actually doing a show in Charlotte when the city locked down. When she was able to get a flight, she canceled all of her remaining shows and flew back to her home in Los Angeles where she’s been staying ever since. She did, however, let us know that while one of our favorite daytime talk shows has managed to finish its latest season, we shouldn’t expect beloved blockbuster films any time soon. 

“We just finished season six of The Real. … We did the five last weeks at home because all the studios in LA — it’s like a ghost town. … They ain’t making nothing. Y'all ain’t going to get no more Marvel movies for a while,” the 48-year-old said while lamenting that she wasn’t able to get her $1,200 stimulus check.

Love advised viewers to hold onto as much money as possible during these uncertain times as city opening dates continue to shift further back. But as a silver lining, Love explained the pandemic has allowed her to see the areas in her life that could be improved. 

While revealing that she had no food or toiletries in her house due to a life on the road, Love said, “That made me feel, ‘I gotta get my stuff together.’”

“My whole life was just getting on airplanes and then I would run to the studio and we shoot The Real and then I would have to run to some type of voice over. And this pandemic really made me stop and go, ‘You got to get your finances together. You got to get your life together. You got to decide what the rest of your life is going to be like,’” she continued. 

The comedian has been staying busy during the quarantine, though.

She has a “once an entertainer always an entertainer'' mentality, which is why on Saturdays she hosts a digital talent show on her Instagram titled “Quarantine with Loni” to expose new talent to a larger audience. And aside from staying occupied and in good spirits, Love encourages everyone to focus on their health and the well-being of their families. 

“Six feet,” she screamed about going outside.

She also encouraged everyone, especially the Black community, to journal during these unprecedented times. 

“You ain’t got to be no novelist, but get you a little notebook,” said Love. “We don’t journal ourselves enough. We don’t write our history enough.”

It’s true that the funny woman has been busy cracking us up in multiple arenas including live shows, television and major motion pictures, like Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. She also doesn't shy away from controversial takes hot takes. But, it’s her new book I Tried to Change So You Don’t Have To: True Life Lessons, published by Hachette Book Group, that gives readers a rare opportunity to get to know the woman behind the jokes. In discussing her book, Love says that there are nuggets of insight in her writing that will inspire anyone, especially in these turbulent times. 

“I came from a place called The Brewster Projects. I talk about the history of the projects, it’s a place where they put Black people that were migrating from the South. … And they put us in these housing buildings that was low cost or free housing. … But in those projects, there were a lot of creative people that came out of it,” she said while showing off a vivid photo of Diana Ross and the Supremes in front of her former home. 

Love goes on to reminisce about how Ross and the Supremes would drive around the projects and wave whenever they were in town. Love thinks of these instances as powerful moments of hope. The comedian, host and author grew up to graduate college and become an engineer, then a successful performer. It was learning to trust herself that made all of those feats possible, which is the essence of her book.

“This is a story of inspiration, but it’s also a story about accepting yourself for who you are,” Love said. 

“A lot of people try to change you. A lot of people look at me and say, ‘You shouldn’t be on TV.’ It's like, ‘Why not?’ Twenty years ago, I used to think that,” she said. 

“It’s to let people know that you can do whatever you want to do. You just have to have a plan. You have to have focus," she added. "And I talk about my steps and how I made it. And that’s why it’s important to read and understand … what this book is about.”

Watch the full video below: