This weekend Evelyn Lozada appeared on back-to-back debut episodes of Iyana Vanzant’s new show, Fix My Life, on OWN. Today, many are saying the Basketball Wives star won over viewers during her interview and transitioned her public image from bully to hero.
On Good Morning America last week, Oprah predicted that once fans saw Lozada’s episode of Fix My Life, they would begin to empathize with her. “People love to hate Evelyn Lozada,” Oprah said on Good Morning America. “I have friends who watched and they were all, ‘I don’t like her. I don’t like her,’ but they came away feeling differently.”
Lozada’s interview aired in two parts. On Saturday evening, Vanzant featured a pre-taped episode she had done with Lozada 11 days before her alleged head-butting incident with her ex-husband, Chad Johnson. During the show, Lozada proclaimed that she wanted to revamp her on-camera image as a “thug among women.” She said her wake-up call was when she saw how her stepdaughters reacted to her onscreen behavior on Basketball Wives.
Part 2 of Vanzant’s interview with Lozada was taped shortly after she filed for divorce from Johnson. During the interview, Lozada went into detail about her domestic violence allegations against her ex-husband.
“I was a little in shock that it went that far. All I kept telling him is ‘Your daughter’s in the house,’ I don’t want her to know we’re fighting. There was blood all over my face. I said to myself, ‘This is something that I will not deal with.'” While pointing to her forehead, she said, “This was the deal breaker. For me it was I had visible wounds.”
She also talked about how she was abandoned by her father at the age of 10, and how that played a part in her relationships as an adult.
Evelyn took to Twitter to thank Vanzant for helping her share her story, “Thank you @IyanlaVanzant for helping me to explore my issues. I’m grateful for your willingness to understand and help me grow.”
Vanzant who is still in close contact with Lozada says that the Basketball Wives star has indeed changed.
“She has changed. Otherwise she would have stayed with him. We’ve allowed the industry to glorify dysfunction. Before we get angry and turn our nose at our sisters we have to see what they need and what they are crying out for. After getting a glimpse of Evelyn on Basketball Wives it surprised me that she was so vulnerable. Reality television has too much power.”
Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter at @WitherspoonC