Deitrick Haddon and Michelle Williams are bringing gospel music to the masses with their new Oxygen reality show Fix My Choir.
The series so much more than just a show about fixing the vocals of gospel choirs across the country; it also tackles issues of leadership and interpersonal conflicts amongst members.
In an interview with Chris Witherspoon for MSNBC2, Haddon and Williams opened up about Fix My Choir and talked about how they overcame their personal career obstacles.
Williams (one-third of Destiny’s Child) whose new album, Journey to Freedom, hit stores in September, says that she’s received some backlash from critics for singing gospel music.
“The backlash is there, but I just ignore it,” Williams said. “I used to let it affect me, because it was like that little girl complex. I wanted to be accepted. I want you to like me. I’m still human; I still have those feelings sometimes. But I have to just continue to do what I do. So many people on an everyday basis, whether they are a believer or not, tell me what my music is doing. So it’s an impact.”
Haddon, who stars on the Oxygen hit series Preachers of L.A. and is executive producer for Fix My Choir, talked about his reluctancy to bring his personal story to reality TV. He went through with it, however, because he said he feels his presence on TV has influenced young people to want to go back to church.
“I could share the thousands of people’s testimonies, saying, ‘I can relate to you now. I can relate to church. I want to go back to church, because it’s not too religious,'” Haddon said.
“I was very deliberate about sharing my testimony on the show because I know I am not the first person, and not the last person, to go through something like that. My agenda was to connect with people who left church because they were hurt and people just didn’t handle them right. The show has worked wonders and helped people realize, ‘I can be Christian, and be normal.'”
Click below to watch Williams and Haddon talk about the gospel music’s healing power during national tragic events.
Tune in for the premiere of Fix My Choir Wednesday at 10/9c on Oxygen.