This season on Hollywood Exes, Mayte Garcia begins a very personal, emotional journey of adoption, but it’s not quite snag-free. As we saw on the season premiere last night, Mayte comes up against her mother whose views on adoption aren’t very positive or supportive. We spoke to Mayte recently to find out how she and her mom are doing on that front, as well as to catch up on the rest of the women. Mayte, whose confrontation last year with Jessica Canseco over some flip references to abortion created the first season’s biggest conflict, discusses her “great union” with Jessica this season, and her deep bond with her “soul sister” Drea Kelly.
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Hollywood Exes Star Mayte Garcia
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Hollywood Exes Star Mayte Garcia
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Hollywood Exes Star Mayte Garcia
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Hollywood Exes Star Mayte Garcia
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Hollywood Exes Star Mayte Garcia
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Hollywood Exes Star Mayte Garcia
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Hollywood Exes Star Mayte Garcia
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You and Jessica provided a lot of the drama for season one, what’s your relationship like now?
Last season we were getting to know each other and she said something that offended me and I spoke up. I learned from my past, there were times when I didn’t speak up and I felt like I should, so I did and unfortunately it created a bit of drama for the show. But Jessica is Jessica, the things that she says, you sit there and you go “Oh my God,” but she is who she is and you love her, but there are times when I want to strangle her! But this season we start a great union, which is going to shock people.
You became so close to Drea last season, do you guys hang out often off-camera?
This show is 100% real and so are our relationships. Drea and I went outlet shopping a couple months after season one ended and these women came up to us like “Oh my God! We can’t believe you guys are really friends!” and it’s like, well, yeah, we love going to the outlets! We’re very close. We talk a lot. We have so much in common it’s kind of scary, we even got married on the same day, in the same year. We’re soul sisters.
This week we learn of your opportunity to adopt a baby. Did you know how your mother would react when you told her about your plans to adopt?
Yeah. I’ve hinted it to her before, before the opportunity had come so close to me. I had thought about it because I want a family, so I’ve mentioned it to her before and she’s always been very “Eh, no, no, no.” I was hoping, because the opportunity was there for me, that my mom would be a little more receptive toward it but no, I wasn’t shocked. But to hear it come out of her mouth was really hurtful.
Last season you were very open about your fertility issues and losing a baby, and there was a moment where you had a revelation in therapy where you realized you are a mom. You had a baby and therefore you are a mom. It was an emotional moment and I wonder what it was like for you to realize that on camera.
It’s a blessing that I did this show because I didn’t realize I was walking around with this cloud. I think maybe that’s why my relationships didn’t work with men and my life was at a stand still. I did this show and opened up about it and a floodgate of blessings have come since then. When I went to therapy and that woman said I was a mom, in the fifteen years that I’ve been healing, I had never heard that from a therapist before. It was an awakening and it completely changed my life.
This season, I’ve been gifted this amazing opportunity and it’s definitely been a journey. In my family they’ve always been like, oh no, it’s not blood, if it’s not blood it’s not family. It’s been really hard for me to try to explain that it’s not about that. I want to open some minds as well to adoption because it’s pretty amazing, this journey I’m going through.
One last question that lingers from last season: Where are those place settings that you used at your wedding [to Prince] that Drea made you pack up?
You know what, after the show, after we had moved them, I thought “I’ll just put them back.” But I decided to re-do my house, and I realized that it’s so much about energy and it lifted so much energy, I realized my energy was different. I still own it, eventually I may get rid of it, but I have it now in the garage, put away where you can’t see it. I’m so happy I did that. Maybe down the line I can sell it and put my child through college.
[Photo: Getty Images] Related: Hollywood Exes Season Two First Look: Meet Shamicka Lawrence