Mehgan James Says Patrice Reminds Her Of A "Lunch Lady" & Draya's Relationship Is a "Publicity Stunt"
Mehgan James is the newest lady to join the cast of Basketball Wives LA but don't think that will stop her from speaking her mind. The former Bad Girls Club star chatted with VH1 about joining the show, not claiming Jackie Christie as a friend, and thinking Patrice Curry is like a "lunch lady."
Tell me about joining Basketball Wives. Why sign up for the show?
Mehgan James: At one time, Jackie Christie and I shared the same publicist and I've always looked at Jackie as a business woman and she kind of took me under her wing and explained to me how this worked and a little bit about each of the ladies. I expressed to her that I used to date a player and she thought that it would be a good idea for me to join her the cast.
People on social media seem confused about why you're on the show, or comment that you're not a "wife." What's your response to the haters?
My response to them is the term "basketball wife" is used loosely. There have been plenty of people on the show that were never married to a ball player and I just feel like a lot of the women who deal with basketball players probably won't ever get married because athletes are dogs. You don't have to be a wife to be on the show, everyone shares the same experiences: wife or girlfriend or ex-girlfriend.
What was your impression of meeting the other women at the tasting?
Actually, the first day that I met Draya, Brandi, and Malaysia was at the fashion show. When I first met them, I feel like they were kind of like "nice-nasty." They were like, "Hi," but like back in their head they're like "B---h, what the f--- are you doing here? Who are you? And are you f---king one of our boyfriends?" That's the vibe that I got from them. Then when I met them again at the food tasting, everyone was nice, except for Draya of course...
Why do you think Draya has been slow to warm to you?
I really don't understand. I walked up to her at the food tasting and I was so nice, and I complimented her on her line. But after watching the show, she even said, "If I knew Jackie I wouldn't claim her either," but then she goes [on] to make the other girls think that I'm a liar. She's been really hypocritical and I just don't understand; I really don't get it. After seeing the girls at the tasting, I got to meet Patrice and I was just really thinking in the back of my head like who she's married to? I'm not gonna throw any shade, I'll just continue on. Later, I met Shaunie, and out of all the girls, she was nice to me from the beginning to the end and I really respect and admire her.
[mtvn_player vid="1200334" autoplay="true"]
Well, what was your impression of Patrice? You called her evil when she showed up to Jackie's commercial shoot?
Um, filming with Patrice was always really awkward because she never really said anything and when she did, she was just like goofy to me. She reminds me of a lunch lady. It was just really...Patrice is really awkward.
Why did you feel that you needed to be secretive about your friendship with Jackie and say you didn't know anyone in LA?
At the point that I started filming, me and Jackie were not that close. I didn't consider Jackie as a really good friend of mine, and I didn't consider myself as really knowing her, because there's a difference between knowing of someone and knowing someone and when they asked me the question I was like, no, not really. I didn't think it was that big of a deal and I felt like Draya was making it bigger than what it was.
Jackie described you as being a close friend and a "little sister." Do you think she's delusional in the way she sees her relationship with you?
I feel like at times, Jackie can be delusional and not just with me, with a lot of stuff that she says and does but Jackie is very passionate and I feel like she means everything that she says. So if Jackie meets someone and she really likes them, she's going to automatically believe that they're her friend and that's her sister and that's what it is. I feel like she honestly feels that way but I don't think she goes into depth how other people perceive things. Like, when I first meet someone, I don't automatically consider them my friend or my sister, just because I like them. You have to take time to get to know a person's personality and throughout this process I got to know Jackie and we did eventually become friends but when I first met her I didn’t really consider her a good friend of mine.
Does Jackie Christie get a bad rap on reality TV?
Well, yeah, in general I feel like Jackie does get a bad rap. I feel like everything that Jackie does, I don't think is really intentional. I feel like the audience views Jackie as the evil shit starter but they never know what goes on behind the scenes to make Jackie react in the way that she does. Like I said, Jackie is very passionate and she really puts her all into everything that she does even if it's not the right thing. I feel like Jackie is kind of misconstrued, people don't have the right perception of Jackie. It's just because they don't know her personally.
What's Jackie like not on TV? What is the right perception of Jackie?
When the cameras aren't rolling I just see Jackie as a mom. I feel like she's just a regular person. Sometimes I do feel like Jackie does the most while the camera is rolling but at the end of the day it is a show and you're supposed to give it your all.
I really think it's a publicity stunt because she likes attention. Like how do you break-up, make-up, get married, unmarried, walk down the aisle, come back and then forget about it all within three days? It doesn't make sense.
Keep up with Mehgan and all the ladies on an all new Basketball Wives LA, Sunday at 8/7c.