The Cast Of ‘Sistas’ Drops Major Gems About Self-Love

Hindsight is 20/20 and the cast of Tyler Perry’s Sistas know this all too well. The highly anticipated series, which premiered on Wednesday, October 23, provided viewers with a front row seat into the lives of four single women navigating life, love and the lack thereof. 

RELATED: Tyler Perry Celebrates His New Series ‘Sistas’ And ‘The Oval’ With An Emotional Speech To His Fans

KJ Smith, Ebony Obsidian, Novi Brown and Mignon Von visited Chicago on October 17, sharing a special clip of the show while getting candid on the life experiences they brought to the series. 

As the dramedy explores the dimensions of relationships and the complexities of self-love with four single women in Atlanta, we asked the sistas what was the one lesson they had to learn the hard way when it comes to love. 

Ebony Obsidian, who plays hair salon owner Karen Mott, described the unexpected pain of “two people [that] can be really great people, but it still does not work out. And sometimes it can take a long time to figure that out when you’re with someone…they’re everything you’ve been saying you want but whatever it is, it’s not just there. I think it’s almost sadder when things don’t work out and when we’re just not that missing piece to each other’s puzzle.”

Germany-born beauty Novi Brown revealed how damaging self-sabotaging attitudes create unnecessary tension and how she battled mental negativity for herself. 

“The hardest lesson to learn in love is to face yourself–facing your own self-sabotaging behavior in a relationship. A lot of times there’s not a lot of drama in a relationship, it’s just you stirring up mess in your head,” the model shared. “When I was falling in love with my partner, I found myself gravitating toward those self-sabotaging behaviors; how do you love me, why do you love me and I was like, ‘Girl, he shows up for you, rent is paid, he shows up to your job, he’s always making sure you have what you need and that’s his way of loving you.’”

Mignon Von called on true “acceptance” of someone to achieve that optimal true love. 

“If you’re really going to love the people in your life you have to accept them where they are and meet them where they’re at. You can’t be trying to change them. [You] can’t try to fix them.”

KJ Smith shared her testimony of a recent real-life experience she went through that made her role as Andi Barnes hit close to home. 

“My hardest lesson was you got to let it go sometimes. I’m a hopeless romantic. My parents were together forever and I’m all about the idea of love but there’s practical things that have to be implemented for it to work. It’s a partnership,” the southern belle explained. “I got dumped in April honey. It’s heartbreaking, but I love that we were shooting this while I was going through that and a lot of the situations and circumstances were very real to me. Some of those scenes were real, real tears.”

Outside of the qualms of love and men, Perry’s original series examines friendship, the ups-and-downs of a true sister circle and what it means to be a good girlfriend. 

“Someone that you can tell anything to. These four women are so good to each other even when they’re not. Their loyalty knows no bounds,” answered Obsidian when asked what’s her definition of a good friend. 

Von, dubbed the group’s feisty ride or die friend, named dependability as a friend’s best attribute, as Brown called someone who’s “transparent” as her go-to quality. 

In the show’s preview introduction, all four sistas are dressed in gorgeous earthtones and protective styles showing off their Black girl magic. Reminiscent of a 90s girl group, we asked what would be their singing group name. 

Brown, who starred in Sleeping With My Student (2019), answered “Mahogany 30/30,” meaning “the melanated future.” Smith provided options for their ensemble, calling their girl group “Destiny,” “Future or Faith.”

Tune in to Tyler Perry’s Sistas every Wednesday at 10:00 p.m. only on BET.