Why Loni Love Is Mindful of What She Says on 'The Real'

Loni Love is known for her honest and direct approach to every topic that is discussed on “The Real.” However, Love recently revealed she must be very mindful of what she says and how she says it because of her color and complexion.

One of the reasons why so many people enjoy “The Real” is the variety of representation the show offers. With two African American women, one Latina and one Asian as hosts, more women across the country have the chance to feel identified with what it’s being said on the show.

SELF-CENSOR BECAUSE OF HER APPEARANCE

Loni Love, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Adrienne Houghton and Jennie Mai, try their best to keep it “real,” following the show’s thematic.

However, Loni recently revealed in an interview with Madame Noire that she must be self-aware whenever she gives her opinion on camera.

"They take your message a different way if you don’t look a certain way to them.”

“Being on a show like The Real, I’m the darkest, and I’m the biggest girl,” the 47-year-old said.

And continued:

“You have to understand, even though they’re women of color, you have to look at the women of color I’m sitting next to. If there’s a certain subject, there’s a certain way I have to deliver things because if I have this thin Asian chick next to me and I’m barking at her that’s the way it’s going to look to America.”

“If I have the petite Hispanic girl and I’m yelling at her, my voice is deeper than everyone on the table. That’s just my natural [voice]. We just have a natural deepness,” she added.

Love also revealed that the improper lighting of the show against her complexion impacted the way the audience saw her on the first seasons.

“We didn’t have the proper lighting for big dark-skinned women, and sometimes you couldn’t even see my face,” she recalled. “It’s because of that you had to change some things, they take your message a different way if you don’t look a certain way to them.”

It’s gotten better on the show these days, according to Loni.

INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIP

Elsewhere in the interview, Loni addressed her romantic relationship with James Welsh, which has earned massive media coverage and attention from eager fans.

They met through a dating app last year, and Welsh didn’t know who Loni was at the time. Their first date was at a movie premiere, and it was after watching Loni walking the red carpet and being greeted by several celebrities that it downed on James who he was dating.

Although fans have expressed their surprise at Loni dating a white man, she says race has never been a setback in her journey to find love.

“I left it open. I was getting all types of men,” she told People. “The mindset that I had was let me find out who the person is before I go judging and saying ‘Oh, I can’t date you because of this or that.’”

“Everybody is so surprised, and I’m surprised myself,” she said of the interracial dating debate. Adding:

“But it really doesn’t matter. I’m the first African American woman he’s dated, and he said he just didn’t think about it. It’s not a big deal. We get along, we like each other; we understand each other.”

“I just look at James as a person,” Love concluded. “There’s just this love for James. People are happy for us.”