Becoming a member of “The Surreal Life” didn’t begin out as a certain factor for August Alsina.
“I truthfully mentioned no about 10 occasions,” the singer admitted to ET’s Rachel Smith. However, as viewers will come to see when the brand new seventh season — the primary to air in 16 years — premieres on Oct. 24, the fact TV newcomer overcame his worry and nerves and ended up changing into considerably of a peacekeeper amongst the star-studded forged.
“I assume the mind-blowing half could be the fixed having to place out fires in the home sort factor amongst individuals,” Alsina mentioned. “In some way I, you recognize, was tapped upon to form of assist cope with conditions in the home amongst individuals for conditions that I really wasn’t part of to even see precisely what occurred.”
Alsina is knowing. As he identified, he and the remainder of the forged — which incorporates Tamar Braxton, Dennis Rodman, Frankie Muñiz and Stormy Daniels — had been filming amid the life-changing results of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The fact is that everyone is coping with their very own trauma and ache in no matter approach and we had been going into filming this in all probability like proper — the pandemic wasn’t even over essentially, however I feel proper after all people had been form of locked away form of in their very own area with their household and then you definately’re going into this new world the place you’re going round individuals you don’t know and also you’re additionally coping with stuff again house, so it was form of simply lots of pent-up feelings that everyone was carrying — myself included,” Alsina defined. “It actually was simply, I feel, a brand new area, new atmosphere, new individuals, outdated emotion, pent-up emotion, new expertise that brings new emotion, so it was simply lots of emotion flying round at occasions.”
In July 2020, within the midst of the pandemic, Alsina grew to become a family identify when he revealed and Jada Pinkett Smith admitted shortly after to them having a relationship — or as she referred to as it, an “entanglement” — whereas she and Will Smith had been separated.
Throughout his interview with ET, Alsina admitted the current scandal made him apprehensive about becoming a member of the present. “I might say that going into it, that in all probability was one of many elements for me that I felt like, ‘Hmm, do I actually need to do that?’ as a result of I didn’t need to go right into a state of affairs the place individuals would seize for low-hanging fruit,” he mentioned. Nonetheless, the present additionally supplied him a possibility for viewers to get to know him past the headlines.
“There was one facet of me not eager to do it, attempting to guard myself,” he mentioned, “after which the opposite facet of it was, properly, it gave me the chance to permit individuals to see and expertise me and my genuine power versus the narrative that had been form of clouding over my life for fairly some time.”
Now, greater than two years after that unforgettable Crimson Desk Discuss episode, Alsina has “completely zero” relationship with the actress and her household nor is he stunned by what she shared on her Fb present.
“I can solely be liable for myself. I can solely be liable for my very own actions and maintain myself accountable for what I do, what I say and what I do know to be true for myself,” he mentioned. “To be sincere with you, I’m not essentially stunned about anyone’s actions today. Everyone has the fitting to say, reveal no matter they determine — I’m not the police of that.”
As for Alsina, he’s overcome much more than being on the middle of public fodder, together with the dying of his sister and being identified with Guillain-Barré syndrome, which rendered him briefly paralyzed.
“It ate the nerves in my legs, so I ended up not with the ability to stroll, speak,” he described. “I really needed to get a clearance from my physician for VH1 to even have the ability to go and do the present, so it was additionally that I used to be like, ‘Am I able to tackle a brand new journey?’”
Added Alsina, “It labored out. It confirmed me extra of my power versus me specializing in, like, lots of the locations the place I assumed I used to be weak earlier than from, you recognize, falling in poor health like that.”
“I’m within the area in life the place the probabilities are countless as a result of, like I mentioned, it’s like if you transfer past worry and also you see what’s on the opposite facet of it after you’re scared s**tless or no matter… there’s so many presents on the opposite facet of it,” he mentioned. “…Folks kick you out, like, it’s so many presents on the opposite facet of that and when you undergo it and also you notice, ‘Oh, OK, I’m nonetheless alive. I survived it. Now what?’”
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