Evelyn Lozada, the firecracker from VH1’s “Basketball Wives,” is now headlining OWN’s “Livin’ Lozada” after a hiatus from reality TV.
“I was on ‘Basketball Wives’ for five years and there were some crazy things that happened on the show. I took a two-year break [from reality TV] so I could focus on myself and my family,” she says.
“Livin’ Lozada,” which premiered last month, finds Lozada in a good place. Her 22-year-old daughter, Shaniece Hairston, is now signed to the Wilhelmina modeling agency, and Lozada has a 1-year-old son, Carl Leo, with her fiancé, LA Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford.
But Lozada, 39, is not a stranger to high drama — nor to letting her own reality play out before the cameras.
In 2012, she was involved in a domestic dispute with her then-husband, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, which left Lozada with a 3-inch gash on her forehead after Johnson allegedly head-butted her. That ended their 41-day marriage and their planned reality show, “Ev and Ocho,” which was axed by VH1 after the incident.
(Johnson ended up receiving a year of probation.)
“Even though the domestic violence incident happened three years ago, when I see that bloody picture it reminds me and confirms how far I have come,” Lozada says. “I look at it like, yes, that happened to me, and I am maturing and in a totally different place now. The key is to not remain stagnant. [OWN founder] Oprah Winfrey is all about inspiring, positivity . . . [‘Livin’ Lozada’] is much more family-oriented and about putting some goodness into the world.”
Lozada says OWN’s Iyanla Vanzant (“Iyanla: Fix My Life”) told her to use the show’s platform in a positive light, which is what Lozada is trying to do — while dealing with a recent miscarriage, past issues of domestic violence, raising kids and finding love again (with Crawford).
“The day I was going to start filming my new show, I found out I was pregnant. And everyone was so excited and was like, ‘Oh my God, this will be great for the show,’ ” she says. “But I ended up miscarrying. I could have easily had the cameras turned off but I am not that person.
“This is my life and my reality so I am going to be honest and let [viewers] see what I am really going through.”
Lozada, a teen mother — on welfare, at one point — eventually went back to school and worked in a lawyer’s office to provide for herself and her young daughter.
Fortunately, Lozada has learned from her past mistakes — but is adamant about letting people know she is far from perfect.
“Being on a new network and being reintroduced to a whole new audience, there are some moments that I have to relive so that these new viewers understand who I am and why I am even on TV,” she says. “But this is my reality, and I am happy to help others through my own life experiences.”