
We’re all familiar with the idiosyncrasies of our beloved Single Ladies characters, but unlike Keisha, Raquel, Malcolm and Sean, the actors who play them are living, breathing humans who navigate real relationships and struggle just like the rest of us. In a special gathering for Essence Music Festival’s Empowerment Panels this past weekend in New Orleans, actors LisaRaye McCoy, Denise Vasi, DB Woodside and Terrell Tilford allowed those present to get a glimpse of their personal lives, most private romantic experiences, and preferences in finding a significant other. Our favorite nuggets of the wisdom that they shared are below!
Panel #1: Finding Love At Any Age: Black Relationships Redefined featuring panelists Beverly Johnson, Shirley Strawberry, Eva Marcille, and Single Ladies stars LisaRaye McCoy and Denise Vasi

LISARAYE MCCOY
Opening with strong questions out of the gate, panel moderator and Essence Relationship Editor Charreah K. Jackson asked LisaRaye how her experiences and expectatations of love changed as she’s gotten older.
Marry For Love
“I’ve learned from such a public divorce that I had from being the first lady of Turks and Caicos, I didn’t really marry for love,” McCoy admitted honestly. “I wasn’t IN love with him. I loved him, there was a fondness and a closeness there, but we were falling in love as we were in our marriage and so I think now, looking back on that, and what vows mean, and what you mean when you say them, you have to be true and honest about that, and I was not when I said them. This time when I do it, I want to do it right, and I do not want to bring any excess baggage from that relationship to the new relationship.” Preach!
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