“Marriage Boot Camp’s” Willie & Shanda Talk “Fresh Start” With Newborn Baby

Source: Courtesy of WeTV / Courtesy of WeTV

Willie and Shanda Taylor’s willingness to expose their long-standing relationship problems has made them one of the viewers’ favorite couples on “Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition.”

In their nearly 20 years together, the parents have endured numerous trust issues, including mutual infidelity.

But the Day26 singer and his ex-exotic dancer partner said their relationship is now stronger than ever, and they’ve got a new beginning with the birth of their daughter, Willow, who at six weeks old, was conceived during their time at boot camp.

“We’ve been together for so long that a lot of things have been swept up under the rug,” Willie told BOSSIP. “We were trying to get back to the love portion of it all. I think even though these are the things you don’t really want to be discussing, it put us in a better space. We addressed the elephant in the room.”

Source: Courtesy of WeTV / WeTV

Although they were working through serious problems in their marriage, Shanda and Willie also had to deal with drama in the boot camp house. Shanda and Willie said they got along with most of the other couples on the show, including Kurupt and Toni, Tahiry and Vado and Phaedra and Medina.

But they clashed almost immediately with Hazel E and her partner DeVon – who they co-starred with on “Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood” – and the men appear to come to blows in previews for tonight’s new episode.

“I didn’t want to have to deal with fixing my marriage and punching her in the face!” Shanda said. “I literally had to figure out what was more important. But I said I have to focus on fixing my marriage.”

Nevertheless, the reality stars told BOSSIP that their time on the WeTV show taught them that they need to let go of the past and work on being better listeners in order to keep their relationship strong. They said they’ve also committed to making a clean sweep for the sake of their new addition.

“I feel like Willow was our mark for a new beginning,” Willie said. “Everything we’d already been through, she was putting us in a mindset of where, ‘ If you don’t s**t, get off the toilet.’”

Shanda agreed: “I started to date Will when I was 17. I’m 35 now. Instead of us having multiple relationships, we dealt with it altogether. We could only have so much in so many days but I think it worked out so well. I learned so much. It was a great experience.”

“Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition airs Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EST on WeTV.