BOSSIP Exclusive: Darnell Nicole Of “WAGS Miami” Gets Real About Fake Friends, Natural Hair And Her Love Life

- By Bossip Staff
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WAGS Miami Star Darnell Nicole Talks About The Show Dynamics, Being Thick On TV And Moving On From Her Daughter’s Dad

The finale of WAGS aired last Sunday, but before the show came to an end we caught up with one of our favorites from the E! hit, Darnell! Check out more from our interview below:

BOSSIP: Talk about your role in the beef between Astrid and Kayla:

The thing about these shows is that unfortunately, we have a certain amount of time for you to get a big chunk of the information. When I saw it I was like, ‘Damn, they’re not getting everything. Because she actually shared a lot more stuff. Even like personal stuff about Claudia, and when I met Kayla, I met her through Claudia and Astrid. So I’m like okay Y’all coming as a united front so why am I hearing all of Claudia’s business? So that’s what really upset me because even though I don’t really mess with Claudia like that, I don’t want anyone around me who I feel will share whatever they hear when they are near me. So it really pissed me off. I was really at the pool that day, I was really going to go in a lot heavier, but she’s so — like a little, she’s a sweetheart. At Astrid’s party, it was totally the wrong place but there is no way in hell I would find out some information about Ashley and not go back and tell Ashley what happened, so I naturally assumed that Claudia filled Astrid in on it. Whenever we were talking about it, I was really reiterating what I had already told Claudia, not realizing that she [Astrid] had no idea. Still, it was her event. It was definitely messed up, but I didn’t think she was going to feel like that. She didn’t even let me finish. I didn’t even get to tell her the good parts, I just told her the basics. That was my bad. I didn’t want to mess up her event like that. It’s just something that came out. I don’t know girl. Maybe I was bored or something.

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 10:  Ashley Roberts (L) and Darnell Nicole attend the Binzario Couture fashion show and designer collective during September 2016 New York Fashion Week at Affinia Hotel on September 10, 2016 in New York City.

( Rob Kim/Getty Images)

How is it making a show with your real life best friend?

It was definitely easier for the both of us to come in with someone we were really really close with. It makes it a lot more fun because our personalities are a lot more similar. I love the experience because the world gets to see how silly we really are and how most of our conversations are about food. It’s a big struggle for me because when I am trying to eat right her skinny a** is like, ‘Let’s go get some ribs!’ and I’m like ‘No! I’m trying to lose some weight.’ I love it because we can bounce jokes off of each other. I think we have one of the best shows because of the real aspect, the comedy, you get some tears up in there, you get a little bit of everything.

What’s it like always filming in Miami, where you are always in a swimsuit or little dress?

That’s why I always stay with the cover up, and with the high waist bottoms, that’s my favorite. I love it because it brings your waist in right where it needs to come in at. If you pay attention you will notice I always wear a long skirt over my bathing suit, I’m definitely not built like the rest of the ladies, or most of the women in Miami that are super thin. I’m country as hell. I’m thick. It’s just how I’m built. It’s difficult but you get used to it and you figure it out, the way you’re sitting and the kind of clothes that you wear. I’m born in Louisiana and raised in Texas.

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MIAMI BEACH, FL - JULY 21:  Darnell Nicole (L) attends SWIMMIAMI Hot-As-Hell 2018 Collection at 227 22nd Street on July 21, 2017 in Miami Beach, Florida.

(Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images for SWIMMIAMI)

Last season we saw your relationship fall apart on TV, this season we’ve seen you build yourself up. How hard was it showing that on television?

It was really difficult because I had to pick myself back up multiple times. You’re experiencing it once and through that process you are trying to build yourself back up and then the show airs and you have to experience it again and it drags you right back down where you were, and on top of that you have a million people commenting, giving their two cents about the situation so it was really really hard for me. Thank God most of my feedback was positive. Most of it was girls saying, ‘I’ve been through the same exact thing,” and that’s why I created the blog Dear Darnell, and why I’m starting the podcast, because I saw how many girls were reaching out. It definitely helped me while I was helping them.

We really felt for you when your former fiancé asked for the ring back, how was it filming that?

Honestly, whenever he asked I was just like ‘Cool’ because at that point I was so done with feeling like he had something over me. Honestly I don’t really think he wanted the ring back. Honestly I don’t think he wanted it to be over at that point. I think he thought when I asked for that back I would be like ‘No, no, I’ll do what you want,’ and that we would work it out. But in that moment my brain snapped and because I had the out because I was doing the show, I was like no, I’m not going back to that position of just taking care of you and doing all of your stuff and we can’t even talk about an engagement party. We cn’t even talk about a wedding date. I’m never doing that again. I gave it back, I was like ‘Here. Here you go. I’ll just start from scratch.’ He can never say, ‘Oh she got her start from the ring I gave her. Um, no.’ I walked away with nothing.

With the show, you’ve been introduced to a lot of new male admirers… So are you single? Are you dating?

How bout I just say, how bout you keep watching and you’ll see a little bit of something.

Are you dating Darnell Dockett?

See here you go dropping names. How you know everything? Just keep watching.

Hmmmmm….

We barely saw Claudia this season, do you think she did it to herself by being so negative?

Honestly I don’t think that Claudia is a bad person, I think that whatever her life experiences have been they have molded her to be not as open to people and not to be a people person because she doesn’t really mesh with people. We’ve all tried with Claudia but whatever it is, it just doesn’t work. I just gave up on that. I don’t care.

Do you think Hencha is misunderstood?

Absolutely. If you’re around Hencha or chillin with Hencha … she has the biggest heart. She seems so hard but she will cry with you. She has the softest person, but if you cross her then you’re gonna get Haitian Hencha, I don’t understand why people don’t get that. There’s some things that have been done to her that everyone doesn’t know, so she does get a bad rap for her attitude but she’s really misunderstood. She’s a good person.

We saw the two “WAGS” franchises crossover during Ashley’s bachelorette when Sasha came by and Autumn came by, what did you think about that:

I love Autumn, she’s down to earth. She’s a real person, just genuine. I never vibed with Sasha just off watching their first season, once I saw her say, I have a ring so I’m up here and you’re up there, I didn’t vibe with that. When we first started our show I was the only one with a ring, and you know I came on and made it very clear I’m not about that hierarchy thing, I think it’s dumb. I’m not going to put a woman beneath me because a man gave me a piece of jewelry. I think that’s some dumb shit. I don’t believe in the hierarchy and I think it’s ridiculous as women to put each other on different levels because of that. You can be in a relationship with a ring and it be the worse damn relationship and you guys might be together and not be at ring point yet and have an amazing union so I always felt a kind of way about her.

Did you have a chance to address it with her?

Nah. I don’t care enough.

How do you think the LA show compares to Miami?

It was just very flat and not real problems that we’re dealing with in the athlete world. Reshad was the only athlete that I’ve been with. We were together in college so I’m not about that life so to come into this world and see how women throw themselves at the men in front of you. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to be about that life.

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A 5'9" Amazon…☺️🙈🤷🏽‍♀️

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Olivia admitted to being a serial athlete dater, what do you think about women who only date ballers?

Hencha is too. That’s their thing. Me and Hencha have talked about it before and I get hers more so because she’s a big girl like me. I’m 5’9, 175 so there is a certain kind of body type that I’m going to want on a guy so that I can feel like a lady. I think that’s really where Hencha comes from with it but it doesn’t really come off like that on the show so people just label her.

Some people think that, whether it’s athletes or Kevin Hart, people assume you are signing up to be cheated on if you date a man with money. Do you agree?

Every situation is different and if you’re going off your connection with a person and what he’s feeding you, it’s hard not to believe whenever you are in love that he is a completely different person when he walks out of the house. Not just that but a lot of my friends that I met, from the dolphins organization, most of them were together in high school. My girlfriend sitting next to me right now, her ex plays for the Raiders and they were together since high school so it’s not fair to put that on everyone. You can’t say that about every woman. You have to understand what the situation was.

We love the fact that Ashley’s husband Phil is on the show so much because he seems like a great example of an athlete who is completely devoted to his family. Is he really like that all the time?

He is. When I tell you I would be at their house so much, crying my eyes out. Just begging Phil, like ‘Please go talk to him.’ Phil goes to work and he comes straight home. He doesn’t go to the clubs, he doesn’t go drink, he wants to be with his family. He’s always calling her, FaceTiming her, like he is so in love with her. He’s such a good example of what a good man should be regardless of what he does for a living. He’s really great guy.

By the time the wedding rolled around, you didn’t have a hard time about your own wedding being called off?

Last year I broke down when she had me going to the reception venue, that really hit me hard because that was the stage I was at when we fell apart but when I went wedding dress shopping with her, I was fine because I hadn’t gotten to that part yet. Honestly I don’t think I ever anticipated getting that far because I wasn’t sure. I was so excited that we had gotten to the engagement because I didn’t even think he was going to do that, I was so excited about that I was willing to settle there for awhile just to keep my family together. From day one I put my daughter’s happiness before myself because go my own childhood. I felt like my life was perfect when I was a kid and my parents were married and they got a divorce and it broke me. It hurt me so badly I didn’t want my daughter to go through that and I was willing to sacrifice damn near my sanity to give her that. Thank God it happened the way it did and I didn’t have to.

Were you able to maintain your same lifestyle after your split?

Not at all. I downsized all the way down and was happy as hell in my little townhouse. I never cared about the money to be honest I felt like things started going south when he got the big contract. We were living in a little apartment and we shared a car. We were happy as hell, so… I had to downsize and with that came a whole lot of peace and that’s the most priceless thing to me. Peach of mind.

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When ya whole gang 🔥🔥🔥🔥

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You and Ashley have beautiful long hair — is that all yours or do you add extensions?

Nah I don’t wear any weave, It’s all mine. My advice to girls who want to grow their hair is to leave it alone. I told Ashley that too, because at one point all she did was flat iron her hair. Leave it alone. I don’t put heat on my hair. Once a week I’ll grease my scalp and my daughter’s scalp with shea butter and Moroccan argon oil. I’ll wash it and I’ll put a little Miss Jessie’s in it and I’ll put that shit in a bun on top of my hair and I’ll go about my day. Then if I’m going somewhere, I’ll put a little bit of a face on and let my hair down and let it be however it is. Definitely keeping heat off of it does wonders.

How is the podcast going? What can people look forward to hearing with your interviews?

I’ve been interviewing a lot of athletes on my podcast and not asking them about sports, I’ll ask them about women, I’ll ask them what they’re looking for, I’ll ask about sidechicks, I’ll ask if they can really trust a woman after the big contract, so stuff like that.

The most popular sports stories we’ve written are about athlete’s wives or girlfriends who cheat or leave for a teammate, do you know of any situations like that?

I’ve seen that before. There was one girl my first year out here who was with one of the guys, then two years late she was back in the stands with a rookie and my mouth hit the floor. I would never, I could never and I’d be lying if I said one of them Dolphin players didn’t slide up in my DM’s… It’s not my style. I ain’t about that life. It’s not that serious at all.

Welp! There you have it. Gotta love Darnell for keeping it all the way real. We’re sad there is no new episode of “WAGS: Miami” tonight but we will be eagerly awaiting her return next season. And in the meantime congrats on your new gig with as a Good American model Darnell!

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Can you spot ya girl tho 👀

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