Filed under: Television, Interviews
Make no mistake about it, no one behind the scenes is telling ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ star Dwight Eubanks what to do. The Atlanta native went from having a simple cameo as Nene Leakes’ scene-stealing “gay boyfriend” to becoming a main cast member on the second season of the hit Bravo reality television series.
“I am not an actor. I was asked to come on and be a part of the show and to be real…I am not the sixth housewife,” Eubanks told the BV Newswire yesterday.
“If I wanted to be with a woman, I will be with a woman and if I want to be with a guy, then I will be with a guy,” he declared. “I like all fruits, but I do have a problem with [people] dwelling on ‘Dwight the gay housewife.’ Let’s get to know Dwight.”.
As of late, his no-holds-bar attitude has made his relationships with some of the ‘Housewives’ stars a bit tense.
“I just don’t understand it,” he noted. “Some of the other people have problems with me being friends with the other women….girls harp on situations [like] ‘You said this,’ or ‘You did that’ versus saying ‘B****h, did you say this?’ and going directly to the source of the problem.”
But, Eubanks isn’t holding it against them.
“They perceive me as a b***h. I have nothing but love for all of them.”
What many viewers of the successful Bravo television network franchise do not know is that the self-proclaimed style purveyor actually knew Sheree Whitfield and Lisa Wu Hartwell well before becoming fast friends with his close gal pal Leakes.
“I knew Sheree and her husband Bob,” he revealed. “She had a store called Bella Azul [and] my partner at the time was doing Lisa’s hair and I knew of Lisa when she was going through her divorce situation [with Keith Sweat] but I didn’t really meet her until the show.”
As for the show’s resident vixen, he adds, “I was really more friendly with Greg than Nene and we grew to be a part of each other’s lives and it grew to being what it was.”
These days, the fashionable entrepreneur has grown incredibly fond of the newest ‘Housewives’ star, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Kandi Burruss.
“I met Kandi this year and never knew about Xscape,” Eubanks explained. “I like her as a person and her mother and I clicked and before I knew it I had dinner at their house.”
Now, the unlikely pair do dinner together, often, and according to the former Saks Fifth Avenue style director, they have become a sort of adopted family.
Until now, little has been known about the man that is Dwight Eubanks. Recently he’s been a little more open about his past – telling Essence.com that his minister parents beat him for playing with his sister’s dolls, until his grandmother helped them accept him for who he is. Born at Grady Hospital and raised on Atlanta’s Southside area, Eubanks credits his godfather with nurturing his love for hair by allowing a young Dwight to apprentice in his salon.
As for his feelings on the show as a whole? “The reality show is what it is. We don’t have to agree. They have gone through a whole season disagreeing. And agreeing is not reality. I like to move on.” There are talks that Eubanks may soon have his very own television show, but until then he’s happy doing what he’s been doing for the past 21 years.
“Reality television don’t pay no money. I had this life before [‘Housewives’] came on and I have four [mortgage] notes to pay – that’s a lot and I haven’t ventured off to doing any new ventures lately,” he declared.
He doesn’t know how they will figure out what to do for a show of his own, adding, “most days I don’t know what to do with myself. I know I am a lot.”
Off-camera, you can catch him at one of his two successful Purple Door Atlanta salons. “I still do hair every day and I enjoy being at the shampoo bowls. I like doing everything that I do. This is why I choose this profession.”
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