Reality Star Kimbella On Fight With Chrissy, “I’m going to stand and hold my own.”

Recently, the teaser for the second season of VH1’s reality show, Love & Hip Hop, hit the net. In the teaser, viewers were introduced to one of the show’s newest cast members, Kimbella. Known for working in the modeling industry and being in a relationship with rapper Juelz Santana, now’s the perfect time to find out exactly who the “new girl” is. Peep a few excerpts from the interview.

Photo: Paul Cabo

On how she began her modeling career:

“My mom tried modeling with me [when I was young] but it didn’t really work out. I didn’t really have the focus on that until I became old enough to do things on my own. Then I pursued it……What people don’t know about me is that before that, I was in the medical field. I was a certified pharmacy technician. I was going to go on to becoming a pharmacist, veterinarian, or mid-wife……I’m very educated. I went to college, and got my Masters. I love the medical field. And if I didn’t have what I have today, then I would definitely be doing some type of doctorate profession. I miss it so much.”

On her relationship with Juelz Santana (at the 2:30 mark):

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“We’ve been together for two years, since 2009…When you’re in a relationship that everyone knows about, or whatever, people have their opinions. For us, there’s really just us… Some people can ruin a relationship when it’s very public. But for us, it’s just us. And since we came into our relationship that’s what it’s been. So it hasn’t been such a big ordeal until these horror stories started coming out where these blogs are saying all this crazy nonsense that will try to start some sort of situation in our relationship… But the good thing about us is that we, from the gate, have always discussed our pasts with each other… We know what it is.”

On how she deals with having a celebrity boyfriend:

“We’re kinda in the same [field]. Just like men flock to me, women flock to him….We’re just very secure with each other, and very happy with each other. That’s what keeps us strong together. [I don’t go through his phone or through his emails] because I don’t want to find anything and I want to trust him. So we don’t go through each others phones. We hardly go to each others twitters. We’re in a happy state. We don’t need to go and look for things…”

On dating Fabolous while he was with Emily (at the 05:19 mark):

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“I didn’t know anything about Emily until the first season of ‘Love & Hip Hop.’ I knew he had a son but I didn’t know that they were together. I didn’t know of her at all…”

On how it was dating rapper Fab:

“Oh, God do we hafta talk about that (LOL)… Fab is such a non-factor in my life. He’s cool, that’s what attracted me to him… Right now, I’m in a relationship where I love a man that is everything to me and I never want to talk about my past with another man…”

{ Because of restrictions that VH1 has on cast members about (divulging information) before a particular season or show airs, Kimbella was unable to describe, at length, the fight that occurs between her and Chrissy Lampkin. The fight is shown during the trailer. I shared with Kimbella an alleged version of the story (about the fight) that I had heard (and had also been reported in other media outlets). I was told that in one particular scene, Kimbella shares with Emily that she used to date Fab. From my understanding, it was not done maliciously (as it was shown in the trailer) but that Emily seemed to be “okay” with what was said. Chrissy was upset and said that she was going to get some “fresh air.” While walking past Kimbella (to get some fresh air), Chrissy surprisingly jumped on Kimbella. The conversation starts at the 06:41 mark.}

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On if the story (above) is true, about how the altercation between she and Chrissy occurred (at the 08:07 mark, I recount the story and at the 08:25 mark, Kimbella confirms it):

“That’s exactly what happened and of course I’m going to confirm it because I’m going to stand and hold my own… because that’s what people need to understand… I hope it’s shown in the show… that’s what people need to understand. I need to get it across that I’m not a bitch coming out to tell Emily like ‘Yo listen, this is what I did, and what!” No, never. I would never be like that to anybody.”

On if her conflict with Chrissy will affect Juelz’s relationship with Jim Jones:

“I would hope nothing is affected between [Juelz and Jim Jones because of the fight I had with Chrissy] because they have a brotherhood and that’s very important to keep.”

 

On the advice that her good friend, Lil Kim, gave her about reality TV (at the 12:14 mark):

“Me and Lil Kim are good friends. She’s the God-mother to my youngest son. The first thing she told me when she found out I was doing the show was to watch out for the editing. And I said ‘I’m just gonna do what I do, I can’t really help what they edit.’ She just told me to understand that I’m going in blind-sighted, basically. She said ‘reality TV can be really good, or it can do really bad for you. Just be yourself and I got your back for whatever goes down.’”

Where her “I’m Still Pretty” Shirt idea came from:

“It was a real negative situation with the trailer and everyone seeing me in a situation like that. So I felt like ‘let me turn a negative into a positive.’ And I wanted to let people understand that no matter what I go through, no matter what you go through, you can always turn a negative into a positive. So I decided to make those shirts because, yea I got knocked on the ground but at the end of the day I got up, I’m still alive, I looked in the mirror and said, ‘I’m still pretty.’ So I’m making those T-shirts to represent that no matter what you go through, you’re still beautiful. They’ll be available in a couple weeks. They’re in production right now.”

On keeping her body in shape:

“After my first child I was traumatized because I was 185 pounds and I had to lose like 60 pounds. I had to just change my whole lifestyle: the way I eat and the way I exercise. So I did that. Basically I worked out, hard body, since my oldest son was a year old, up until he was 8. And then I got pregnant again, but I was really in shape. I gained 20 pounds, but as soon as I gave birth to him, I had no stomach again. So it’s a lifestyle thing. It’s something that I’ve adjusted to, so that now my body just snaps back [after a pregnancy].”

 

In addition to venturing into reality TV (the first episode of season 2 of “Love & Hip-Hop” airs November 14th), Kimbella also has plans to launch a watch line, a “I’m Still Pretty” T-shirt line, a new column called “Vixen Day Off” (the column will focus on what models in the industry do during their off-time), plus she has plans to release a pop album.

Check out the full interview here:

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For all things Kimbella, follow her at @KimbellasWorld

-@Kami2Kute