‘Girlfriends’ Star Reginald Hayes Reveals ‘Awful Years’ He Suffered After Show Ended: I Moved Into My Sister’s Garage For 6 Years

September 25, 2020 by C.J. in TV with 0 Comments

Reginald Hayes

‘Girlfriends’ Star Reginald Hayes Reveals ‘Awful Years’ He Suffered After Show Ended: I Moved Into My Sister’s Garage For 6 Years

Now that popular series “Girlfriends” is streamable on Netflix, the lives of the stars of the hit CW series are coming into the spotlight.

Reginald Hayes, who played William Dent for all eight seasons of the show, has opened up about the struggles he experienced after the show went off the air in 2008. He said while there was a possibility his character would get a spinoff or even a movie, it didn’t happen. The setback caused his living situation to change drastically.

“I had started a complete rebuild on my house and all of a sudden I didn’t have a job. But the house was on an amazing piece of land and I was able to sell it and break even. So I moved from a house on the hill down to a little bungalow in a sketchy area and people would come by: ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Those were pretty awful years. I made it work with my little residual checks for a year and then I ended up moving into my sister’s garage for six years.”

He continued:

“It’s hard, you can’t even get a day job because people come in and take pictures of you and put it on the internet.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkvegnF9YAQ

He said he once tried to take on a job as a bouncer and a furniture mover, but unfortunately, those didn’t work out either.

“I tried being a bouncer for a while, and everyone in the club wanted their picture taken with me. I’m 6?2” but everybody knows I’m like a mouse; once you know me, you know I’m a pushover. So that didn’t work out. I also tried being a furniture mover, but I was in my 40s so that only lasted a couple of days. My back never would have survived it.”

He added:

“I’m not complaining about my lot in life. I was never really a very important person in the world, you know? Here I am, this Black guy who’s kinda nice and most of my friends were white and I just kind of hung out on the periphery. No one really gave a d***. I was never the center of attention before and no one really cared what I said.”

He went on to say things changed after he landed a lead role on the show.

“And then all of a sudden, I was on this show and it went to my head. And then it disappears and it’s like… I wish I knew then what I know now. I wish I’d had more time to ease into it. That you have to save your money. And you need to develop good friendships with people that aren’t going to just go away. Try to find people who aren’t just after you for your money. And maybe pursue other interests.”

While he didn’t faithfully watch the series when it was on the air, he’s had a change of heart now that it’s on Netflix.

“I couldn’t watch myself on the show when I was on it; I think I had only watched 10 episodes when it ended,” he said. “Your weight goes up and down, or you don’t have your contact lenses in one day your eye goes kind of wonky — it’s just hard to watch. But now I look back on it and it’s a love affair.”

What are your thoughts on Reginald Hayes’ experience after Girlfriends? Comment and let us know.