Iyanla Vanzant Denies Using Evelyn Lozada for OWN Ratings

September 21, 2012 by Kellie Williams in Latest News with 3 Comments

Evelyn Lozada’s appearance on Iyanla Vanzant’s OWN Show, ‘Iyanla: Fix My Life’, garnered record-breaking numbers (1,136,000 million viewers) for the network.

While some are thrilled that OWN’s numbers are getting better and better, some question the motivation for having the Basketball Wives reality star. Some even suggest that Iyanla and the network used Evelyn to help them with ratings. In an interview with The Grio, Iyanla disputes these claims, explaining:

“The show was done prior to the upheaval with her and Chad, and it was scheduled to be the third show, not the first show. The reason it was the first show was, because of the upheaval with her and Chad, it was timely…And so, you know, at my age, I can’t care what people say, and most of it, I forget. She wrote me, just like every other guest. That’s an indication of willingness.”

As the Grio reports:

Following the show’s taping, Vanzant says she continues to speak with Lozada nearly ever other day, and that the reality star “swings between gratitude and embarrassment.” Vanzant blames social media for attacking her, calling it a “veil” for “cowards.” Nevertheless, Vanzant doesn’t justify Lozada or anyone else’s actions or feelings; rather she seeks to understand and grow from them. When asked about Lozada throwing a bottle at her cast member’s head, the life coach replied, “Have you ever been a Puerto Rican from the Bronx?…She was raised by a thug.”

What are your thoughts? Do you think Evelyn was used to garner ratings? Or is it quite natural to networks to secure programming that viewers are interested in?

[Madame Noire, The Grio]