“I’m not living my life for Instagram, Facebook, I’m living my life for my family, my kids, and God,” Evelyn Lozada said of her spiritual journey.

On Monday, Evelyn Lozada shared photos of her baptism, highlighting her journey to stay true to who she is and what truly feeds her soul. In a brief interview with Baller Alert, the reality star opened up about her decision to re-dedicate her life to Christ through the religious rite saying it “stems from me feeling like my way wasn’t the right way.”

“Something was missing, it was on my heart, it was on my mind [to get Baptized],” Lozada continued, adding that she was at a time in her life when she just wanted “different results.”

“My soul needed something positive,” she said.

However, this isn’t the first time Lozada embarked on a spiritual journey. In 2013, Lozada dedicated her life to Christ after her marriage to former NFL superstar, Chad Johnson, ended in a domestic violence incident. At that time, Lozada turned to life coach, Tony Gaskins Jr., who encouraged her to get baptized in an attempt to start over.

Now, just nine years later, after a tumultuous season on Basketball Wives, Lozada has, once again, devoted her life to God, and this time, she’s serious about it. In fact, she’s even made a slew of lifestyle changes to reflect her new faith and journey.

“I’m done with premarital sex,” Lozada said, adding that she would like to remain celibate until marriage. She also explained how certain interactions and relationships drained her soul and spirit. “I felt like… [in] those relationships I lost a piece of me, every time I had sex [out of wedlock],” she said, adding that it’s not hard to do, since she abstained from sex for a year post-breakup from Carl Crawford.

“Whether they’re interested in me or not with what my journey is, if they’re not with it then I feel like it kinda clears out the BS, so that’s what I want for my life,” Lozada said.

Lozada’s new journey comes on the heels of Kanye West’s recent devotion to Christ, and while many people have condemned the rapper over his rants and outbursts, the reality star said she feels him on a spiritual level.

“You know it’s so crazy,” she said, as she explained that she never knew of Kanye West outside of his sneaker brand and his music. Upon embarking on her own journey, Lozada connected with West’s words. “I think people that don’t understand, say ‘Oh Kanye’s so crazy,’” but, “he makes a lot of sense,” she said. “I’m proud of him and the journey that he’s on. It inspired me; I’m excited for him. I’m rooting for him from the side.”

And although she won’t follow in West’s footsteps to start a church, her journey doesn’t end with her own salvation.

“I feel like I want to be able to be an example,” Lozada said. “I want to be able to speak to young girls from where I came from. I want to be able to inspire other people to, especially young girls, young women, to be able to just really love themselves and really honor themselves. You know your body is a temple,” she said, adding that she recently informed someone that, “Jesus didn’t die on the cross for us to be side chicks.”

“It takes time to get there mentally,” Lozada explained. “I’m not saying I’m perfect because trust me; I’m not. I’m still working on cursing and stuff like that, which has been a way of life for many years. But you know, just really wanting to inspire the youth and young girls.”

As the interview continued, Lozada also opened up about her time Basketball Wives, and how this season erupted in a blow-up about colorism.

“There’s things that happen on Basketball Wives that obviously, I’m only in control of myself and how I respond to somebody saying certain things to me,” Lozada said. “I’m going to keep it all the way one hundred when I was in Miami; I didn’t care. I did crazy stuff, I said crazy things, and I moved on with my life, and I didn’t have a conscience about it. But even with filming last season, you walk away, and I process things. I think about things, and I’m like ‘oh my gosh, maybe that wasn’t the right way to handle that situation.’ Or ‘What is my daughter going to think when she sees this.’ I always know that I need to do better.

“Even though I know this, when you’re in those situations, it’s really, really difficult,” she continued. “Because you never know what is going to happen. Even coming back to the show, I wanted to always do better. I always come in every season like, ‘I’m cool,’ because even at the end of the day, I don’t have to have one argument, and I’ll still stay on ‘Basketball Wives.’ I feel like you have those OG cast members (the old crew) that have paid their dues to be able to do that, but at the same time, it’s difficult because we’re dealing with six months, filming. Every day there’s something going on,” she said.

“As a woman, a mother, somebody that’s trying to accomplish things at life, I know I have to do better with how I respond to certain situations,” Lozada said. “This season whenever we start filming, whenever that is, it’s supposed to be at the top of the year. It’s going to be the real true facts because me getting baptized and really wanting to do it for God in the right way, it’s going to be not easy. But I’m determined to pass the test.”

While on this new journey, Lozada is aware that she’ll have a slew of naysayers who doubt the authenticity of her journey. But, she says, “People are going to have an opinion on your life,” adding that she wouldn’t be where she is in life if she was ever worried about the naysayers.

“Everyone’s going to have an opinion and say negative things, and that’s fine,” Lozada said. “I just feel like all I can do is really just do the best I can and stay focused on what I’m trying to accomplish and do with my life.”

“No matter what we do, somebody’s going to have an opinion,” Lozada added. “I’m not living my life for Instagram, Facebook, I’m living my life for my family, my kids, and God and the few friends that I genuinely have, and that’s just really it.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

This journey though personal is also about staying true to who I am, who HE is and what truly feeds my soul ❤️??

A post shared by Evelyn Lozada (@evelynlozada) on Nov 18, 2019 at 11:07am PST

Lozada’s most recent request for a restraining order against Chijindu has been denied by a judge who said the matter is more appropriately handled through the lawsuit for defamation she has already filed.

Evelyn sat down with Bossip to discuss the misconceptions fans have about her after this most recent season of VH1’s BBWLA. People think she’s a “bully” and Lozada said she has realized that her “outspokenness could be misconstrued for something that it’s really not.”

And that’s something she willing to work on telling the website, “I’ve thought long and hard about this and concluded that there is a difference in how my directness and candor is received by those I personally know and those I don’t. I will do better…”

But what Evelyn does want to make perfectly clear to her fans and critics alike is that she is not a racist.

“With respect to the question around racism, nothing could be further from the truth. For anyone to call me a racist or a bigot against my own people is simply bananas and misinformed. 90% of the people I work with are people of color, and 98% are women. And the same numbers, if not higher, apply to my personal businesses. Besides, last time I looked in the mirror, I was a woman of color–who has to, more often than not, navigate through unchartered “real life” discrimination. Addressing false claims about racism and bigotry seems to be a waste of valuable time.”

Instead, Lozada wants to focus on her businesses, including  a romance novel “The Perfect Date,” which hit bookstores in June, the release of her CBD Skincare Line “BX Glow Skincare” and her Evelyn Lozada Foundation (ELF), which works to transform society’s response to domestic violence and the overall empowerment of women and children.

Lozada said she’d welcome any invitation to return to BBWLA Season 9 and that she thinks any possible resolution to her ongoing drama with OG is a question best left for OG to answer.

“I treat people how I want to be treated, and I will react if I’m being treated badly—I’m human. What I will never do is cry wolf, act like a victim, or manufacture a storyline to remain relevant.”

The feud between VH1’s ’Basketball Wives’ stars Evelyn Lozada and OG Chijindu just keeps going on and on, as Lozada has just gone to court requesting a restraining order against Chijindu.

According to TMZ, Evelyn (who has had a history of violent outbursts on the show) filed legal docs asking for OG to stay away from her in light of all their beef over the past few months. 

While a judge has yet to rule on Evelyn’s request for a restraining order, this is just the latest episode in an ongoing battle now that the season has wrapped.

Just days ago, Lozada sued OG for defamation and infliction of emotional distress, claiming OG called her “a racist bigot” on social media, and it caused her to miss out on several endorsement deals.

The drama started on September 11th, when Evelyn posted a picture of a laughing orangutan on her IG story with a caption saying, “Nobody watches you harder than the people that can’t stand you.”

OG must’ve been watching and allegedly took offense to the post and responded with a post that read, “Wow, so now black women are monkeys. Everyone boycott this trash box you are disgusting.” OG never mentioned Evelyn by name, but apparently, for Evelyn, it was clear who she was referring to.

Throughout the season, the ladies shared their individual issues with OG, including her arrogance, aggression, and nosiness, but by the end, the former football player was isolated and branded as the aggressive castmate. However, as the incident unfolded on television, fans came to OG’s defense after she called out the cast and crew for their hypocritical behavior. 

For OG, the fact that she hadn’t laid a hand on any of the castmates, while Evelyn Lozada had a history of violent behavior, including, but not limited to, throwing bottles and drinks, was hypocritical. OG also highlighted Malaysia’s behavior after she threw a table at Jennifer Williams last year, questioning why she hadn’t been labeled aggressive. 

But apparently, according to sources behind the scenes, OG’s aggression extended far behind the television screen. In fact, “The whole thing about OG being aggressive actually started BEHIND the camera,” a source told @bossipofficial. “She’s been harassing Viacom executives behind the scenes as well as execs in the production of offices.”

“During the season, she was constantly cussing out crew members for the most trivial things like cords being on the floor and in the way of her walking,” the source continued. “Or not having her water on room temperature.” 

“She was telling crew members and show execs that she would like to be addressed as Princess because she’s better than everyone,” the source told Bossip. “The aggressive thing didn’t come from nowhere. She caused a huge scene after cussing out TSA at the airport on the way to Costa Rica. THEN she got into a full-blown argument with someone on the plane over a window seat. The aggression storyline stems from a lot of off-camera issues that ended up spilling over onto television.”

Despite the ongoing drama, OG had not been fired from the show. In fact, Shaunie recently revealed that on an Instagram Live, but the source confirmed to Bossip. “There was a time Shaunie personally pulled OG to the side to let her know she appreciated her. She told her she was doing a good job of keeping the dialogue going among the cast for content.”

But, apparently, other castmates weren’t as inviting. 

“She’s told a couple of cast members that she worked really hard to get on “Basketball Wives” and everybody will know her name now that she’s made it,” the source said, adding that “She conjured up this colorist story to get the fan base’s attention.” 

 “She’s been overheard saying that society is extremely sensitive to racism and colorism right now and that’s the narrative she wants to use, so the world knows her name. This is why no one else from the cast has joined her with these allegations because everyone knows it’s not to be true,” the source continued. 

If that wasn’t enough, the source even detailed the drama over the separate set, which was shown in the preview for the reunion. 

“Tami Roman requested to film from another location because she didn’t want to be on set with Evelyn,” the insider told BOSSIP. “So it was put in the budget for production to have two sets. Since there was money being spent on two sets, they wanted to utilize the space where it made sense, so they were going to have Tami, CeCe, OG, and were considering Jackie as well, on one set, then everyone else on the other. It was kind of up in the air until everyone got to the studio that day. Evelyn had also requested not to be on the same set as OG, so it just made sense to put Tami and OG together.”

But when Tami didn’t show up, “Production decided to still have OG, CeCe and possibly Jackie on one set and everyone else on the other,” the source explained. “It was never the plan to have OG sit alone, it strictly was done that way trying to keep everybody happy in terms of Tami not wanting to film on the same stage as Evelyn and Evelyn not wanting to film on the same stage as OG.”

“Nothing was strategically planned around OG,” the source said.

In new documents obtained by The Blast, Barnes says since his custody of his children has increased to full custody, amid his ongoing dispute with Govan, he believes his support payments should be lowered as well. 

Barnes says he’s currently paying $20,000 a month and is covering the cost of the boys’ private school tuition. 

Although Barnes hasn’t played in the NBA since 2017, he’s still making about $161,000 a month from his last NBA contract, but he says Govan hasn’t worked since her appearance on “Basketball Wives” in 2011. As a result, he’s asking a judge to determine what Govan could be making if she gets a job and factor that into his decrease. 

The two are set to meet in court next week.

Relationships may end, but the diamonds last forever. At least that’s what Evelyn Lozada seems to think about the 14.5 carat diamond ring that she’s refusing to give back to her ex-fiancée, Carl Crawford.

The ex-MLB superstar proposed to Lozada back in 2013, but three weeks ago, when the two were expected to tie the knot, Lozada called it quits after becoming suspicious about Crawford’s fidelity.

Legally speaking, Lozada is supposed to give the ring back, since engagement rings are deemed as conditional gifts in the state of California.

However, Lozada has no intentions on giving the ring back and doesn’t believe that Crawford will put up much of a fight about it.

If you’ve been an avid viewer of Basketball Wives LA, you may remember Takari, Jackie Christie’s older daughter from a previous relationship. Takari and Jackie have a very strained relationship. In earlier seasons, Takari opened up about feeling slighted by Jackie because she was the dark skinned, heavier daughter. Over the years, Jackie would showcase her younger daughter, Chantel, while we never really knew what happened with Takari.  When Takari’s grandmother, Jackie’s mother, passed away, Takari took it exceptionally hard because they were very close. Now Takari is having troubles of her own and with lack of support from her mother, many are giving Jackie the side eye.

Last month, Takari’s 8 month old son Jaxon, was involved in an accident at daycare that left him with burns on his face and body. Jaxon needed round the clock care and had to be transported to the hospital’s burn unit at least once a week. A page was started to accept donations for baby Jaxon’s transportation, bills and groceries. The page requested $3,000, and in just 25 days, has reached 4x their goal.

Of the donors were Basketball Wives star Evelyn Lozada and Sacramento Kings SF Matt Barnes, who both gave $3,500 each.  Jaxon’s grandmother, Jackie Christie, has seemingly been quiet throughout the entire ordeal.

Jackie admittedly has not supported Jaxon’s cause financially, but says she would have paid the $3,000 if Takari would have asked. Jackie says she’s given Takari a ton of money over the years and she should be more than able to cover a $3,000 bill. In fact, Jackie says it is Takari that shut HER out of her life.

In the mean time, Jackie is calling the allegations that she’s a bad grandmother “propaganda” and “slander.”

“Guess it’s my hell week funny how anything viewed as positive can so quickly be tarnished by lies & propaganda but hey we all know #slander,” she tweeted, also saying that she was going to get the authorities involved. She also called her daughter’s allegations “black mail, extortion and manipulation of truths.”

I don’t know about this one, Jackie. The GoFundMe has been up for nearly a month. Regardless of whether or not you two are beefing, or who shut who out of the other’s life, this is your grandchild. This is an innocent baby who is severely injured. It would have took absolutely nothing at all to donate the $3,000 like Evelyn and Matt did. You wouldn’t even have to talk to Takari again after that.

Let’s all do what’s right for the babies.