After years of marriage to R&B sensation R. Kelly, Andrea Kelly is new to the single life. Looking for love, and not from a “journal man,” this reality star is ready for a man who’s well over six feet and strong enough to handle her lifestyle. From the men she’s met on TV to the men she’s met off camera, here’s a chance to meet the woman behind the house that Kells built. So men, pay attention!
Not keen on always being questioned about her ex-husband, the Chicago-bred professional dancer opened up to EBONY.com to show that there is life away superstardom—even when that star is R. Kelly.
EBONY: Let’s get right into it! Are you still dating the man you met on Hollywood Exes, or have you moved on?
Andrea Kelly: Girl, Percy! Uh-uh. No ma’am! That was so 2011. Me and him [are like] oil and water. Good guy, but not the right guy for me. I’m still trying to get this dating thing right. I’m like, ‘How does this work? Am I supposed to call him or is he supposed to call me?’ You know, I’m single, [and] I do want to be married again. I haven’t been jaded by divorce. I want to have more kids even though everybody’s like, 'Giiirrrlll no!'
EBONY: So do you think you’ll ever try to marry back into the industry or will you go for a nine-to-five type of guy?
AK: I tried to date the regular man, [but in] this world it’s like, ‘Okay, so you’re leaving when, and you’re gonna be gone how long? But you just got back.’ It takes a special bond and relationship to understand what this world is like, and to not be threatened by it. So when you have a counterpart that’s [in the industry] and that’s their life, they get it. He don’t have to be a trillionaire; he don’t have to be a zillionaire; [but] can he be a ‘brokenaire?' No ma’am.
EBONY: Aside from his industry and bank account, what are you looking for in a man?
AK: At the end of the day I don’t want a journal man. Don’t come to me with a journal full of hopes and dreams and what I might do and back in high school I won this trip. Boo, no! I got this chance to live my life over so I want to live it to the fullest. He better be a full grown man: coins right, mindset right and fear God. I don’t want a man that loves God, they’re plenty of men that love God and foul every day, [but] a man that fears God [is] gonna make sure he takes care of home because he’s concerned about what God feels about that. If he fears God, his heart trembles when he thinks he’s doing wrong.
EBONY: For any man that’s looking to be the next Mr. Right, what are you looking for physically?
AK: I’m 5’3”, so if he’s about 6’5” – 6’6” [with a] nice build, gentle eyes, a good smile and just makes me laugh ’cause I am so silly. I just need somebody that does not take life so serious and that can laugh.
EBONY: Okay. So a lot of people have gotten to know you through your VH1 series. Will there be a second season?
AK: Yes, we got a second season! We start filming soon, so I’m really proud. I’m just like, ‘Whew, people got it,’ ’cause that was a gamble. There’s so much craziness out there, and here we [came]with the polar opposite. But to know that people were happy with the content; they were happy with the cast; and what we put out there, I was like, ‘Oh, thank you!’
EBONY: It seems like people really loved the show because it was real. All of you really are Hollywood exes—
AK: It was. It wasn’t life is so great, my red bottoms and my—girl I could care less about these red bottoms. It was okay for us to be vulnerable, and to show other women ‘I can’t do this alone. I need my sisters. I need somebody to say, ‘You know what, I got you. Be weak right now and let me be strong for you.’ That’s what our show was about. I loved doing our show and my cast mates. It’s just…a breath of fresh air to know we are putting out something that is really needed. The other shows are what they are but we get to show that other side of the coin.
EBONY: Speaking of loving your cast mates, you and Mayte (Garcia; ex-wife of Prince) had a BFF romance going on. On one episode you said, “I’m not no lesbian, but I love that girl.”
AK: That’s my heart right there just because our lives are so parallel. We both started out as dancers and being their choreographers—our ex husbands R. Kelly and Prince—and then you go to fiancé. And it’s like, ‘Okay, I’m not just his dancer, I’m his fiancé now.’ Then you become his wife, and then you start having kids, and it’s just like I never thought I would meet anybody in the world who’s life would mirror mine. When we found each other it was like The Color Purple.
EBONY: In addition to the show, you have your first book coming out. People are looking at is as another tell-all.
AK: It’s called Under the Red Carpet, and it’s about my life as R. Kelly’s wife. Everyone thinks it’s a tell-book, like girl she’s about to throw him under the bus, [but] nope! It’s really a self-help book for women about staying true to you and don’t get lost because that’s a big shadow when you have such a famous ex-husband. The image [gets] so distorted that you don’t even know who you’re looking at. If I can walk away from R. Kelly, and the world says I have everything, you can walk away from a man that does not have a job, does not support his children, he is not bringing money back into the household, he’s not protecting and caring for you. If I can walk away from this, surely you can walk away from that for yourself. But if you don’t have the strength [to walk away], let me show you how I did it, and not [by] giving you a book that’s full of BS, glitter and unicorns.
