Melissa is calling in reinforcements when it comes to Louie’s mom Donna. In a PopCulture.com exclusive sneak peek of Friday’s new Love During Lockup, Melissa’s father steps in after Donna tells her she won’t be bringing her along to Louie’s prison release.
“I need you to support me. I need you to understand and be on my side,” Melissa tells her dad, who assures his daughter he will always be there for her. “I’m happy that you’re gonna be on my side because I’m gonna need a lot more support if you meet Louie’s mom one day,” she continues, “because basically, she’s like the female version of you. What do I do with a woman like this? What do I do with this controlling, Italian, maybe one-day mother-in-law that doesn’t want to let her son go? What do I do?”
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Melissa’s dad encourages her to call up Donna to talk about their issues outright, but things don’t go as planned when Donna reveals she doesn’t want her to go to Louie’s prison release after all. “I’ve been thinking about that, and I’ve been taking care of this kid for the last 10 years by myself, so no I decided not to take you with me,” Donna explains bluntly, adding that she’s “sorry” if Louie ends up being disappointed when Melissa isn’t there.
It’s then that Melissa’s dad pipes up, revealing he’s been listening to the conversation on speakerphone and thinks that his daughter should be allowed to go. “Who the hell are you?” Donna asks incredulously, to which he responds, “I’m Melissa’s dad, that’s who the hell I am.”
Before things escalate further, Melissa says she was just telling her father how excited she was to go and see Louie, but Donna isn’t moved. “Do I know that you’re playing my son for a fool? No, I don’t,” she tells Melissa, who insists, “I hope that I can prove to you that I’m not, ’cause I’m not. I just have the best intentions for Louie.” Donna isn’t a fan of Melissa’s influence on her son, however, especially now that he has plans to move to New Jersey to be with her after being released from his Georgia prison cell.
“I lost 10 years of my son’s life. And now he’s just gonna take off,” Donna tells Melissa, who assures her it isn’t her “intention” to take Louie away from his family. “But that’s what you’re doing,” Donna reminds her. As the conversation grows more contentious, Melissa tells the camera, “I don’t want her to think that I’m stepping on her toes, I wanna try and win her over and be sweet, but she makes it very difficult.” The Love During Lockup season finale airs Friday, Dec. 9 at 9 p.m. ET on WE tv. A brand new season of Love After Lockup premieres next Friday, Dec. 16 in the same time slot on the network.
