Trina Braxton Opens up About Explosive Season of ‘The Braxtons’ (Exclusive)

Toni, Towanda, Trina, Tamar and Ms. Evelyn are back. Season 2 of The Braxtons returns to We tv on October 10, and the sisters’ relationships are more fractured than ever.

The family reunites with hopes of healing after tragedy, but life throws more curveballs than ever before. Towanda dives into planning but not even a joyous event can keep the family unified. One emotional confrontation threatens to divide them for good. 

Ever the sister who is a fan of trying to keep the peace, Trina stands her ground this season after an explosive moment turns physical, and she has to decide on her terms how to move forward. Despite the hiccups, family is priority for her. She’s grappling with health issues in her marriage while also continuing to expand her business acumen. PopCulture spoke with Trina about all to expect this season and if healing can happen in front of the camera.

I think as a collective as fans, as much as we love you guys, we are frustrated, but I can only imagine as a sister, how you feel. Now let’s just jump right into it. So this season we are joined by your niece, Ashlee, and you made it clear that you had no desire to speak about certain issues on camera or publicly. At this present moment, would you say you’ve come to terms with how everything transpired or do you feel like there still needs to be a lot of work done within the collective?

I do believe that there’s a lot of work that needs to be done as far as the collective is concerned. I think that everything, even though we’re on a reality show, and we believe in being transparent, because you can only get a message through if you can reach a resolve and that can’t happen when turmoil is happening. I don’t think everything is for public consumption. I think that prior to that happening, we need to come together as a family to try to reach resolve, and then we can do a podcast or whatever the case or whatever platform you’d like to use, but I think a family needs to reach resolve. Because if you haven’t reached that before you go out to the masses, then it builds on that pot, and then the kettle starts to boil and then lets you know you get that loud whistling and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, what does that sound?’ It’s hurt still coming out. So you just have to really be careful and I think we need to be really careful on what we decide to put on a platform before we ourselves reach a resolve.

Now there are a lot of tense moments this season. One of the moments is probably one of the worst that we’ve seen between the sisters, and for the most part, you were quiet and you chose not to engage. I was so proud of you. I don’t know how you held your composure. What were you thinking during that moment?

Well, in that moment, I’m thinking we are family first and this is not what we do. This is not what we were taught and sometimes it’s better to be a listening ear than an open mouth because in the heat of the moment, there’s certain things you can’t take back because words are like weapons and they wound sometimes. So, I like to be really cognizant of the things that I say and do and process them properly first. It’s like, ‘OK, did I hear what I just heard?’ And so I ask first? And I ask whoever to repeat it to make sure there’s no misunderstanding before I decide to have a reply.

Now, the show has been a staple in, in the culture, specifically in Black households. We love the impromptu songs, the random talent shows you guys will put on. It’s been a time, but as I mentioned earlier, as a fan, some of us feel like the glory days of the show may be over, and that makes us sad because of such tension that’s been going on. Do you think that it’s time to turn the cameras off for good, or do you think that there’s still more to showcase?

I think there’s still more to showcase. You guys have to realize and understand this: you guys are accustomed to seeing Braxton Family Values with 26 episodes per season. So we are slimmed down to 8, so you’re not gonna get everything in a condensed moment like this. Maybe if we get longer episodes, you guys will be able to see more of the fun. You get to see more of the breakout of laughter and jokes and singing, but right now, especially with a very, very huge element missing, I think not just the network but we as a family had to see how is this gonna work without that very special element, which is my sister Traci missing. So it’s like, do those harmonies still sound the same with us? Do they feel the same with us because we are going through this out loud just like you guys are watching.

Now, in the past few seasons, it seems as though baby sister Tamar has seemingly been a little bit more estranged from the sister collective. Obviously, fans are going to be shocked to see where things go, especially between the two of you because you guys have always been super close. You’ve been very supportive and loyal as far as what we can see to Tamar. Were you hopeful throughout the rest of filming after that happened that you guys would be able to turn things around? Or as you mentioned, did you think that sometimes things just go too far and you really need an indefinite pause?

With family, I’m gonna say this, or with any other relationship that you develop, because for some people they don’t necessarily have family and the people that they choose to be their families are the ones that they consider, ‘Oh that’s my sister or that’s my brother’ without even the bloodline. But I’m saying this to say that with any relationship, you’re gonna have some kind of tense conversation, and things happen, and as long as you have time, then there’s a moment to mend. It doesn’t happen right away. Sometimes you have to separate yourself just for a moment to reflect back on, ‘OK, what was said, what was done? This hurt my feelings.’ And be able to talk about it as opposed to scooping it under the rug and then saying, ‘Well, next time I see this person, we’ll just have that conversation.’ No, it’s not that at all.’

And it’s just the same with us as sisters. And I’m not saying that you have to love that person from afar, definitely not saying that, but you have to love them in the way they want to be loved. And that’s what you have to ask them, ‘What do you need from me? And what does that look like for our relationship?’

And finally, I love that, outside of the sisters, you’ve always done your own thing. When everyone else was doing R&B, you wanted to do pop. When everyone else was doing talk shows and Broadway shows, you opened Bar Chix. And now you’re getting into some other streams of income. So talk to us a little bit about what we can expect to see from your personal storyline and what you have going on.

Oh wow, you all know I am a serial entrepreneur and so I will never stop. But right now, I am a realtor with Keller Williams in Atlanta and I am also in culinary school. We all know I love cooking and I love just everything hospitality because that goes into the vein of Bar Chix. And ever since I opened it, and it was open for 5 years, so I’m really, really blessed to be a person who had a 5-year restaurant, being a newbie. But you know, COVID just kinda messed up everybody’s everything. But I definitely plan to, especially after getting my chef’s degree, because I’m getting an AA in culinary arts, and I’m excited about that venture. And have you ever watched my cooking channel?

Yes, with you and [your husband] Von.

Yes, with Von and I. It’s such a hoot.  We have such a great time, but we’re always doing that next thing. So we’re always very, very excited. But if you need me to sell your house, I will.

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