Toni, Towanda, Trina, Tamar and Ms. E are back!
After a three-year hiatus, the Braxton women are gracing our screens again with The Braxtons, this time without the beloved Traci.
Fans were shocked when the family announced in 2022 that Traci died after a private battle with esophageal cancer. After Braxton Family Values, Tamar vowed never to participate in reality television again, citing years of discontent with We TV, contract negotiations and false representation of herself. But she’s back, and they all agreed to another series for Traci’s sake. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The first two episodes of The Braxtons show a major disconnect between Towanda and Tamar. Braxton Family Values fans watched the two have a rollercoaster relationship for years. Now, it seems they’re even more distant than ever before. When Blavity asked Towanda about the root of her issue with her baby sister, she didn’t give a specific answer.
Towanda on issues between her and Tamar
“I don’t know. I can’t say specifically,” Towanda said. “What I can say is that my boundary is that I give people grace.However, I meet people where they are.”
While Towanda and Tamar struggle in their sisterhood, we see more of Traci’s only child, her son Kevin Jr., this season. He’s dealing with a double whammy as he grieves his mother and goes through a divorce. Towanda, Kevin Jr.’s godmother, has taken on a surrogate mother role. And while she can’t take Traci’s place, she’s happy to be a supportive figure in Kevin Jr.’s life.
“Even prior to Traci transitioning, I’ve always been an intricate part of Kevin’s life,” she asserted. “I just know that I will never be able to fill that void, and it’s still fresh and new for him. So I’m just going to be the anchor that he needs at this point in his life.”
Many fans have spoken on social media about the family seeming to be sometimes divided after a great loss. disappointed that even after such a great loss, the family sometimes seems divided.
‘We mainly did this for Traci and her legacy.’
“While we did this for our fans, we mainly did this for Traci and her legacy. We did this because Traci asked us to do it, and because everyone doesn’t know those dynamics, they will figure it out later on throughout the season,” Trina explained. “I think that it’s unfair for them fans to make comments before it’s time. And also, I think it’s important that people comment responsibly because you don’t know where people are in the process of their grief. I tend to ignore the negative things.”
Each sister is at a different stage: Trina is approaching five years in her marriage to Von Scales. Toni’s career remains on fire despite scary health challenges. Tamar and Ms. E have teamed up for a cooking show. Towanda is focused on her engagement with Sean Hall. She also opened up about her hairless crown, admitting that she’d dealt with alopecia for years but initially cut her hair in solidarity with Traci’s cancer battle. Because of Traci’s response to her new ‘do, she kept it in her honor.
“The reservation [to open up about alopecia] is because a lot of us, as African American women, we walk in shame when it comes to our hair. If our hair isn’t right, we don’t feel right,” she shared. “I just did not want to walk in shame. And I wanted all the other individuals who are walking the same journey of having alopecia to say, ‘It’s OK. My hair does not define who I am. And even though I don’t have any hair, it doesn’t cut the strength of who I am.’”
Episodes of The Braxtons air every Friday on We TV at 9 p.m. ET and can be streamed on ALLBLK.
