CYInterview EXCLUSIVE: TLC’s Chilli: “I’ve Never Been Married!”
Smoldering singer/performer, sexy, hot-bodied Chilli, one third of America’s top selling female group of all time, TLC, opened up to Chris Yandek of CYInterview.com in an exclusive interview telling him, “I’ve never been married!”
Chilli confides that there is some wrong information out claiming she had been married to Dallas Austin – her son’s father – and that they subsequently divorced. She wants to clear things up and let the world know she has never been married.
Back from a successful Japanese tour with group-mate T-Boz, Chilli sets the record straight on not being married, talks about TLC, life after Lisa Lopes, the future and more.
Listen to the Exclusive CYInterview with Chilli:
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Chris Yandek: Before we get into your big news, statement that you’re gonna make first here at CYInterview.com, why don’t you tell me about the latest stuff you did in Japan and what’s new in the world of Chilli?
Chilli: “Well, T-Boz and I was in Tokyo and Osaka touring and we had an amazing time in Japan, but I am very happy to be back in the United States.”
CY: Getting down to business, you would like to set something for the record – for the first time ever here – exclusively with yours truly so why don’t you tell me what’s going on and what you’d like to set the record straight on?
CH: “Well, I would like to set the record straight by saying that there’s some wrong information out there, that you know, Dallas Austin, with whom I have a son with, and I were married and divorced and I want to clear that up. We were never married. I’ve never been married in my life. We were not engaged, nothing like that. We were in a relationship, but never married or anything like that, never.
So I definitely want to clear that up because that’s, marriage is a big thing. Marriage, a divorce, all that stuff is major and to kind of get something like that wrong about someone is like serious, so I felt like that’s definitely something that you know I want to clear up because it’s not true.”
CY: Well, the question is you had a VH1 dating show, obviously, What Chilli Wants. My question is when those producers came to you, and you did their show, they never asked you if you were married? They never vetted you on any of that? Never wanting any background information regarding your personal life? It was a personal show.
CH: “Well, with my show of course, my producers that I worked with Freemantle and all that, everybody to my knowledge I assumed that everyone has known that I’ve never been married because otherwise I would‘ve talked about it. I definitely would’ve said that. You would’ve known if I had been married at any point in my life, you know. That’s not something that I would’ve ever kept a secret. Not me, personally, you know.
To each his own, but I wouldn’t have done anything like that so I was just surprised when that part came out on the Behind The Music. I was like whoa, whoa, wait a minute, I’ve never been married before and how’d they get that information? Where’d they get it from? So they’re fixing it is what I’m told to take that out and been very apologetic and all that stuff, so you know, but I wanted to just clear it up myself and let people hear from me that you know it’s definitely not true.”
CY: Well, this is what I love doing, is getting people to set the record straight in their full context and their full entirety through a full quote. But the question I have to ask you, disappointed? This information in society, the Internet, all this stuff? It seems like half-truths are now printed as facts, disappointed?
CH: “You said am I disappointed?”
CY: Yeah. Sure.
CH: “Oh, well, yeah, absolutely. You know, it’s funny you know every now and then you go through something like that and that’s why for me I don’t like doing interviews sometimes because you’re just really hoping when it comes out and you read it you know everything that you said is in there you know and a lot of times people kind of getting a little tricky with your words and stuff like that, and I don’t like stuff like that because you know if it’s what I said and that’s what and if I’m doing an interview and I’m talking to fans and people are getting to know me through an interview then it should be everything that I say about myself.”
CY: Yeah. Definitely. What are the plans for the second season of the VH1 show? I know that you probably can’t tell me anything big at this point, but what are the plans. I’ve heard that are plans at least for the second season. Am I correct on that?
CH: “Yes. Yes you are. We’re actually, I start shooting in September and I’m so excited about that and I’m really, really, really excited about the second season. I can’t tell you too much. You and I should, we’ll definitely talk again later, but…”
CY: Yeah. Sure.
CH: “Very excited about it. I’m just looking forward to it. The very first time that I did this show you know I was very nervous because people thought that it was gonna be your typical find love kind of show where I’m in a house with a whole bunch of guys and all that kind of stuff. You know once people were able to see my show and that it was very different in that area then I’m comfortable now because people really enjoy the show and I think that I speak up for so many women, strong independent women that’s looking for an amazing guy, which is really hard to find.”
CY: What’s it like being a famous single mother that you know you go out and maybe date normal men and maybe they say, “What can I offer her?” What is that like? Is that tough?
CH: “Yeah. I mean it can just be tough either way, but to me I look at it like this you know, I feel like a lot of people will say you know, oh you just need to date a regular guy. I’m like, what’s a regular guy? All guys can be regular to me. It’s your personality and extraordinary things about you that makes you different and special no matter what you do for a living. But I think that when you do date someone, no matter what business that you’re in that it kind of comes from a similar career background it’s a lot easier because you understand what the other does.”
CY: Yeah.
CH: “I think that you know when you talk about dating a doctor you know, he’s probably not gonna be home all the time so you know if he dated someone that was in that field, not necessarily another doctor, but just someone that really understood those hours and stuff like that and how, you know, just strenuous it can be it just makes the relationship a lot better because you know you don’t have a person complaining all the time saying, ‘Well, why do you have to be gone all the time?’ You know that kind of thing.”
CY: Yeah. Definitely. Ok, so what in the future can we expect from you professionally and from the music game? What can we look from you, professionally in the future besides you know whatever is going on with you and Tionne, for TLC obviously. What else is going on with you besides that and of course the VH1 show?
CH: “Well, yeah. Well, obviously the VH1 show and T-Boz and I, you know we got such great reviews and responses you know when we were in Japan. We’ve already gotten more offers to come back over there to do more shows and stuff like that so we are currently in discussions for that and just touring. Like, we love to tour. We’re talking about possibly doing some new songs. We had the pleasure of when were in rehearsals being right next door to B.o.B and which I’m a huge fan of his because he’s just, you know, he’s really very creative and I’m most impressed with artists that think outside of the box.”
CY: Yeah.
CH: “And oh yeah. Because you know it just shows the more creative side. That’s where I come from. So, so I’m really impressed with him and how he works and what he talks about which is just so great and refreshing to see in the music industry these days and so we might be doing some really good stuff with B.o.B so I’m looking forward to that.”
CY: Question being told, TLC, still the biggest selling female group of all time in the USA correct as of this moment?
CH: “Correct. That’s it. (Laughs)”
CY: So now looking back on that and where you are today in your life, what goes through your mind about those earlier times in your time?
CH: “Well, (Laughs) I’m so thankful that the media is (Laughs) the way it is now and you have Twitter and all these, just these different media outlets and stuff like that and blogs. Oh my gosh, you know I love my sister Lisa. All day long I miss her with all of my heart, but I’m telling you I’m so glad when you know we first came out that the media was just not that whole crazy thing like it is today because we would live in the magazines. They always have something to say, definitely about her for sure. (Laughs)”
CY: Yeah. Yeah.
CH: “Oh my gosh, it would just be out of control. I know it so I’m real happy about that part, but it’s funny because when we perform, I always miss Lisa, but I really miss her when we’re on stage you know and it’s funny because I can kind of keep myself numb about it when I don’t look at the screen cause we always have like, you know, big screens on the stage so that when her rap comes in we show her.
We show live video footage and stuff like that and the audience just loves it, but T-Boz and I can never look at it because it’ll get us all chocked up. So when we were talking about her to the fans you know, I just broke down a few times like, oh my God, and I could feel it coming and I’m trying to fight it, but it’s just amazing that when I’m on stage like that, like how, then I’m just like oh my God, I miss her so much and it just Woooo, it really fills me up.”
CY: Yeah. Definitely. And I have to say on that before we move on to a few more subjects, you know, toughest thing of your life, Lisa passing away? I mean that was just something people, the only one I can think of from the R&B world that compares to Lisa obviously is Aaliyah you know and those are the ones. Those are the two right there that everyone thinks of that it’s so tragic and so ridiculous, but toughest thing of your life, going through?
CH: “Besides losing my sister.”
CY: Yeah. Sure.
CH: “Hmm, honestly, it was bad because I had, it was just a really hard thing. It’s just something that you don’t expect. You know we’re thinking because we’re young that we’re gonna live forever and that’s how you think when you’re young like that you know. You’re just, tomorrow is never promised and you hear people say that, but you just, you always think oh, that doesn’t apply to me, but it applies to all of us. We don’t know if we’ll be around, you know, two hours later.”
CY: Yeah.
CH: “So it just the way it happened and then for me, she and I had been playing phone tag because we were supposed to get together and just talk. It was funny because that last album almost did not happen because everybody was kind of doing their own thing and I remember going to L.A. Reid. I called him actually and I said, ‘You know what?’ I said, ‘We gotta do another album. We’re not supposed to be doing all this solo stuff and that’s cool and all, but you know, I just think that we should do another album.’
And he reached out to Lisa and then we all talked about it and she was happy to do it, which I was very happy. We were in the studio and it just felt like old times and that was just such great memories. So when I think back I’m like, wow, you know had that not happened and she still passed away, I think it would’ve been a lot more tough because I think we would’ve felt like man, we were just so disconnected at the time, but we weren’t and I’m very happy about that.”
CY: So before we end this interview I’d like to ask you since you’re setting the record straight obviously on what happened on the VH1 thing, anything else you’d like to set the record straight on that you’ve never talked about and anything else that you’d like to share with the world that you’ve never shared before? I mean this is your chance.
CH: “Um, no. (Laughs).”
CY: Ok. Ok.
CH: “Nope. Not that I can think of, but you know just that major part there of me being married and divorced and all that stuff.”
CY: Never married. Ok. So the question being told in closing with you is, when it’s all said and done, what’s important to you – right now to you – and your future and as you and Tionne continue to perform with TLC, I mean, how do you guys want to be remembered? I mean when you guys decide that you don’t want to do music anymore. How do you guys want to be remembered you know?
CH: “Definitely want to be remembered as the group that changed lives with our lyrics and you know how we carry ourselves and the things that we believed in and how we stood up for you know women and just getting out positive messages to young girls and stuff like that. So just always helping and the fact that we made a difference in so many people’s lives and that would be enough for me because I just feel like when God gives you out those gifts and talents and stuff like that, you’re always supposed to give back. Some kind of way you’re supposed to give back. We are all supposed to do that and when people can come up to you and say thank you for giving them something then you’ve done a good job.”
CY: So for the record in closing, Chilli thank you so much for your time today. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to break this for you to tell the world that this woman has never been married ladies and gentleman.
CH: “No. (Laughs)”
CY: This woman has never been married ladies and gentleman. And you know maybe in the future she’ll get married, but that is to be determined at a later date obviously, but thank you so much again. Hang on with me and Jay obviously. This is Chris Yandek. Again, wish you the best in the future.
CH: “Thank you so much.”
Chilli’s official twitter page is at http://www.twitter.com/officialchilli
You can find more information about Chilli’s line of bags called Bags By Chilli at http://bagsbychilli.com/
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