Shereé Whitfield On Joining The ‘Glamma’ Club, Dating Martell Holt And The Secret To Staying Fine At 53

It’s a new month and with it comes a new season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Season 15 reacquaints us with Atlanta’s peach holders, including OG Shereé Whitfield. After a season that started with her ending a long-term relationship in the public eye, Whitfield wrapped things up triumphantly, finally rolling out her much anticipated She by Shereé brand and going public with dating Love & Marriage Huntsville star Martell Holt. So what will the newest season bring? More She by Shereé, more fun looking for love, and a new addition to her family — a granddaughter. But don’t call her “grandma,” she’s a “glamma” thank you very much.

We caught up with the TV personality about all that and more, including the key to staying stunning as a mother of three adult children (and a “glamma” of one) at 53.

ESSENCE: What can we expect to see from your life in Season 15?

Sheree Whitfield: Well the viewers are going to get to see me kind of date a little bit. I know I’ve talked about my ex in the past, but for the most part you’ve never really seen me with a guy. You just heard us talk on the phone. So you’re going to see me date and kind of enjoying life and just having fun. You’ll also get to see a lot more of my family, which I’m so excited about. I am a new glamma.

Congratulations!

Thank you. And you’ll also get to see [my son] Kairo as a dad. You know, you guys saw Kairo when I think we first got on the show. He was maybe eight or 10 or something like that. And here we are, Kairo’s a dad and he’s a great dad and I’m so proud of him for that. You’ll also see me of course working on She by Shereé. It doesn’t stop because I launched a fashion show, but it’s still so much to be done and me trying to branch out to other areas because I’ve always wanted it to be a lifestyle brand. You’ll see me working on that. You’ll see me just trying to get help because I can’t be a one woman show. It’s been difficult for me, but I never gave up. You’ll also see the dynamics between me and the girls. I may show every emotion, but I think some of the other girls will show so many different emotions. We got your highs, your lows. We’re crying, we’re laughing. It’s just so many different facets to Season 15.

As you mentioned, you’re finally going to have fun dating and we got to see you at the end of last season getting to know Martell Holt. He’s in the trailer for Season 15 as a special presence. So how are things going with that?

I think it’s going great with Martell. We’re really good friends. We enjoy our time when we’re together. He makes me laugh so much and that’s one of the things I really like about him. And I’m just kind of taking everything slow and enjoying life. Did I think at this age I would be out here dating? No, absolutely not. But things happen. I’m never closed off to finding the one or love. And so I’m just on my journey trying to be intentional and just making sure I got the right person.

So the people want to know as a “glamma,” as this fierce, beautiful woman that you are, what’s the tea to staying fine and fabulous in your 50s because the body’s body-ing, the beauty’s beauty-ing. What’s the secret?

Thank you. You know what, I would say one of the things is being stress-free. I do not stress. People may not believe it, but I work well under pressure. I do not stress. And I’ve been like this my entire life. I’m like, I’m not about to get no gray hair. I’m not about to get no wrinkles. If I can’t handle it, I just can’t handle it and stress kills. So it’s about living stress-free. Also, working out. I work out. I try to eat healthy and I try to keep my body together by working out. I love it. I actually like to empower other people to work out as well.

How is it being a “glamma”? You’ve raised your own children and now you’re getting to enjoy a little girl, a little person that you’re going to help build up. And do you want her to call you grandma or you really do want to be called “Glamma”?

No, my name is Glamma. She’s going to call me GG, which stands for Gorgeous Glamma. But when I tell you, first of all, it was a total surprise to me. I didn’t plan on being a Glamma this early. But I’m so, so happy she’s here. I mean, me and my family have always been very close and loving, but she brings another element of love and closeness to my family. She is incredible. I mean, she’s growing so fast and I can’t wait. She’s going to be my little partner. That’s what I’m going to call her. We going to run these streets. I cannot wait. I can’t even explain. People say when you have a grandbaby that it’s even more special than your children. You put a little more into it. And I did not believe that. She can’t do no wrong by me, probably because I get to send her back every now and then. But she can’t do no wrong. She’s amazing. She’s incredible.

I love that. And I meant to ask you, based on what you said about remaining stress-free, how do you keep your peace with these women on the show?

You know what? I think in the beginning I may have had a little more anxiety about it and sometimes I may get a little bit of that, but for the most part I can only do and be who I am. I understand what we’re doing. I understand that sometimes people will try to take you out of your element and sometimes they will take me out of my element, but I learned to fight my battles. Everything doesn’t get a rise out of me. You’re not responsible for my happiness. I am. And you’re not going to cause me stress because at the end of the day, you’re not paying my bills, you’re not doing any of those things for me. So why? I’m not doing it. And just because I raised my voice or I may have fights or disagreements with some of these girls, it’s not affecting my person. It’s just not that deep for me.

So even when you have situations with the girls, it’s easy for you to move forward after the fact?

Depends on who it is and what it is, but I try to be okay and I can move forward with some of the girls. I move forward with quite a few of them. It depends. If it goes too deep, it’s going to take a little longer. But if it’s surface and I’m like, okay, well I never really had a problem with this person, I just didn’t really know this person. We just got off to a rocky or a bad start, then yeah, I’m okay with trying to see if we can form some type of relationship. But if not, I’m okay with that too.

And do you think, you know you kind of got off to a rocky start with Drew [Sidora] last year, but she seems to be going through a lot of things right now with her divorce. Where do you guys stand and are you able to support her during this time?

Oh, I’m absolutely able to support. I’m a girls girl and I absolutely don’t wish that on anyone. I have definitely reached out to her and I’ve run into her and I just want them to be happy. I want them to do what makes both of them happy. And if that’s being together, if that’s being apart, then that’s their decision. But I don’t wish divorce on anyone.

And knowing your own experience with breaking up and dealing with that kind of heartbreak, what are things from your past relationships that you’re not dealing with as you explore dating at this point in your life?

Yeah, now I can see where the control comes in. But as women, when we say, oh, we’re going to look out for the red flags, the red flags be hitting us up all over our head [laughs]. Lord, I can’t say I’m going to recognize every red flag, but what I am not going to do is I’m not ever going to give up on love. I’m a hopeless romantic and I do believe that my person is out there and I’m going to continue to believe that. And I may kiss a couple more frogs until I get him, but he’s there and I’m not going to give up on that. A lot of people when they go through things, they get in this funk where they’re like, all men are this, all men are that. I don’t believe that. And I do believe that people can change if they want to change. But you can’t go by how someone else treated someone else in their past relationship. Because I don’t treat everybody how I treated people in my past relationships. That’s growth. I know some of the things that I did in my past relationships and some things that may have affected somebody that I was with and I know how that made them feel. So moving forward, I’m going to try not to do that to the next person and hoping that the guys that I’m talking to that they’re understanding as well. But it’s about love.

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Check out the new season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta when it premieres on Sunday, May 7, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.