Flex Alexander & Shanice Dish On Going Broke & New OWN Reality Show

True love is always tested when the checks stop coming in and the bills start backing up.

Flex Alexander and his wife Shanice were sitting on top of the world with a hit show and Grammy nominations, but after a few years, life got real for the couple and the fame and money started to fade.  You may remember that Flex created and starred in UPN’s One On One and Shanice’s 1991 hit song “Smile” was number one in over 20 countries, but when the show was canceled and there weren’t anymore chart topping hits, the money dried up and they had to move in with Shanice’s parents.

Still, the couple have stayed together and have been married for over 14 years throughout the storm, and they are now starring in a new reality show titled, Flex & Shanice: All In The Family on the OWN Network.  This week, the couple stopped by Good Day L.A. to talk about their new show, while admitting that reality TV wasn’t their first choice but they needed the check. They also revealed that they hope the show will not only entertain people, but it will be a lesson that all that glitters ain’t gold, and it can all be taken from you in a minute.

Catch the highlights:

On the show
Flex: It is basically looking into what we’ve gone through financially. Not by craziness. We didn’t do anything extravagant. Just the perils of making money in the business and then it stops [but the bills keep coming].[...]The jobs slowed down, the economy hit, and it was just an up and down time.

My wife is very frugal. I think for me it was a lesson learned because I was never raised or taught how to balance, juggle, how to really take care of it.[...]I’m learning from her.

On how they made it through being broke
Shanice: It was tough. Lots of tears.

Flex: You’re still in the industry. You’re still in the business. You’re going to events. It’s like, ‘Man, gotta make sure we’ve got this money for valet.’

On moving in with her family
Shanice: Yep. My mom, my stepdad, my uncle, his cousin Ed, my cousin…yeah. Our kids and our dog.

Flex: It’s three generations plus a dog. Everybody is their own individual character which you’ll see.[...] It all balances out because they’re super helpful with the kids. We all jump in to cook, we all jump in with bills.

On doing reality TV
Flex: I think it’s lessons to be learned. It wasn’t like, let’s do the show because we need money. We talked about it.

Shanice: Because for years he wouldn’t do a reality show. During our hardest times he said, ‘No, I don’t want to do it.’

Flex: If you’re an actor and you do that, I feel like it’s reality and it’s not going to work, but media has changed. Everything has changed.