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Toya Johnson-Rushing and Reginae Carter Reconnect On ‘Toya & Reginae’ S2

The mother-and-daughter duo discuss the latest season of their WE TV show, living in different cities and being upfront about their reality.

The fabulous mother-daughter duo of Toya Johnson-Rushing and Reginae Carter are back with new lessons in family, love, and living separately in different cities on the new season of We TV’s “Toya & Reginae.”

In the second season premiere, Toya strives for balanced relationships with her close-knit, albeit dysfunctional, family, consisting of siblings Casey, Walter, and Anisha, also known as “Beedy,” and their matriarch, Ms. Anita. Looking to the New Orleans native as an example is her 6-year-old daughter, Reign, whom Toya shares with her husband of two years, Robert Rushing, while Reginae has embarked on her biggest adventure yet–relocating to Los Angeles. In the City of Angels, Reginae, the oldest child and only daughter of Lil Wayne, maintains her lifestyle as an influencer and entrepreneur while beginning her acting career.

“One, it's so far away and moving away from my mother, my friends that I grew up with, they’ve literally been a part of my life [for] my whole life,” Reginae tells BET.com. “Good thing that my dad and I had other friends in L.A. so that I didn't have to get used to, like meeting people or new friends; I already had my people out there.”

While the 26-year-old points out the expensiveness of L.A. living, Reginae has cherished her new city for elevating her career, and in “Toya & Reginae,” she takes on Hollywood.

“I’m glad that I made the move because when I was in Atlanta, I felt stagnant. I feel like  I was too comfortable,” Reginae admits. “I feel like I'm glad that I got out in LA; it allowed me to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.  I feel like I learned a lot about myself, a lot about my spending habits, a lot about just growing up. I'm glad that I made that move though, because moving is a big step.”

As a longtime television personality and businesswoman, Toya commends her oldest daughter for taking the leap of faith. She shares that it took a while for her to have similar motivation in her 20s.

“They're not afraid to step out and do things on their own, become an entrepreneur, [or] move far away,” Toya says. When I was that age, I don't think I was trying to do those things at 20. Reginae’s been doing this since 20 years old. I didn’t start until my late twenties.”

“But I love that about her,” Toya gushes about Reginae. “She's very independent. She will try to do whatever she can on her own and then ask for help if she needs it. From starting her business to her acting career–she can get all of these acting rejections and it doesn't stop her. It pushes her to keep going.”

In “Toya & Reginae” season 2, although the mother of two lives in Atlanta, she still keeps up with Reginae’s day-to-day, even having some critiques of her daughter’s shopping and dining out splurges. But Toya’s learned to respect Reginae’s decisions.

“I'll give her advice no matter how she takes it. Sometimes she’ll probably be like, ‘Ma, I'm grown. I got it. I'm good.’ But at least I know I told her,” Toya admits. “So, what you do with this information is all on you. She'll not want to hear in the moment, but she'll take it in and listen.”

Relationships are a topic that the mother and daughter sometimes discuss. Still, while she’s involved with someone in “Toya & Reginae,” the latter explains that she doesn’t want dating to cause a distraction in her professional life.

“I feel like a lot of people are overly obsessed with who I date. They don't even post my movies. They'll post a man that I'm messing with before my movie,” Reginae says. “So, it's like, I just want to try to keep certain things out of the spotlight when I'm trying to find my way in business.”

But while Reginae wants to keep a separation between her personal life and profession, Toya continues to share her family’s unhealthy terms of communication, which can be relatable to viewers with similar upbringings.

“Back when I was growing up it’d be like, Okay this is just how this person is and you just deal with it. My family moved off that type of dysfunction,” Toya says. “But I got to the point where I just couldn't do that anymore, like, That's not working for me. So you'll see when you watch the show the things that I had to do to make sure that I stayed okay.”

Standing in Toya’s corner is Robert, who, throughout the season, can often be seen consoling his wife when she’s frustrated with her family conflict.

“My husband is a very understanding person. He understands that nobody's perfect,” Toya shares. “Everybody’s family has people and just different situations [where] everything is just not all good all the time. He does a really good job at making sure that the respect level stays there and he understands that this is my family, and he'll give his advice and he'll talk to them.”

She continues, “But it's always done in a respectful way, which, sometimes, it can go left in certain situations, because people go too far. But I’m glad I have a husband that is very understanding and patient with the whole situation.”

Although not in a rush to start a family, Reginae sees her mom as a guide on the parenting she one day wants to instill.

“Kids scare me,” Reginae jokes. “But I definitely know that I am going to be an amazing mother because I'm gonna be like my mom. I already parent my friends’ kids like my mom. I'm the cool one, but it's like I don't do the talking back. It's like my mom: she's fun to be around, but don't play with her.”

Two other mothers that Reginae is close to are influencers Taina Williams and India Royale; the latter’s a newer friend who makes cameos on “Toya & Reginae.”

“I met India when I moved to L.A. and we just clicked,” Reginae says. “Honestly, me and India relate. We can relate a lot to each other off of things that we talked about as friends. She’s so sweet, she's vulnerable, she's very real. I love my L.A. friend group, just like I love my Atlanta friend group. I feel like I found a good back and forth.”

So, while the second season of “Toya & Reginae” has funny and uplifting moments, the ladies stress that they want to continue being seen as real and show viewers that there’s more to them than fame.

“It's okay to set boundaries with your family and be okay with that because that's something I struggled with for a very long time,” Toya says. “All of the shows I did prior to this one, it's always just been me trying and giving.”

She continues, “At some point in life, we reach our breaking point, and you have to not allow yourself to get to where you're so stressed out that you can't show up for yourself and your family that you are creating.”

“It's a lot of relatable things that you can watch the show and feel like, Oh, my family goes through that, too,” Reginae adds. “I feel like when you're in the public eye or when you're a celebrity, people think like, You shouldn't go through that. No. We all go through the same things and I love that me and my mom are vulnerable enough and real enough to show where we actually go through, because a lot of people go through it.”

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