The past year have been a whirlwind for Evelyn Lozada, who married Chad Ochocinco, filmed it for a wedding special and divorced him over a month later after he headbutted her. Since then, her main support and backbone throughout the humiliating experience has come from her 19-year-old daughter and best friend, Shauniece.
In their first ever mommy-daughter photo shoot/interview, the duo posed it up for Rolling Out magazine while discussing the domestic violence incident that brought them closer together. While getting emotional, Ev says it was one of the “biggest low points” of her life and her daughter expressed how proud she was that Evelyn stood up for herself and set a good example for women. Ev also said even though shes trying to give her daughter some breathing room, she’s still hawking over her social media and keeping tabs on her, especially when she’s on those video shoots with stars like Future.
Catch the highlights and footage below:
On Evelyn Leaving Chad & Shauniece Being Her Support System
Shaniece: When she left her domestic abuse relationship, I was really proud of her. I felt like she stood up for herself, and I think that she set a good example for other women. I knew that she had it in her, but I don’t think that everyone else did, so I’m really proud of her for that.[…] Yeah, she knows … and we’ve been together since then.
Evelyn: We were literally together for eight months since that happened [crying] … I even slept with her. After everything happened, and my life was upside down, it was tough because I had to live all of that out in the public … everybody had an opinion, and even now I’m sure there will be some people who say “b—-, you’re still crying over that?” … but she went through that with me from the beginning. She went to the hospital with me.
Shaniece: It was crazy, because I wasn’t even supposed to be there. I was living in L.A. and she was living in Miami, and I just happened to be there when it happened.
Evelyn: She was on vacation, and she was home when the situation happened, and it was very humiliating for me to have her see me like that. It was probably one of the biggest low points of my life — especially because I’m so protective of her. I’m mom, and I’m supposed to be strong, so it was hard to have her see me like that … so we were literally connected at the hip from that point on.
Shaniece: I think that it made us closer. Strangely, I didn’t think that we could get any closer, but I think that the situation made us grow closer.
Evelyn: It was a great feeling to have her there, and to not have her judge me, or be negative, because during that time period, there was just so much negativity. But there was also a tremendous outpouring of support from fans and from women who have gone through the same things. I had women who came to me and said that I encouraged them to leave their own relationships. So for me, I couldn’t have been any more thankful to have her there with me. She makes me feel safe.
On Being Best Friends
Shaniece: I enjoy her company a lot; she’s my best friend.
Evelyn: Yeah, we are best friends … especially over the past eight, nine months, where we have been connected at the hip. We are always together, and even when one of us is away, we constantly check in with each other. But that’s how it has always been between us since the beginning. Even though I had her young, I always made sure that she knew I was mom, but that she could also come to me and confide in me about anything. So yeah, we’re besties.
On Evelyn Keeping Tabs on Shauniece
Evelyn: One of the things that I try to do is make sure that I am in the know of everything that she is doing.
Shaniece: She stalks my Instagram [laughs].
Evelyn: Yes, I do stalk her Instagram. And yes, she’s about to be 20, but I am still her mother. So even when she did the Future video shoot, which was the first shoot that she ever did, I was there the entire 11 hours just to make sure that she was treated like a lady and with respect. So yes, even though I am away, I always try to make sure that I am in the know, because I am very protective of her.
On their close bond and Shaniece being able to tell Evelyn anything
Evelyn: I think from an early age, one of the things that I tried to instill in her is that she could come to me for anything. I got pregnant with Shaniece when I was 16, and even though I love my mom to death, I wasn’t always comfortable going to her and talking to her about things. With Shaniece, I wanted to do things differently so that she could come to me. When you’re a teenager, and you’re going to your friends for advice, they aren’t going to necessarily give you the right advice, so I wanted to make sure that the lines of communication were always open with us. I wanted her to always know that no matter what the situation, I was never going to judge her, and would always be there for her.
By the way, if you are wondering what’s going on with the 5th season of Basketball Wives, the premiere has been pushed back to August.
Evelyn Lozada Covers Rolling Out With Daughter Shaniece, Gets Emotional While Discussing Domestic Violence was originally published on ipowerrichmond.com
