On the July 2 season premiere of Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition, Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Phaedra Parks, 46, revealed that she’s never had sex with her boyfriend, Medina Islam, 35. Many cast members were left speechless upon hearing this news — and to be honest, so were we — but after speaking to Phaedra EXCLUSIVELY, we now know why she made such a tough decision.
“Well, it’s a decision I made [myself],” Phaedra told HollywoodLife on June 29, just days before the new season of Marriage Boot Camp premiered. “Medina was definitely totally against it, but for myself, I needed to know him in an intimate way outside of a physically intimate way because prior to Medina I dated a guy in Chicago. And that was a long distance relationship and it was very passionate, but when we became physical, it hindered us getting to know each other intimately on any other level.”
“And so I wanted to make sure that this time [that] I wasn’t blinded by the passion and that I really knew who Medina was as a person,” she continued. “Because that can sometimes change your thoughts about a man in a good way and in bad way. I wanted to know that I was not rushing into a physical relationship in this scenario. He was obviously totally against it, but I had to do what was best for me.”
During this week’s episode, Medina didn’t seem too happy about Phaedra’s holdout, but we’re hoping they make it past this obstacle for a more fulfilling future together (if you know what we mean). However, that’s not the only issue they’re battling this season — they’ll also be tackling issues with distance and communication.
“In my opinion, of course, we’re bi-coastal,” Phaedra told us. “And unlike a lot of women out there, I have a lot of masculine traits because I work in very male dominated fields. Being a lawyer with mostly men, in the funeral business it’s mostly men, and so in working with men all the time I think that some of the traits that guys, generally have and I think that can sometimes be hard for me and because they’re probably used to women who are a little softer and, you know, a lot different for me. So, communication can be hard for me because I’m constantly working, I’m very type A, and sometimes I’m a hard nut to crack.”
Want to see how they do? New episodes of Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition air Thursdays at 9pm on WE tv.