You may remember Deelishis from the dating show The Flavor of Love, but it's time to introduce you to the woman behind the brand: London Charles. She's officially made her return to reality TV for Peacock's Queens Court, another dating show. After nearly 20 years, during which she divorced husband Raymond Santana, London's now the one calling the shots.
"This was a time in my life where the world knew that I had had a very public and bad divorce, so I was already vulnerable in front of the world, whether I liked it or not. And my story was being told incorrectly," she shares with ABC Audio. "This was a chance for me to ... write my own story. ... And give myself an opportunity to love again. ... I was already in front of the world. Now it would be from my angle."
No longer dependent on Flava Flav's decisions, the show, which Flav encouraged her to do, gave London the chance to rethink her approach to love.
"It was like you're groomed to make sure that you fit the bill for a man," she says. "At this stage in my life, I needed to rethink that and start being myself and looking for love based on not just the man, but myself included."
With help from therapists, hosts Holly Robinson and Rodney Peete, and her sister queens K. Michelle and LisaRaye McCoy, London says dating on Queens Court was easier than in real life, though they had to vet 21 men. It was an experience that helped her learn "it's OK for me to choose myself."
"I needed to give myself that crown that comes with queen when you think of Queens Court," London says. "So I love that they gave me that back."