No marriage is perfect, which is why Braxton Family Values’ Traci Braxton and her husband, Kevin Surratt, decided to join this season of WE tv’s Marriage Bootcamp: Reality Stars.
Throughout the course of the show, Braxton and Surratt, along with other celebrities, such as Tanisha Davis from Oxygen’s Bad Girls Club and JWOWW of MTV’s Jersey Shore, learn to work on their relationships through various exercises and counseling sessions.
Braxton chatted with JETmag.com about what she learned, relationship advice for married couples and much more.
JET: Why did you decide to do Marriage Boot Camp?
Traci Braxton: To get our communication straight. I never saw my parents get together and talk about issues. And now they’re divorced. But we’ve never seen that side of communication. It was a great opportunity for us to get together and learn about our differences and come together as a married couple that has a child.
JET: Was it hard for you to open up about your marital issues on the show?
TB: It really wasn’t hard for me. A lot of people go through what we go through. If we show people the things we’re going through and our marriage, it can help somebody. Our grandparents never tell their grandchildren. Parents never tell their kids the things they go through. You never know the things they go through when they sleep in different bedrooms, but there are a lot of people in this world who go through that. If I can help someone else, it’s a good thing.
JET: What was your experience like on the show?
TB: We sat down with Elizabeth and Jim, the counselors, and talked about things going on in our relationship: infidelity, money problems, addiction. My husband has an addiction to Starbucks. We had to sit down and think about the things that are affecting our marriage. If a couple can sit down and talk about things affecting them, it can make a whole world of difference. It’s about communication. If you don’t have communication, it’s crazy. You will misconstrue everything the person has to say. You can’t do that.
JET: What type of lessons did you learn from boot camp?
TB: I learned that I really have to trust him and have to be that wife, girlfriend and friend with him. As women, sometimes we feel like I got him, I don’t have to do anything else. But you have to be that same person as when your significant other met you. If you came in looking fly and being intelligent, then you have to be that way for that person to really swoon for you and have the same love for you. If you stop doing that, they’ll say sh*t, she’s not doing what she used to do. Another person will try to sneak up and take your place. You have to continue to date each other and don’t look homely.
JET: What advice do you have to share with other married couples based on your experience?
TB: Hug each other every day and kiss them–not on the cheek or the forehead or the hand, but kiss them on the mouth. Show affection to each other. It doesn’t always have to be intimate, but whether it’s a sensitive touch on the leg or arm, you have to do that. It means the world. It says I still adore you, I still love you, I still lust for you.
JET: Is your marriage stronger than ever after going through bootcamp?
TB: Oh my God, my love for my husband is stronger and better than ever. We are really friends. We sometimes say mean things to each other, we argue, but we go back and apologize. You have to say, “I said those things because I was hurting and I wanted to hurt you.” It’s those simple things. We’re human. You should make your spouse feel appreciated.
JET: What else are you working on these days?
TB: My single “Last Call” comes out in July. I’m doing a radio show on Wednesdays from 5-7 p.m. on WPB Networks. There are so many things out there for me and I’m just grabbing life by the horns. You can follow me on Twitter at @Traci Braxton and on Instagram at @TheRealTraciBraxton.
Marriage Boot Camp premieres Friday, May 30 at 9/8 p.m. Central on WE tv.
