Exclusive Interview With Christina Johnson (Atlanta Exes)

MEET CHRISTINA JOHNSON

Inner Peace Triumphs 

 by Belinda Trotter-James

Congratulations are in order for Christina Johnson, the ex-wife of Cee-Lo Green on joining the cast of VH1’s Atlanta Exes.  The creators of the show got in touch with her to see if she would consider being on the show.  Christina said that before she makes any decisions regarding working on a project it has to be Godly. “When they called me about doing the show, I prayed about it. We stayed on the phone for about two hours. By the time we got off the phone I knew it was confirmation that this was an opportunity for me,” said Christina. She had been offered at least 6 to 8 opportunities to do reality TV and turned it down.  She chose this particular franchise because she had already seen Hollywood Exes and liked the format of the show. She is definitely a fan of the show.  "What I love about this franchise is that it’s real life.  You are going to have conflicts however, one must understand that there isn't a conflict that you can't resolve. So there is no one throwing bottles, no jumping over tables or fighting another person,” explains Christina.

When it came to the other cast members, she didn't know them before joining the cast. So she did what any concerned cast member would do… she took a trip out to L.A. to meet them.  "We started meeting once a week for lunch every Friday,” explained Christina.  “We just talked and from the beginning there was a mutual respect for one another and trust. We shared everything with each other about our relationships and what we were dealing with at the moment.  We also talked about our children and whatever we were dealing with that week.  By the time the show started taping the following year, the girls and I were already close and we already had a genuine relationship. It definitely helped to have a relationship with the girls.”  

Christina revealed that relationships are hard and it really helped to have someone to talk to that is dealing with the same type of situation.  “There are so many things that you have to deal with that comes along with having a relationship with an entertainer or an athlete. It's 1 million times more that you have to deal with,” explains Christina.  She goes on to say that you also have to deal with other women coming on to your husband.  “You don’t have to worry, but you're just faced with a lot of other things that are magnified when you're married to an entertainer.  That's why it's good to have other women to bounce things off of who have really been through the same thing and married to the same type of men who have the same type of careers.

All exes must navigate themselves through an emotional roller coaster that can be like a death in the family.  To get through the emotional toll it takes on one’s mental state, you must have a strong will to survive from being a wife to now being an ex-wife. "First and foremost it was my faith that got me through, then prayer and then my writing.  I've been journaling since I was a teenager,” begins Christina.  “When I am going through things it's just automatic for me to write about it. So between all those things and my strong support system which is my family and friends that's how I was able to get through it.”

Christina was very fortunate to not have a horrible separation from her husband.  Her break up with Cee-Lo wasn't as painful because they did everything privately through mediation to decide who gets what.  Every little, tiny detail was not dragged out in the media for all the public to see. “We did everything quietly through mediation,” recalls Christina.  “We did it that way for our children and Cee-Lo felt like if this information becomes public, all the wolves will start to come out and he didn’t want me to dodge people who may try to use me. So it was a little bit easier than some of my other cast mates who have been through divorce and had every single thing publicized from what happened in court to how much you're getting in child support.  However, with us we tried to keep everything confidential and kept it close to the family so that our children wouldn't suffer or have to answer a whole bunch of questions.”

Anyone who has been through a breakup or divorce will understand just how painful it is. Remembering the pain of divorce also brought back memories of her turbulent past.  “I have  had an abusive past and I grew up around abuse, but this divorce was one of the hardest things I have ever went through in my life,” reveals Christina. “It was like a death with a grieving stage that was very, very tough. I think because I was raised in the church and my faith in God was so strong, that was how I was able to get through it.

If you read Christina’s Instagram, it will say that she has been through hell and back. From the abuse she grew up in plus the abuse she suffered as an adult we will see through the show how she got another one of life’s challenges thrown her way when she got the news of being diagnosed with Graves’ disease, which is an autoimmune disease of the thyroid.  This will all play out in the show. "Women have to understand that we go through a lot. It starts out with the understanding that when we go through these tests that's the good stuff. That's where your resilience, your strengths, your patience and your power comes from,” explains Christina.  “I remember when my Graves’ disease was getting really bad. I was getting large tumors. I had one that was so big that it began pushing my organs out the way.  If you have surgery when you’re not stable, you can go into cardiac arrest. I was very small and I lost lots of weight.  I was having these severe fevers and I didn't know if I was going to live.  The doctors’ didn’t know what was happening.  I remember saying, ‘I'm going to go through this with my eyes wide open. I know that God is going to carry me through.’  Then I remember being on Facebook sharing it and saying, 'I want you guys to watch what God is about to do to my life.'  I knew that He was going to bring me out and He was going to heal me.” 

For those of you who are getting ready to take that same trip through hell Christina advises to stay strong and don't give up. One of her Facebook friends who had been reading her posts said that she really needed to read the post because she had been going through tough times and felt like she wanted to give up however Christina insisted that the young lady not give up. "Don't give up,” Christina insists.  “The moment you give up is when your breakthrough comes. Don't give up.  One of the biggest things you can do is to stay true to your faith.”

Christina used several things to get her through. It didn’t just take one thing…  Daily prayer and meditation were things she did to get through the fire.  Every morning she would be in front of the mirror doing affirmations. “I would speak things that I want in my life and speak them as though they already exist.  Whatever works for you do it and stay strong. The power and strength that I have is because of what I've been through. The hardest times is what equipped me for everything that came.”

OMG! What a testimony.  Now that she is back from hell she looks fabulous and everything in her life is falling into place. She's in the process of creating a website to show off some of her talents as an interior designer.  She started Inner Piece Designs while she was married. "It's been over 12 years. It's my passion. I've done things for Ludacris for the past 10 years and athletes; it's my bread and butter. Her creativity doesn't stop there; she is launching a makeup line called Butterfly EFX with her best friend Toni who is a celebrity make up artist.   "We are just about ready to launch it and I am so excited about it," says Christina. "We didn't want to do the private label thing. A lot of companies just get a product and stick a label on it.  We really have been working with the manufacturers in New York and China to make sure this product is beautiful for all women.  How the color looks in the tube is how it will look on your lips. It's very concentrated so it doesn't take much, but it's beautiful. On the show you will see me wear the lip tattoos. The one I will wear in the season finale is red with black tiger stripes,” reveals Christina. The lip tattoos last for about seven hours. She will also have beautiful shades of lipsticks and lip gloss'.

The first time I laid my eyes on Christina was while watching MTV, My Super Sweet 16 reality show with her daughter, Sierra. She was only 14 at the time but she could not wait to do the show and celebrate. I enjoyed watching her on the show and Christina says that she is now a 24 year old makeup artist with a handsome five year old son.

Through it all the one word Christina used to sum up her life at this time is gratitude. "I’m so grateful for everything God has brought me out of.  I'm grateful for everything he is doing and is about to do in my life. If I had to sum it up, that's what it would be; I'm just a ball of gratitude.   Christina also mentioned that when she talks to God she truly hopes that He understands just how truly grateful she is at this time in her life. It's almost difficult to put into words the amount of gratitude that’s rushing through every cell and every fiber of her being. To thank him is not enough so she hopes that God can just feel how grateful she is.  "That's the way I felt when I was ill. Every time I would get a fever I would just say, ‘Thank you God’,” remembers Christina. "I know this just isn't about me. I know it changed some things in me and it made me reevaluate the way that I live.  It also made me feel like this would bless a lot of other people.”

You can follow Christina on twitter http://www.twitter.com/innerpiece and book her for your next event.  Send your requests to Monopolyatl@aol.com We will also keep up with Inner Piece, Butterfly EFX and Atlanta Exes on Who’s That Lady Entertainment.