Politics
Basketball Wives ‘WILL be back for another season’ after rumors VH1 show could be axed due to ratings plummet
TV bosses are adamant Basketball Wives WILL be back for another series, despite rumors it could be axed due to a ratings plummet, The Sun can exclusively reveal.
The VH1 reality show, which follows the lives of the wives, ex-wives and girlfriends of professional basketball players, is in its ninth season having premiered on April 11, 2010.
Basketball Wives has enjoyed nine series, and network bosses are desperate to bring it back despite calls for it to be axed[/caption]
Insiders told The Sun ratings have plummeted in recent months and they have scrapped plans to shoot a reunion special, but the show will be back for a 10th season.
A source said: “They hoped this season’s drama would bring massive ratings but they have only been around 500,000 an episode, there has been a lot of speculation in the industry that it could be pulled.”
But a second source revealed: “TV bosses are very keen to bring it back and plan to go ahead with another season, they feel it’s a fan favorite franchise.”
According to reports, the Season 9 premiere attracted just 537,000 viewers, compared to last season which brought in 968,000, and the ratings have continued to fall.
Ogom ‘OG’ Chijindu accused cast mate Evelyn Lozada of racism in a previous series[/caption]
Basketball Wives star Evelyn defended her actions, but fans slammed her for playing the ‘victim’ on Twitter[/caption]
Ratings for the Season 9 premiere were half the previous series and fans speculated the show could be pulled[/caption]
Latest figures for March 9 show the program only pulled in 489,000 viewers.
An insider said there are hopes reality stars Jackie Christie and Malaysia Pargo could continue to draw in an audience, although Evelyn Lozada’s racism scandal has resulted in many African American viewers turning away in protest.
“There are a lot of people who are unhappy with how it has been handled, and fans felt the show could be a sinking ship,” they added.
The Sun has reached out to VH1 who declined to comment.
Evelyn previously made comments last year about co-star Ogom “OG” Chijindu’s appearance on social media as she allegedly referred to her as “ugly” and used a monkey emoji to describe her on Instagram.
Former viewers are calling for it to be axed following drama involving cast mates[/caption]
Evelyn complained she received death threats amid the racism scandal, but she returned to the show[/caption]
OG accused Evelyn of being a “racist” and a “colorist,” and the 45-year-old star received backlash on Twitter, with viewers hitting out at the TV personality for playing the “victim.”
She was also previously slammed in 2018 for referring to cast member Cecilia ‘Cece’ Gutierrez as ‘Lee-Lee.’
Cece is Filipino, with ‘Lee-Lee’ reportedly a reference to an Asian salon worker the group knows and regularly visits.
Executive producer Shaunie O’Neal was prompted to address the claims of bullying and colorism on the final episode of Basketball Wives Season 8.
Evelyn did not openly apologize for her comments, and fans started a petition to have her fired from the show, according to Cheatsheet, but she returned when filming resumed for Season 9.
She previously tweeted revealing the reunion was pulled and told fans there are only a few episodes left of this series.
Evelyn shared earlier this week: “Two more episodes including tomorrow – No reunion #ThankGod.”
Malaysia Pargo is still pulling in viewers, and sources say the show remains a ‘fan favorite franchise’[/caption]
During a confessional interview, she explained why she used the monkey emoji on an Instagram post, telling viewers: “If you go to make a post and you go to gifs and you search laughing, it’s one of the first four that pop up.
“I put it there to express my feeling of this post, so she went into this spiral of ‘You posted this about me. You’re racist.’ So I’m like, ‘What? This f**king post had nothing to do with her. Especially not the gif. I don’t connect that emoji to anybody.”
She then broke down in tears, adding: “It really hurt because people really believe this s**t. People were in my DMs talking about, ‘B**ch, I’m gonna f**king kill you. If I see you, I’m gonna kill you and your kids.’”
Some fans of Basketball Wives weren’t convinced, with one tweeting: “Evelyn thinks because she cries on national television that we think she’s any less colorist.”
Another wrote on the social media site: “Watching basketball wives and all I gotta say is Evelyn will always be trash.”
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Many also called for the show to be cancelled, with one tweeting: “Basketball Wives needs to get cancelled or a whole cast REFRESH …. none of them are even married to ballers for goodness sake.”
A second posted: “They should have cancelled basketball wives a long time ago, that show is so toxic, shameless group of women.”
