SWV just couldn’t Xscape the drama on set.
Group members of the legendary R&B group SWV revealed that working on the new six-part miniseries, SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B, was “a headache.”
The TV show follows the mega-successful R&B groups SWV and Xscape as they share their personal and professional lives and prepare to take the stage together for a special concert. Accordig to Insider, tempers between the two groups carried over to the show following their 2021 “Verzuz” battle.
“I just felt like it could have been done a lot better. Something that could have been so amazing and great just ended up being a show full of insults,” SWV’s Leanne “Lelee” Lyons told Insider, blaming members of Xscape for the toxicity among the women as members continuously insulted SWV for things like social media numbers and fashion choices.
“One thing about SWV is that we are going to defend ourselves,” she added. “We aren’t out there dissing people and talking bad on people but we have a right to defend ourselves on who we are, why we belong in this business, and what we’ve done.
“It could have been done a lot better, they shouldn’t have tried to behead us,” Lyons said.
“As adults, we can work with anybody under the right conditions,” SWV’s Tamara Johnson-George said. “We don’t hold anything against anybody and we don’t speak down toward anybody. We’re open to everything because we’ve grown so much in this industry. We know how to behave.”
When the women of SWV were asked about the best part of filming, they said “getting paid” and “going home.” Lyons isn’t up for working on a second series, but Cheryl Gamble would consider based on the coin. “But it was a headache,” she said. SWV also shared it would never participate in another Verzuz battle with Xscape.
“Why would we do it again? We did it already,” said Gamble. “We shouldn’t have did it the first time!” SWV won the 2021 battle against Xscape, 13-11.
The limited miniseries, SWV & Xscape: The Queens of R&B, airs Sundays on Bravo.