Joe Budden made his return to reality TV last night with the season premiere of VH1’s “Couples Therapy.” The Slaughterhouse member has seemingly found a second career airing his dirty laundry on reality shows; he famously broke up with, proposed to and got rejected by Tahiry Jose during the dysfunctional couples’ tenure on “Love & Hip-Hop”; and now Budden is trying to repair his fractured relationship with another ex: Kaylin Garcia.
He told rolling out that he wasn’t worried about going back on television but he was a little worried about doing a show with Garcia.
“The apprehensiveness came from doing a show called ‘Couples Therapy’ with someone I’m not in a relationship with. I certainly wasn’t about to lie or telling some fictitious story on television for the sake of doing it. I wanted to make myself clear. Once I got some background on the show — I’m always open to therapy — I had some things I would’ve liked to speak to someone professionally about. So that’s what I did.” So with their squabbles about to go public throughout this season, how would Budden describe he and Kaylin today?
“[She] and I are great,” he says. “The show did our relationship a lot of good. I think we left with a better understanding of one another. Now, we’re on really good terms.
“She’s someone who I love and care about deeply and I know she had a growing resentment towards me from the last time we were on television,” he continues. “It was something I thought [she] and I could get over on our own, but the show presented a great opportunity.”
Budden’s relationship problems and legal problems have been well-documented — from his messy relationship with Jose to abuse charges last year. He admits that his image has affected his approach to dating. And it’s made women think twice before dating him — which he attributes to his being so public.
“I don’t think it’s hurt me in terms of how I deal with relationships, but it’s maybe affected my dating life,” he says. “Women are a bit hesitant to deal with someone as public as myself or as forthcoming as myself. I have yet to see what effect it will take on my life. But I’m glad I did it. There are some songs on my album [All Love Lost is set to drop on Oct. 16] that I wouldn’t have been able to make without doing it. I appreciate the experience.”
He clowned Meek Mill this past summer for making love songs about Mill’s famous girlfriend, Nicki Minaj, but Budden claims he doesn’t mind putting his romantic entanglements on display in an age where rappers in love are less of an anomaly.
“You see more rappers being very public about relationships,” says Budden. “Years ago, that was almost taboo. If you had a girlfriend, it was almost a secret. You hear more about it in music and fans are more into entertainers’ personal lives.”
