Neffe Pugh Releases New Book, Talks Issues With Her Famed Sister
Neffe Pugh is her own woman with her own life, her own family and her own day-to-day struggles. Despite that she is still in the shadow of her famed sister Keyshia Cole. And that reality, that life in the songstress’ shade, is what Neffe calls both a gift and a curse that she details in her book ‘The Price I Paid.’ Below Pugh talks to rollingout about her mother Frankie’s battle to stay clean, her new tome and her sister’s Hawaiian wedding to Daniel Gibson that she declined to attend. -danielle canada
rollingout: I think the hot topic with you is your lack of appearances on your sister’s show [‘Keyshia & Daniel: Family First] and at her wedding in particular. Can you explain what’s going on with that? I think we’re curious as to know why.
Neffe: First of all I was invited to the wedding but I was not invited properly, meaning she [Keyshia Cole] did not get married in Hawaii, she got married in Vegas. I would have preferred to have been at the real wedding versus being at a ceremonial service. It’s like this if you’re going to have your wedding, invite me to Vegas when you really got married. Dont call me two days before you decide to go to Hawaii and do a ceremony. I just could not do that. When I did get the invite ,Ms. Cole called me and asked for me and two of my daughters to get on a plane and come to Hawaii to be a part of her wedding. I just could not do that, I had other stuff going on.
rollingout: Do you think the ceremony in Hawaii was a front for the cameras because it was so last minute?
Neffe: You want my honest opinion?
rollingout: Yes ma’am.
Neffe: [laughs] I wouldn’t call it a front but what I will say is that it was last minute for me and my family and because you were shooting a show and decided to do a ceremony, you took it upon yourself to have someone call me and invite me at the last minute.
rollingout: Let’s get back to you though, I hear you’re releasing a book and I’m sure it’s on more than just you and your sister.
Neffe: ‘The Price I Paid’ was two years in the making and I love the fact that I wrote this book on my own. I did not hire a ghostwriter, this is word for word, line for line Neffeteria. It’s basically about the things that myself and my family went through after reality TV. I took two years off from reality TV. I didn’t do a second season of the ‘Frankie & Neffe’ show not because it wasn’t offered, BET offered me another season of the ‘Frankie & Neffe’ show and I declined. This is not a tell-all, this is Neffe telling you that it’s hard work, it does not come easy. If you don’t make the right decisions, things can go absolutely wrong.
rollingout: How is your mother? The last time we saw her she was on ‘Celebrity Rehab’ struggling to get herself together, how is your she [Frankie Lyons] these days?
Neffe: My mom is doing amazing. She’s in sober living, she gained all her weight back. She is clean and sober from drugs. She’s doing good I cannot wait for her to graduate from this program.
rollingout: Are you and your husband Soullow getting your own reality show program?
Neffe: We’re coming back to reality TV, you guys. We are coming back to reality TV but we are coming back in the right way. I think reality TV for me showed me a different way of looking at life. Ultimately i had to sit back and say, ‘do I wanna do this again?’ After writing ‘The Price I Paid’, I’m ready. I’m excited about this new venture.
