
They say heartbreak can be your greatest teacher if you let it, and Apryl Jones most certainly lets it do its thing.
The 38-year-old actor and media personality has kept it cute and rarely on mute about the fact that her very public relationships have also meant she's been through the ringer a few times in love. Through the pain and challenges, the mother of two has clearly done the work, which is why she can look back at her past relationships with reflection rather than reactivity.
The former reality star recently sat down for an interview with Carlos King for his YouTube series Reality With the King, where she talked about personal power, her journey to sobriety, choosing to use her degree between acting jobs, and her most talked-about relationships. Here's what we learned.
What She Said About Taye Diggs...
Since their breakup, a question I see frequently in comment sections when I see Apryl or Taye Diggs pop up on my feed is a variation of "why did y'all break up?" Carlos finally got us some insight by allowing the entertainer the space to "clear the air" about what happened with her and Taye. She revealed to the host about their relationship, "It was great. It was great. While it was great. And we had some good times. We laughed a lot."
She talked briefly about how their funny videos together came about and repeated the sentence, "We had fun." They were together for a little over a year and when asked why they didn't work out, Apryl said, "Why didn't it work out? I will say this about Taye and I. I think that-- I will say this truthfully, we were--we went to therapy because I think we spoke different--we had different communication styles, you know. So we did do therapy, which I think is healthy for all. That's partnership. And so we did. I think we tried. I think we-we tried to understand each other.
"I think sometimes it doesn't always pan out. I think sometimes you cannot--the communication can hit a roadblock. And I think that, that's kind of what happened. I think like I may have felt like I needed certain, you know, that he wasn't and then he and it was like, 'Well, I'm telling you.' And he's like, 'Well, I'm telling you.' And it's like, 'Okay well, can we understand?' And we just couldn't get there. And that's okay."
Apryl concluded things with a story about a semi-recent NYC run-in, sharing that he didn't recognize her initially and she had to walk up to him but that there was laughter, banter, and light and that it was "cute." "I think that sometimes that's how relationships are. Sometimes two people recognize that like it just doesn't go further than where it goes. And who's to say that something later on down the line couldn't revisit itself when folks grow up, right? But yeah, that's kind of what happened with us. But it was fun while it lasted."
What She Said About Omarion...
At the start of the interview, Apryl briefly touched on how she and Omarion initially met. "At the gym," she revealed to Carlos. They shared a trainer at the time who thought it'd be a good look to introduce them to each other since they both did music. Apryl talked of not thinking anything of it and looked at Omarion at the time as "cool people" and nothing more.
After they chopped it up a bit during a gym session, Apryl said moments after leaving, she got a text from Omarion who surprisingly had her number despite her not giving it to him personally. She was new to California and Omarion was intent on being someone she hit up if she ever needed anything. "We kinda connected a little bit of time afterwards. And when we hung out, we just used to dance together and talk about spiritual stuff, and yeah like, we were just friends first. For a while."
She admitted he was her favorite of the B2K members as a child, but that she wasn't starstruck when she met him. She was used to meeting people in the industry so she looked at him like a person and he was "nice" in a way that was real. Apryl even admitted they went on to become roommates before anything romantic between them flourished.
Though they were sometimes intimate, they slept in separate rooms, had "banter," and spent a lot of time together. "I think we just really took our time," she told Carlos. According to Apryl, "within a year and some change," their somewhat situationship evolved into something more.
They went on to welcome two children, Megaa and A'mei, which was partially documented during their time on the reality show Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood together. There's no bitterness when she spoke about why they ended. "Life," she stated simply. "I think that life happened." By the time they got pregnant with their second child, their daughter A'mei, Apryl theorized that Omarion might have just been in "a different space." "And I think when he went to Dubai, he had came home one day off a trip and he was just like, just kinda like need a break. And I was just like, 'Okay.'"
She said he wasn't happy "with certain women in his life" and believed he was "feeling a lot of pressure." "Omari takes care of his family," she said of his responsibilities, "I think, you know, it was at a point where he came home, he was just like, 'I just--this is too much for me.'" The fact that she was pregnant with their second child at the time of hearing that was hard for her too. Still, she tried to give him space for a month to give her some clarity about his why behind wanting a break but said he never did.
She came to her own realization after thinking about what she'd tell her daughter if she had come to her with a situation like that and since the answer would be to get TF out of dodge, she left, got an apartment, and moved out. Apryl was a little blindsided at the time and "didn't get it" but now she says she does understand. She had to make her own peace about what happened between them which has helped her move forward in a healthier way.
What She Said About Lil Fizz...
Perhaps one of the most controversial moments in Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood was when Apryl took her relationship with Omarion's bandmate and former "friend" (quotations because the status of them is apparently up for debate), Lil Fizz public. Back then, not only was their perceived code-breaking with the Apryl-Fizz-Omarion of it all, but there was also some bad blood created between Fizz's child's mother and their fellow castmate, Moniece Slaughter. Fans speculated if the entire ordeal was a get-back to Omarion.
But, in her true transparent fashion, Apryl addressed Carlos' inquiry of her past with Fizz when the question was raised during their interview. She started off by clarifying the timing of everything and said within a span of five years of no longer being with Omarion, a lot happened on a personal level that the audience and fans of B2K or fans of the show weren't privy to.
"At that time, me and Drew (Fizz) really did become good friends from the show, me coming back to the show, and I was dealing with so much at the time," she explained to Carlos, briefly noting court and legal matters transpiring. For that reason and perhaps some others, she expressed feelings of gratitude for Fizz and what he was for her at that time in her life. He was a friend who looked out for her and had her back when she felt like she didn't have anyone in her corner.
"Things were intimate between me and him, obviously. Clearly. But that was a life I was living. It wasn't anything trying to get back at O at the time. O was far gone," she shared. "You know, my real life was happening here. And as a woman who was vulnerable and who was going through a lot of things at the time, I just feel like he was there as someone that I trusted in that time of my life. I didn't feel or see anything wrong with it."
She continued, "Now, while I can understand the world's perspective, while I could see it stepping outside and what that looks like, I get it and I respect it. You know what I mean? We are now in what is it 2025 about to be 2026? You're talking about six years now has gone by. And there has been a lot of evolution within me, a lot of growth."
Most of all, looking back, she wouldn't change a thing.
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Featured image by George Pimentel/Shutterstock
Because We Are Still IT, Girl: It Girl 100 Returns
Last year, when our xoNecole team dropped our inaugural It Girl 100 honoree list, the world felt, ahem, a bit brighter.
It was March 2024, and we still had a Black woman as the Vice President of the United States. DEI rollbacks weren’t being tossed around like confetti. And more than 300,000 Black women were still gainfully employed in the workforce.
Though that was just nineteen months ago, things were different. Perhaps the world then felt more receptive to our light as Black women.
At the time, we launched It Girl 100 to spotlight the huge motion we were making as dope, GenZennial Black women leaving our mark on culture. The girls were on the rise, flourishing, drinking their water, minding their business, leading companies, and learning to do it all softly, in rest. We wanted to celebrate that momentum—because we love that for us.
So, we handpicked one hundred It Girls who embody that palpable It Factor moving through us as young Black women, the kind of motion lighting up the world both IRL and across the internet.
It Girl 100 became xoNecole’s most successful program, with the hashtag organically reaching more than forty million impressions on Instagram in just twenty-four hours. Yes, it caught on like wildfire because we celebrated some of the most brilliant and influential GenZennial women of color setting trends and shaping culture. But more than that, it resonated because the women we celebrated felt seen.
Many were already known in their industries for keeping this generation fly and lit, but rarely received recognition or flowers. It Girl 100 became a safe space to be uplifted, and for us as Black women to bask in what felt like an era of our brilliance, beauty, and boundless influence on full display.
And then, almost overnight, it was as if the rug was pulled from under us as Black women, as the It Girls of the world.
Our much-needed, much-deserved season of ease and soft living quickly metamorphosed into a time of self-preservation and survival. Our motion and economic progression seemed strategically slowed, our light under siege.
The air feels heavier now. The headlines colder. Our Black girl magic is being picked apart and politicized for simply existing.
With that climate shift, as we prepare to launch our second annual It Girl 100 honoree list, our team has had to dig deep on the purpose and intention behind this year’s list. Knowing the spirit of It Girl 100 is about motion, sauce, strides, and progression, how do we celebrate amid uncertainty and collective grief when the juice feels like it is being squeezed out of us?
As we wrestled with that question, we were reminded that this tension isn’t new. Black women have always had to find joy in the midst of struggle, to create light even in the darkest corners. We have carried the weight of scrutiny for generations, expected to be strong, to serve, to smile through the sting. But this moment feels different. It feels deeply personal.
We are living at the intersection of liberation and backlash. We are learning to take off our capes, to say no when we are tired, to embrace softness without apology.
And somehow, the world has found new ways to punish us for it.

In lifestyle, women like Kayla Nicole and Ayesha Curry have been ridiculed for daring to choose themselves. Tracee Ellis Ross was labeled bitter for speaking her truth about love. Meghan Markle, still, cannot breathe without critique.
In politics, Kamala Harris, Letitia James, and Jasmine Crockett are dragged through the mud for standing tall in rooms not built for them.
In sports, Angel Reese, Coco Gauff, and Taylor Townsend have been reminded that even excellence will not shield you from racism or judgment.

In business, visionaries like Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye and Melissa Butler are fighting to keep their dreams alive in an economy that too often forgets us first.
Even our icons, Beyoncé, Serena, and SZA, have faced criticism simply for evolving beyond the boxes society tried to keep them in.
From everyday women to cultural phenoms, the pattern is the same. Our light is being tested.

And yet, somehow, through it all, we are still showing up as that girl, and that deserves to be celebrated.
Because while the world debates our worth, we keep raising our value. And that proof is all around us.
This year alone, Naomi Osaka returned from motherhood and mental health challenges to reach the semifinals of the US Open. A’ja Wilson claimed another MVP, reminding us that beauty and dominance can coexist. Brandy and Monica are snatching our edges on tour. Kahlana Barfield Brown sold out her new line in the face of a retailer that had been canceled. And Melissa Butler’s company, The Lip Bar, is projecting a forty percent surge in sales.

We are no longer defining strength by how much pain we can endure. We are defining it by the unbreakable light we continue to radiate.
We are the women walking our daily steps and also continuing to run solid businesses. We are growing in love, taking solo trips, laughing until it hurts, raising babies and ideas, drinking our green juice, and praying our peace back into existence.
We are rediscovering the joy of rest and realizing that softness is not weakness, it is strategy.
And through it all, we continue to lift one another. Emma Grede is creating seats at the table. Valeisha Butterfield has started a fund for jobless Black women. Arian Simone is leading in media with fearless conviction. We are pouring into each other in ways the world rarely sees but always feels.

So yes, we are in the midst of societal warfare. Yes, we are being tested. Yes, we are facing economic strain, political targeting, and public scrutiny. But even war cannot dim a light that is divinely ours.
And we are still shining.
And we are still softening.
And we are still creating.
And we are still It.

That is the quiet magic of Black womanhood, our ability to hold both truth and triumph in the same breath, to say yes, and to life’s contradictions.
It is no coincidence that this year, as SheaMoisture embraces the message “Yes, And,” they stand beside us as partners in celebrating this class of It Girls. Because that phrase, those two simple words, capture the very essence of this moment.
Yes, we are tired. And we are still rising.
Yes, we are questioned. And we are the answer.
Yes, we are bruised. And we are still beautiful.

This year’s It Girl 100 is more than a list. It is a love letter to every Black woman who dares to live out loud in a world that would rather she whisper. This year’s class is living proof of “Yes, And,” women who are finding ways to thrive and to heal, to build and to rest, to lead and to love, all at once.
It is proof that our joy is not naive, our success not accidental. It is the reminder that our light has never needed permission.
So without further ado, we celebrate the It Girl 100 Class of 2025–2026.
We celebrate the millions of us who keep doing it with grace, grit, and glory.
Because despite it all, we still shine.
Because we are still her.
Because we are still IT, girl.
Meet all 100 women shaping culture in the It Girl 100 Class of 2025. View the complete list of honorees here.
Featured image by xoStaff
These Black Women Left Their Jobs To Turn Their Wildest Dreams Into Reality
“I’m too big for a f***ing cubicle!” Those thoughts motivated Randi O to kiss her 9 to 5 goodbye and step into her dreams of becoming a full-time social media entrepreneur. She now owns Randi O P&R. Gabrielle, the founder of Raw Honey, was moving from state to state for her corporate job, and every time she packed her suitcases for a new zip code, she regretted the loss of community and the distance in her friendships. So she created a safe haven and village for queer Black people in New York.
Then there were those who gave up their zip code altogether and found a permanent home in the skies. After years spent recruiting students for a university, Lisa-Gaye Shakespeare became a full-time travel influencer and founded her travel company, Shakespeare Agency. And she's not alone.
These stories mirror the experiences of women across the world. For millions, the pandemic induced a seismic shift in priorities and desires. Corporate careers that were once hailed as the ultimate “I made it” moment in one's career were pushed to the back burner as women quit their jobs in search of a more self-fulfilling purpose.
xoNecole spoke to these three Black women who used the pandemic as a springboard to make their wildest dreams a reality, the lessons they learned, and posed the question of whether they’ll ever return to cubicle life.
Answers have been edited for context and length.
xoNecole: How did the pandemic lead to you leaving the cubicle?
Randi: I was becoming stagnant. I was working in mortgage and banking but I felt like my personality was too big for that job! From there, I transitioned to radio but was laid off during the pandemic. That’s what made me go full throttle with entrepreneurship.
Gabrielle: I moved around a lot for work. Five times over a span of seven years. I knew I needed a break because I had experienced so much. So, I just quit one day. Effective immediately. I didn’t know what I was going to do, I just knew I needed a break and to just regroup.
Lisa-Gaye: I was working in recruiting at a university and my dream job just kind of fell into my lap! But, I never got to fully enjoy it before the world shut down in March [2020] and I was laid off. On top of that, I was stuck in Miami because Jamaica had closed its borders due to the pandemic before I was able to return.

Randi O
xoN: Tell us about your journey after leaving Corporate America.
Randi: I do it all now! I have a podcast, I’m an on-air talent, I act, and I own a public relations company that focuses on social media engagement. It’s all from my network. When you go out and start a business, you can’t just say, “Okay I’m done with Corporate America,” and “Let me do my own thing.” If you don’t build community, if you don’t build a network it's going to be very hard to sustain.
Gabrielle: I realized in New York, there was not a lot to do for Black lesbians and queer folks. We don’t really have dedicated bars and spaces so I started doing events and it took off. I started focusing on my brand, Raw Honey. I opened a co-working space, and I was able to host an NYC Pride event in front of 100,000 people. I hit the ground running with Raw Honey. My events were all women coming to find community and come together with other lesbians and queer folks. I found my purpose in that.
Lisa-Gaye: After being laid off, I wrote out all of my passions and that’s how I came up with [my company] Shakespeare Agency. It was all of the things that I loved to do under one umbrella. The pandemic pulled that out of me. I had a very large social media following, so I pitched to hotels that I would feature them on my blog and social media. This reignited my passion for travel. I took the rest of the year to refocus my brand to focus solely on being a content creator within the travel space.

Gabrielle
xoN: What have you learned about yourself during your time as an entrepreneur?
Randi: [I learned] the importance of my network and community that I created. When I was laid off I was still keeping those relationships with people that I used to work with. So it was easy for me to transition into social media management and I didn’t have to start from scratch.
Gabrielle: The biggest thing I learned about myself was my own personal identity as a Black lesbian and how much I had assimilated into straight and corporate culture and not being myself. Now, I feel comfortable and confident being my authentic self. Now, I'm not sacrificing anything else for my career. I have a full life. I have friends. I have a social life. And when you are happy and have a full quality of life, I feel like [I] can have more longevity in my career.
Lisa-Gaye: [I'm doing] the best that I've ever done. The discipline that I’m building within myself. Nobody is saying, ‘Oh you have to be at work at this time.’ There’s no boss saying, ‘Why are you late?’ But, if I’m laying in bed at 10 a.m. then it's me saying [to myself], 'Okay, Lisa, get up, it's time for you to start working!’ That’s all on me.
xoNecole: What mistakes do you want to help people avoid when leaving Corporate America?
Randi: You have to learn about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. You have a fast season and a slow season and I started to learn that when you're self-employed the latter season hits hard. Don't get caught up on the lows, just keep going and don't stop. I’m glad I did.
Gabrielle: I think everyone should quit their job and just figure it out for a second. You will discover so much about yourself when you take a second to just focus on you. Your skill set will always be there. You can’t be afraid of what will happen when you bet on yourself.
Lisa-Gaye: When it comes to being an influencer the field is saturated and a lot of people suffer from imposter syndrome. There is nothing wrong with being an imposter but find out how to make it yours, how to make it better. If you go to the store, you see 10 million different brands of bread! But you are choosing the brand that you like because you like that particular flavor.
So be an imposter, but be the best imposter of yourself and add your own flair, your own flavor. Make the better bread. The bread that you want.

Lisa-Gaye Shakespeare
xoNecole: Will you ever return to your 9 to 5?
Randi: I wouldn’t go back to Corporate America. But I don’t mind working under someone. A lot of people try to get into this business saying, “I can't work under anyone.” That’s not necessarily the reason to start a business because you're always going to answer to somebody. Clients, brands, there’s always someone else involved.
Gabrielle: I went back! I really needed a break and I gave myself that. But, I realized I’m a corporate girl, [and] I enjoy the work that I do. I’m good at it and I really missed that side of myself. I have different sides of me and my whole identity is not Raw Honey or my queerness. A big side of me is business and that’s why I love having my career. Now I feel like my best self.
Lisa-Gaye: I really don’t. For right now, I love working for myself. It's gratifying, it's challenging, it's exciting. It’s a big deal for me to say I own my own business. That I am my own boss, and I'm a Black woman doing it.
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Featured image courtesy of Lisa-Gaye Shakespeare
Originally published on February 6, 2023









