Who else is as excited as I am to watch the next episode of Love Is__ on OWN?
The budding love story between Nuri, the successful television writer, and Yasir, the broke, absentee father who's still living on his ex-girlfriend's couch, captured me within the first few minutes of its premiere episode and leaves me wanting more every damn time.
The series is inspired by the real-life love story of the show's creators, husband and wife producers and screenwriters Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil.
Mara Brock Akil is the storyteller and producer of some of our favorite shows over the past decade including Girlfriends, The Game, and Being Mary Jane. The creative professional recently hit her stride in her new home with the OWN Network, and she is gaining even more die-hard fans. Every Tuesday night, Love Is___ gets all the trending Twitter love.
Mara Brock Akil, Michelle Weaver (Nuri), and Will Catlett (Yasir) recently sat down with The Breakfast Club to discuss the inspiration behind the show, how the actors approach playing the parts based off of their bosses, and how love truly is all around us.
Artists are known for drawing inspiration from their lives in order to create, and the Akils have found a way to share their compelling love story by way of their latest hit series. Mara said:
"I use the facts of my life as inspiration...Marriage is a construct of society but the heart committed 20 years ago."
The Black Lightning duo are not only best friends, but they have been creating together for quite some time. Their work with Akil Productions has garnered them a lot of success, and with proper boundaries, they've also managed to keep their marriage thriving. They recognize that love is the only thing that keeps marriages together, and stress the importance of a strong support system. When asked about the work/love dynamic, Mara says:
"He's literally my best friend… We create boundaries even for each project we decide going forward who gets the last say so that we don't carry that argument into the other aspect of our relationship. I think you know when your relationship is a little rocky, so there's been times where even families have had to step in. So it's also important who you surround your relationship around, who's your sounding board to pull you guys back together. Our parents have mediated for us. It gets rough."
The series is a reminder that love is, well, complicated. The plot is even more complex given the fact that this story is based on actual events, which ultimately puts a great deal of pressure on the show's cast to get it "right". Michelle Weaver, who plays Nuri on the show, says that she didn't spend a lot of time studying Mara, which allowed her to relate to the role from her own perspective. She told The Breakfast Club:
"I think that was what was good because I wasn't trying to imitate a human, I went in there free and just truthful. That's the great thing about Mara she's very simple the way she writes but she's very very deep, like life. You know life is very complex but yet simple. So, I'm glad I didn't because I was able to be free and just enjoy the process. And then after meeting Mara, she gave me direction and I was like, oh. She gave me the full view, and then from there, I knew this is where I'm going to go."
Will Catlett was also a relatively new actor when he was cast for the show. In order to prepare, he says he had to take small moments from his interaction with Salim Akil in order to truly understand his nuances and his deep love for his now wife. He tells listeners one of the most endearing nuggets when he says:
"One time, Salim, on the set of 'Black Lightning', when Mara came, he looked at her, and I promise you, the way this man looked at her was like he seen her for the first time but he didn't want her to go. So I was like OK...it was subtle, you know, and I was like OK, if I can get that, I'm good, I don't need to know nothing else."
Swoon!
Without dropping any spoiler alerts, she reminds fans that because she is a storyteller and using her own life as inspiration. Because her life parallels the story of so many Black Americans generation after generation, she knew she had a responsibility to depict her story with transparency. She revealed:
"We're still unpacking a lot of pain, and as a storyteller, I wanted to get this right. Especially because it's our story, especially because I honor and love this man and his family. Again it's inspired by, it's not direct. I wanted to get this right for us personally and I wanted to get this right personally for us black people...what's been depicted for our narrative, it's not done well enough."
Some of us believe in love at first sight, while others cast the theory aside as a myth. With that being said, we all know that something as simple as the way a person looks at you to capture your heart forever. Mara describes this phenomenon as seeing the other's light. We all need more lessons in recognizing the light in each other, and Love Is___ is a beautiful depiction of what that looks like. In explaining what drew Yasir to Nuri, she says:
"He was drawn to her light. No, he doesn't know her yet really, even after four hours... but you can recognize light in each other. I think if we start to look for and teach our children and reteach ourselves how to look for light in each other, and share our light...let's keep looking for light, who's feeding you? Oprah--cuz I talk to Oprah now [laughter]--Oprah's like, 'You go where the love is.' Let's teach that, let's show that: go where love is."
This show proves that you can find love in a package you weren't even expecting. Sometimes you have to just trust your instinct and open up your doors.
To check out the rest of the interview with The Breakfast Club, click here.
Love Is___ airs on OWN Tuesday nights, 10/9c. Have you been watching? What's your favorite scene so far?
RELATED
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
"They asked for body products and we wanted to make sure we listened. But also layering fragrance begins with the body routine." The body wash is $33, and the body lotion is $35. Keep reading below to hear more about Tabitha and Chance's new collection, their body rituals, and what makes their partnership successful.
Fridays with Tab and Chance body collection
Marcus Owens
xoNecole: How did you come up with the scents for the collection?
Tabitha Brown: We love warm scents that make you feel sexy and loved. [We’re] both fans of gourmand [scents], including bergamot, vanilla, tonka and chocolate.
xoN: If you could describe your working relationship in one word, what would it be and why?
Tabitha: It's our first time building a product line together and our first time working with fragrance. So having patience with the process and each other has been the best way to build.
xoN: What is your body care ritual?
Tabitha: Exfoliate with a scrub a few times a week, but using a moisturizing body wash daily. After a shower, I spray a body mist that compliments what scent I am choosing for the day. Most times vanilla mist wins because it’s a perfect base for layering. I then hydrate [my] skin with lotion. Then, once dressed, I layer my favorite fragrance, Her Business, first and then His Business on top.
Chance: [I’m] way more simple. Just body wash and lotion and then my cologne and I’m good to go.
xoN: We enjoy watching you two together online, whose idea was it to start 'Fridays with Tab & Chance'?
Tabitha: It actually happened by accident. Back in 2018, my fans had just been asking about how we met, so we did a video answering questions one Friday and people in the comments [asked], will y’all do it again next Friday? And so we did and the next thing you know Fridays with Tab & Chance was born.
xoN: In what other ways do you plan to expand Fridays? Restart the podcast? TV show?
Tabitha: We are working on a lifestyle content show vs the traditional Fridays podcast. More to come soon.
xoN: You do many things together, but what would you say is your favorite quality time activity and why?
Tabitha: We are really simple. We love watching movies or TV series together on the couch or in bed. It’s really one of our favorite things to do together.
xoN: What is your favorite thing about the other person?
Tabitha: I love that he makes me feel safe and how hard he works to be an amazing father.
Chance: I love that she is crazy enough to pursue her wildest dreams.
xoN: What is the key to a successful partnership in business and personal?
Tabitha: The key is knowing that you both are going to change, and giving each other grace, patience, and understanding during those changes.
See more on tabandchance.com.
Feature image Marcus Owens