
Paula Patton Debuts Her New Love & Shares The Book That Helped Her "Call In" The One

Paula Patton has found love again.
The 48-year-old actress broke the news of her newfound love this past Valentine's Day on Instagram through an Instagram Reel of photos of the couple. The lucky man is former tennis player Prakash Amritraj, and in her caption honoring the day of love by debuting her beau in such a public way, Paula got real about her journey to "calling in" love after divorce.
In her caption, she shared that it was a year ago, on February 14, 2023, when she received a book that turned out to be divine alignment. The book titled Calling in 'The One': How to Attract the Love of Your Life in 7 Weeks arrived on Valentine's Day, and she recalled seeing it as a "sign" that it arrived in the mail on that day of all days.
After her high-profile relationship with Robin Thicke that ended in divorce after 21 years together, Paula shared that she had experienced years of being single. Opening the book might have been inspired by her desire for romantic love at the time, but what she found through reading it ended up being so much more.
"I had been single for a very long time and couldn’t remember the last time I had a Valentine, so I decided to begin reading it that day and do all the work the book suggested," she wrote in her caption. "It was an incredible journey of self-discovery where I called in myself and changed the wiring in my brain and the genetic patterns blocking me."
The book Paula read came with the promise of attracting the love of your life in 7 weeks, and while the Just Wright star said that wasn't her story, she did share that reading the book helped her call in to her life "better relationships with friends, work partnerships, and myself."
"And then it happened: I met Prakash, and today, a year later, I am celebrating Valentine’s Day with my love!" she wrote. "Prakash, you are a magnificent man with tremendous integrity. Life is full of laughter and joy with you! You are one of my greatest blessings! You take me on adventures and make me feel safe. You have my back, and I have yours. I love you."
Paula's new lease on life and love unfolded at a rich time during Paula's self-discovery journey to wholeness. After spending much of her life with her ex-husband, starting when the pair were just teenagers, the two formally split in 2014, with Paula alleging that there was infidelity and abuse, which led to an intense custody battle over the son the former couple share.
In a 2016 interview with Essence Live!, Paula spoke about her mixed emotions around being newly single but also how "freeing" it felt to be alone post-divorce. "It’s really nice, honestly, getting used to being alone. It’s freeing, it’s scary at the beginning. It’s really scary. But it’s something I’m coming to embrace and knowing that that’s really what it is now: learning to love yourself, enjoying your time with your friends, your family, and then it will sort itself out.”
Heartbreak isn't easy to navigate, and neither is starting over. Shout out to Paula for putting herself first and, in the end, being able to call into her life a love that is worthy of her love.
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Eva Marcille On Starring In 'Jason’s Lyric Live' & Being An Audacious Black Woman
Eva Marcille has taken her talents to the stage. The model-turned-actress is starring in her first play, Jason’s Lyric Live alongside Allen Payne, K. Michelle, Treach, and others.
The play, produced by Je’Caryous Johnson, is an adaptation of the film, which starred Allen Payne as Jason and Jada Pinkett Smith as Lyric. Allen reprised his role as Jason for the play and Eva plays Lyric.
While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Mother's Day is loading and so is our new series. Meet Michelle Ganey, Laurencia Bright, and Joy Ferrell as they each share their motherhood journey and the ups and downs that come along with it. Whether you're in your motherhood era, wanna be one, or just love yours deeply, The Mother Load series will have you laughing, crying, and calling your mom.
Motherhood is one thing, but Black motherhood is its own unique institution. From fears that only Black mothers can understand to the unspoken language that connects them, our series delve into the vulnerable conversations that are often not highlighted in mainstream media.
Laurencia Bright
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“They are products of their environment, of your parenting, of your personality, things like that. So check yourself,” Laurencia reminds us. Motherhood may come with a whole set of challenges and having to face yourself can be one of them. Laurencia opens up about how motherhood taught her to break generational cycles.
Joy Ferrell
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Joy, like most mothers, put their kids first. However, the mom of two is now learning that it's okay to put herself first. "It's okay to not fill your life up with your kids," she says. "It's okay to still be an individual and to actually actively and aggressively pursue being an individual versus a mom."
Michelle Ganey
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When it comes to Black mama rules, Michelle Ganey reflects on a classic one, "Do not embarrass me in public," she says. "I think one of my hardest struggles with kids is not caring about how they look when they leave the house and it feeling like its a direct reflection on me as a mother."
Watch the full The Mother Load series below:
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