To all my Bad Girls Club and Love Games fans/viewers, here’s a treat just for you. I had the opportunity to speak with Judi Jackson from BGC, Season 7, and she opened up to show her fans that there is a lot more to her than what we’ve seen on television. She goes into detail about her romance with Matt; what being on the Bad Girls Club has taught her; and what’s in store for her future.
If you’ve seen Oxygen’s most intense series to date, you know that this show holds nothing back. At times I can admit to cringing from the violence and the girl-on-girl cattiness because it’s nothing short of a public display of bullying but, in the end, the girls are supposed to have grown from the experience. Well, only time will tell if anyone actually comes away with a healthier perspective of reality, and speaking with Judi was my chance to see what the Voodoo Vixen learned from her time in the Bad Girls Club house. Check out what we talked about; you’re in for a treat.
DaniTheDreamGirl: Now that Bad Girls Club and Love Games are behind you, what are some exciting things that you are working on and what’s the biggest opportunity that has come your way?
Judi Jackson: Well, the biggest opportunity since then I think was to actually sit in the offices of Jonathan Murray and pitch my own show. Like a lot of Bad Girls don’t do that…actually, no Bad Girls do that.
DTDG: What would your show focus on?
JJ: It will focus on me and my boyfriend’s careers. It would be kind of like a Simple Life mixed in with the Bad Girls Club. It will be me moving from Chicago to my boyfriend’s hometown in South Carolina, which is way slower than Chicago and me maybe getting a job (lol). It’s going to be really funny, but at the same time focus on our careers. He wants to be a rapper, and I want to be like a LaLa, so they will show me in the studio and on the radio, hosting events and stuff. It will focus on our life after, trying to make it. Oxygen is all about getting to where you want to go, living outloud (their tagline), a young woman’s network…not like VH1 where everybody already made it.
DTDG: A lot of times, especially with the newer shows like Basketball Wives and Love & Hip Hop, to me it seems a little scripted so you never know what’s true or what’s just for TV. As far as Love Games goes, just to put the rumors to rest, are you and Matt actually together? Was that real love?
JJ: Yeah, we’re still together. No relationship is perfect, but it was real. It wasn’t scripted at all! Love Games nor Bad Girls Club was scripted.
DTDG: I know it’s hard enough to have a relationship that’s behind closed doors, how do you make it work when millions of people can see your every move?
JJ: Well, we’re making it work. I can’t really say how, but we’re trying. (Me: Prayer?) It’s not easy.
DTDG: The Judi on TV is crazy, likes to party, but what’s the Judi that we don’t see on TV…what’s Judi on a normal day without cameras?
JJ: I’m actually really cool and laid back. I be chillin! I just don’t like people to mess with me….that’s it! I’m actually not a crazy person…I don’t wake up on 10 and go to sleep on 10! I’m actually calm and respectful, I have common sense…I don’t just wake up drinking Mimosas and go to sleep drinking hot tea and vodka, I’m sober (lol). People just think I’m out of my mind and have no common sense at all! But really, I do and I’m actually really emotional and all the craziness and anger just comes from me being overly sensitive.
DTDG: What do you think is the biggest life lesson that came out of you being on both shows?
JJ: On Bad Girls Club I pretty much learned that in the real streets, people are gonna hurt you if you torture them or mess with them. You’re an adult now, you have to take responsibility for your actions. If you want to throw cereal on somebody, they will beat you up! That’s what I’ve learned! You get what you give! From Love Games, I learned that you don’t always have to show out and act out to get attention. On Love Games my role was kind of reserved and I was actually pretty quiet…that was the other two girls fighting, I kind of just chilled and sat back. You don’t always have to be the loud one to make your point or to give people attention…just be yourself. What’s that saying? The loudest one in the room is usually the most insecure and I just realized that.
DTDG: As you weave your way through the industry, how will you begin to separate yourself from the image that you portrayed on the show? How will you become that serious business woman that people want to invest in?
JJ: On the Bad Girls Club I was 21 and I’m 23 now, so I mean age is nothing but a number, but with experience comes maturity. Going through the BGC and things that I’ve been through in the last few years, I’ve come a long way. I’m not saying I’m perfect, but I am growing and I think that’s all you can do…your actions speak louder than your words. And I’m definitely not the same Judi throwing cereal and cussing everyone out…I do slip up and make my mistakes still til this day, but I’m more of a woman.
DTDG: Looking back, if there’s one thing about your journey that you could change, what would it be?
JJ: I wouldn’t necessarily change anything, but there’s certain stuff that made the media and I would have chosen to not do that and I would have thought about it before I acted out. I just realize there’s a time and a place for everything, but I don’t regret anything. I would have handled myself better and more ladylike and mature in certain situations.
DTDG: What are some of the long term goals you have for yourself, moving forward?
JJ: I really want to be a business woman and invest in my brand. I’m the face of ME’YA Cosmetics! I love lipstick! I want to be a brand owner and a Video Jockey or a radio personality. I want everything! For Judi to be a household brand…sky’s the limit. I also want to get married and have kids (I giggle)…no, seriously, this is not a joke!
DTDG: If you had to give yourself a self-assessment, would you say that you’re content on where you are?
JJ: I’m not where I want to be yet, but I’m where I’m supposed to be. There’s always progress, learning and advancing and every day is a new chance to make yourself better than yesterday.
DTDG: What do you say to the younger girls that are impressionable and looked at all the stuff that happened on Bad Girls Club? How do you let them know that may not be the best way to handle a situation (fighting)?
JJ: Television is not somebody’s whole life…it’s just a snippet of an hour of what people may go through, but it may not make them. So, do not base your life off of somebody else’s life because God has a path and a plan for everybody and your life is headed in the direction that God wants it to go…don’t be influenced by an hour of TV where for the other 24 hours you really don’t see what that person is really like.
DTDG: How did you get the opportunity to be on TV? You went to Colombia University, correct?
JJ: Yes, I went to Columbia! I was always the party girl, the loud one…like let’s get it crackin! Me and my friends were watching Bad Girls Club one day and I remember thinking “ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I can do this!” Like, let’s get drunk and talk smack to everybody, that is right up my alley (lol). I can be on this show! And everyone agreed…it was obvious that the girls on the show have been through stuff in their life and I have too, so my friends were like just try out. An open casting session came to Chicago at a bar up north and I had no idea that I would make it. It was literally me up against 1,500 girls…there were so many girls there! I just remember thinking, “I’m never gonna make it. No way!” And I did! I beat out all those girls…it was so surreal when they flew me to LA for my final interview…that’s a moment that I will never forget. It was the most exciting moment in my life! I was 100% myself…they take party girls with issues (lol)! I AM the Bad Girls Club!
DTDG: For those looking to follow the same reality TV aspirations, how much work do you have to do to maintain your brand? Is it difficult?
JJ: It is difficult. You have idiots tweet you dumb stuff and call you all types of names, and since I’m in a relationship, you have people who judge that. As much as you want to cuss them out and go H.A.M. on them (I’ve done that a couple times), you can’t. You never know who’s following you…a big person may see me go off and they may not want to work with me…you have to pick your battles. You also have to stay true to yourself…all people know is the Judi on TV, the Voodoo Vixen…they don’t know me, they don’t know Judi Jackson. You want to go out to the club and be that girl from TV, but you can’t because people are watching…you do have to change! I want to get ratchet, but I can’t.
DTDG: Do you feel like there’s a sense of getting to a point where you will be yourself 100% regardless of what others think?
JJ: I was real on TV…that’s Judi all day! They didn’t edit me in a different light. But, I can’t go out and throw drinks in the club and lift my dress up, I have people looking at me. I’m not on camera and people aren’t going to protect me. I don’t have to be that destructive person. A normal person can go to the club and get drunk and fall over, but if I do that it may end up on Mediatakeout and can be a whole different story like I was on drugs and that may not be the case. It’s about being more mellow and being aware of your surroundings.
DTDG: Do you have anyone in the industry that you look up to and want to work with?
JJ: I would love to work with LaLa, Rocsi from 106 & Park, and I would love to work with the Kardashians. I think they flipped their mistake and made it into an empire. I think that’s the smartest thing ever.
DTDG: What’s one funny thing that people don’t know about the sober you, but it’s a big part of your character?
JJ: I really do talk to myself! I do smile when nothing is going on (lol). When Matt is really serious, I laugh! I don’t laugh cuz it’s funny, I laugh cuz “why are you so serious?” (lol). People probably really do think I’m crazy!
DTDG: How did you even come up with the whole Voodoo thing? Is that real?
JJ Yes! I’m really Creole and I’m from Louisiana, but my mother used to tell me stories. I never practiced Voodoo, but her mother and my Grandma really do practice Voodoo. The thing with Voodoo is, it’s just karma! What you give out in this universe, you’re gonna get back. I’m not afraid! Treat people how you want to be treated. I’m not crazy, I really know what I’m talking about.
DTDG: How do you balance your relationship? Matt seems like a laid back person and you’re more boisterous.
JJ: Me and Matt have way more in common than anyone knows. He’s not mellow all the time and I’m not wild all the time. It’s a relationship…I don’t think Matt would have dealt with me for so long if he wasn’t a goofy person or funny. People just don’t know that because he’s actually really shy. I’m just more outgoing and outspoken. You guys can watch the YouTube videos from Mexico.
DTDG: How do you want your fans to support you?
JJ I have Twitter (JudiJaiKrazi) and my YouTube channel (JudiJaiTV). My fans are really interactive with me and unlike a lot of other celebs and reality stars, I actually talk back with my fans.
I think it’s great to see a different side of Judi, outside of what is seen on TV. She was super sweet and hella funny.
