Xscape is preparing for a comeback tour following their reunion after 18 years apart, and fans will be able to watch it all unfold in the new Bravo docu-series, titled Xscape: Still Kickin’ It. Tameka “Tiny” Cottle spoke to Us Weekly exclusively to tell Us all about the show, which premieres on November 5, in addition to what it’s like to be working alongside her bandmates LaTocha Scott, Tamika Scott and Kandi Burruss again.
Cottle, 42, admitted that although they were a bit hesitant to do a TV show at first, they decided to do it to give fans an inside look at their long-awaited reunion. “The series is definitely going to be action-packed,” she tells Us. “You see four friends, longtime friends, family, come back and reunite. Go through our problems, our issues and still try to maintain a healthy relationship as friends, you’ll see all of that.”
The group released their debut album 25 years ago and reunited on stage at the 2017 BET Awards in June, after splitting in the early 2000s. The Bravo show will touch on the issues that caused the group to break up, and Cottle admits that those discussions caused a lot of turmoil between the singers. “To be honest with you there are four different stories of why we think the group broke up,” she revealed. “I’ll say that we had a lot of outsiders and people that came in and maybe influenced the ways and directions that weren’t normal for us, and it tore the group up.”
The reality star admitted that Scott’s, 41, claim that Burruss’ sexual relationship with Jermaine Dupri caused the breakup isn’t true, saying: “The group was already having issues before anyone knew what was going on between Kandi and Jermaine — it had nothing to do with their sexual encounters, to be honest.”
The singers are also preparing for their upcoming The Great Xscape tour, but Cottle admits that although she can’t wait to perform for fans with her bandmates, tour preparations aren’t going so well. “Rehearsals are really scarce. We’ve been having problem after problem, I must say,” she said. “Whether it’s looking for a band or getting the show list set together it’s a lot going on and it’s pretty stressful for us right now.”
R&B songstresses Monica Brown and Tamar Braxton are also joining the tour, which kicks off November 22, and Braxton recently filed for divorce from her husband of nearly nine years, Vincent Herbert. The T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle star revealed to Us that she thinks the tour is coming at a good time for the “Love and War” singer. “Tamar is definitely on the tour and I would never speak on her relationship, it’s not my place, but I am there for her in whatever she needs and whatever is going on in her relationship, I am there as a friend to comfort her or whatever I need to do,” Cottle told Us.
She continued: “That’s pretty much all I will say about her business. She’s gonna get through whatever it is. She’s holding up. Divorce is not easy for anyone. When there is a lot of love in a relationship, it’s just not easy but she’s doing okay. She’s holding up. She’s a very strong person.”
As previously reported, the singer also filed for divorce from husband T.I. in December 2016 after six years of marriage, but she revealed in September that they are still married and figuring out their relationship. So does that mean the “Live Your Life” rapper will appear on the Bravo show?
The “Understanding” singer played it coy and told Us: “Well…Wouldn’t you want to know? You’ve got to watch it to see! You know I can’t tell you everything! You might get a peep of it, I don’t know!”
Xscape: Still Kickin’ It premieres on Bravo on Sunday, November 5, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
