Mother, model and designer is what she goes by, but Nicole Murphy is a phenomenal woman who does so much more than what she is labeled. Most noted for her 13-year marriage (1993-2006) to comedian and actor Eddie Murphy, Nicole is making the most out of being a ‘Hollywood ex.’
Holding down her fortress as a mother of five, the premiere of the VH1 show will showcase all the things we thought we knew and more.
Vixen caught up with Nicole as she chatted about the show, talked about her daughter Bria Murphy and shared some advice for Deion and Pilar Sanders.–Krystal Holmes
VIBE Vixen: Tell me a little bit about the show, what can we expect?
NICOLE MURPHY: We had always been there with our exes, but you never really got to know us as who we are and what we want to do in our life. It’s basically us doing our thing now and living our lives and dreams and we are all there to support each other and help each other out. You’ll see friendship, a lot of laughter and funny things happening, then of course, there’s real life drama and real life issues that we all have.
So, it will be totally different from Basketball Wives?
Yeah, [laughs]. Shaunie [O’Neal] is my girl and I watch the show and support it, but I just can’t see myself fighting, I’m just too old to be fighting [laughs]. I have children and I got to be a mom. I don’t want my children looking at me fighting.
Were you friends with all the cast members prior to the show, or did they just kind of throw all of you together?
Actually, I’ve known Sheree Fletcher for about 19 years. Because of our kids, we’d have the birthday parties and we’d see each other. It would be a casual “hey girl,” but we never really hung out until recently which is great. I’m mad I missed it all those other years. Now I’m really getting to know this woman and she’s incredible. I’ve known Jessica [Canseco] for maybe about 10 years. We met at the gym and we’d always work out, and her and I are like glued to the hip; that’s my buddy. Mayte [Garcia], I met her years ago when she was married to Prince but just really getting to know her now. She’s amazing and has a wonderful spirit about her. Andrea [Kelly], I’ve known for about 2-3 years. She’s an incredible woman and her body’s banging!
Your body is too! What’s your workout routine like?
I workout with this trainer named Jason Estrada. He has his own gym and he trains me, then I switch it up sometimes. I’ll do the Santa Monica stairs, or Runyon Canyon or go down to the beach and roller blade or ride bikes. I’m always doing something active. My favorite thing is to do my work outside if I can, I really enjoy it.
NM: She’s doing great! She’s actually doing a lot of auditioning for movies, so we are just hoping one of them pops up and comes through.
What advice do you give her daily when dealing with this industry?
I always told her you got to have tough skin to be in this business, because you’ll go on auditions and they’ll just look at you like you don’t work. I was like, You can’t let the rejection ever put you down or make you feel like you can’t do this. She’s actually doing good. I’m proud of her.
Do you have any advice for Deion and Pilar Sanders and people who go through divorces in the public eye?
Divorce is sad period. People react on their emotions. I don’t know what the whole situation is with them, but hopefully, they can take a step back and look at the good in each other, because something brought them together. They have children, and I think it’s important to be friends and work out something so that they can at least show the children that mommy and daddy are cool. No matter what, they’re still going to be a family. They may not be together anymore, but it’s important to be cool for the kids.
Lastly, what are three style essentials that you can’t leave home without?
My lip gloss that’s like a pen with a brush on it, my cell phone and a night recovery oil from Kiehl’s (Midnight Recovery Concentrate) that I love. It makes my skin feel really moist because I have dry skin. Another thing that I like to do it’s called Tazorac. You get it from a dermatologist and you put it on your skin before you wash your face. Put it on for, maybe, one minute and it takes all the dead skin off your face and it evens out any discoloration. If you do it for like a week straight your skin will just look flawless. All the brown spots will be gone and all even toned.