“Basketball Wives” alum Tami Roman is helping suspicious lovers uncover whether their partners are cheating on them in the new reality series “VH1’s Caught in the Act: Unfaithful,” which premieres Monday night on the cable channel.
Emotions run high in the trailer for the new series, which has some confrontational moments between couples or the suspected other parties. But due to her reputation across decades of television, Roman went into the show without concerns about getting caught up in any “Cheaters”-like incidents.
“I had no concerns,” Roman told TheWrap. “You know, I think that one thing people know about me is that I’m not to be played with. I think that I’ve established that over the course of my career in this business. And so I have a certain level of respect – unwritten respect – that people just don’t cross that bridge or try anything too much with me. … It’s a blessing that people respect my work and respect my temperament.”
Having Roman as the show’s host, moderator, listener, etc. also made a difference. As viewers will see in the premiere episode, at one moment when things seem to be getting heated, one of the participants seems to do a double take recognizing Roman, changing the mood completely.
“Every single person was familiar with who I was, yeah, which goes back to what I said. So they’re familiar with me so they have a certain level of respect for me. And then we can just do what we’re there to do with the show, which is provide these suspicious lovers with the information that they need – the receipts, the knowledge that they are asking for. And so it made it very easy,” she explained. “People were willing to sit down and have the real conversations. People were very open and people were honest and of course when you find out that someone really is cheating or that there is definitely infidelity, sometimes people were angry, people were hurt, people were sad, and we were able to work through those things with the relationship expert and the therapist that we have on the sidelines.”
Roman is joined on the show by Kevin, a relationship expert, who comes in and takes part in the show, offering counseling as he helps the show’s participants figure out what they want, and how to move forward if they want to put in the work to make a rocky relationship work.
“Kevin is really, really great. And I loved the component of him being involved with the show because he gives us that male POV,” Roman explained. “A lot of times, women, when another woman is talking to them, they feel like you’re supposed to feel how they feel. So to hear how a man actually agrees with some of the things that I’m trying to advise them on they were far more receptive.”
In the “Caught in the Act” trailer, Roman can be seen asking folks to calm down and take a minute, but it doesn’t get that heated in every week.
“There were a few of those times, but not every episode. And I think as the series goes on over the course of the three weeks, people will see a lot of different scenarios that are definitely relatable [and] they’ll be able to see themselves or at least someone that they know,” she said. “There’s one episode where there are five women that are dating the same guy, and I thought, for sure, I’m going to have to make these women calm down. I just knew it was gonna be a fiasco, and it ended up being one of the most empowering and enlightening episodes of healing. …. And I’m so proud of that episode. Really, and truly. So each episode has a different outcome, because it’s so layered. You never know which road a person is going to take, which scenario they’re going to pick. So that element is always going to be a surprise. And then how people actually navigate through the information they’re finding out always ends up being a surprise. It’s always going to be different than what somebody expects.”
“Caught In the Act” has a two-episode premiere Monday, July 18, starting at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The following two Mondays will also have two-episodes each, kicking off at the same time.