EgyptSaidSo.com

Yesterday, at Carver Bank in Brooklyn, Eric Benet came by my ‘Give Back Tour’ to help collect coats and toys for the tristate’s less fortunate residents.

In case you’ve been under a rock, not only is Eric Benet newly married to his longtime love, Manuela Testolini, but the couple are also expecting their first baby together. Eric got very emotional as he discussed the impending birth.

Eric on what it will be like starting all over again as a father….

Now that I have this opportunity to love again, it just feels completely different. And being a father of a 19 year old and knowing that another one is on the way…. its an amazing blessing.  Everytime I have that thought in my mind of India, my 19 year old daughter, holding the baby whenever it comes, the thought gets me emotional because it seems like about 5 years ago when India was born.

With a 19 year old already out of the house, what made Eric want to start all over again?

…Back then when India came, it was joyous and loving, but I was also scared. I didn’t know what to expect and I was a single father. So there were a lot of those feelings of like damn am I gonna be able to do this? So the joy was mixed with fear. Fast forward to 19 years later and the fear is gone. Looking back now I know that I have nothing to look forward to but joy, love, and all the gifts that a child can bring. So I’m excited.

And how many babies are they planning for?……

We want at least a couple. (whaaaaa?? a couple? Is Manuela on board with this?) This is definitely a joint decision. If its a girl this time you know we’re gonna sit down and say alright let’s go for a little boy and vice versa. So we want at least a few more.

One thing’s for sure, Manuela may be the one 8 months pregnant, but Eric was truly sporting the pregnancy glow!! Clearly he has a lot to be grateful for. In addition to the new wife and baby, his upcoming album “The One” drops in spring of 2012. Eric launched his own label under EMI called Jordan House Records…..ANNNND he was just nominated for a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B performance.  Congrats!!

The Braxton sisters, Tamar, Trina, Traci and Towanda (sans Toni), stopped by the studio to chat with Egypt. These ladies are pure comedy as you’ll see in the video snippets below…

To listen to this hysterically juicy interview in its entirety click the links below.

Part 1:

Part 2:

“Basketball Wives: LA” star Gloria Govan called into my WBLS show today to confirm yet again that she and Matt Barnes are no longer a couple. She said the NBA lockout did play a role in the breakup but that it may not be forever.

Here are some of the highlights:

On the breakup:

I just think it was another relationship. I mean it was definitely a hard decision. It wasn’t like we were, you know, doing cartwheels and parading around like yes, this nightmare is over. It was a very hard decision. We have two kids and right now given both our situations this is time for us to take a break, grow as individuals and kind of give each other some space.

It was very amicable and we are still co-parenting. Again, our boys will be three next month. He’s very involved with the boys and you know picks them up from school. You know he’s a great dad. We’re working on our friendship . We definitely have our moments but for the most part we are definitely working towards being the best parents we can be for Isaiah and Carter.”

On how the NBA lockout affected her relationship:

To go from this different lifestyle, not so say you know…. we’re definitely not scrambling for money by any means, but when you kind of go from being out of work now what for another month it adds an added stress. Now you just kind of you look at your money differently. You look at your situation differently. Your 401K. Your kids’ college fund. All of that stuff starts to come into play. This is his contract year so this is a very, you know- he’s kind of going back on short territory, so I think that definitely had something to do with it.”

On who gets to keep the house:

We moved. We both moved out. He’s got his own place and I’ve got mine. It’s crazy because we actually don’t live far from each other. I think he moved five miles away from me. So he’s not very far.”

On whether she regrets letting the cameras into her home and her life:

You know actually the first season and the second season I was obviously very closed with my relationship and I didn’t want any of the girls to be involved. But I think its just all about communication in a lot of situations. If you kind of go in and you have a good communication and understanding with your significant other then by all means please take the opportunity and jump into it because it really has been a growing experience. I think I’ve grown from this experience more than I ever had in my life. So I don’t have any regrets and I you know of course obviously do things differently but you know those mistakes and those things are what made me who I am today.”

You can listen to the full interview below:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Laila Ali stopped by the WBLS studios last week to hang with me. Who knew she could sing??? Let me find out Laila’s working on a record deal…..

Demetria Lucas is the relationships editor at Essence magazine, and the woman behind the award winning blog, A Belle In Brooklyn, where she talks about dating and pop culture. Now you can catch her hilarious dating advice in her book, A Belle In Brooklyn. She recently came by the studio to chat with Egypt.

Check out a snippet from the interview:

You can hear the full audio below:

Steve Stoute is an author, entrepreneur, advertising executive and American record executive and artist manager. He recently dropped by the studio to discuss his new book, The Tanning Of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture That Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy, with Egypt. Check out a snippet of the video below.

You can listen to the full audio here.