Somaya Reece first graced our TV screens back when Love and Hip Hop originally premiered. Ah…good times! These days, she’s preparing for a wedding and enjoying reality TV fame with a net worth of $4.0 million!
Love and Hip Hop is set to premiere season 8 on Monday (October 30) and it just dropped a dramatic new trailer! It makes us wonder about the original queens of the show. It feels like ages since we saw Somaya Reece firing up our TV screens on Love and Hip Hop season 1. What has the queen been up to since leaving the show? Find out in our Somaya Reece wiki.
#1. From Rags to Riches
According to her Bravo TV bio, Reece, born Ginie Castro, was raised first-generation American in South Central Los Angeles. Her parents were migrants from El Salvador, and she grew up living in a garage and fell into some dangerous company.
During her youth, she joined a gang, was stabbed, and shot. After her near brushes with death, jail, and many traumatic incidences, she decided she didn’t want to be another gang-related statistic, and quit the dangerous activities.
She worked as a maid with her mother when she was discovered by someone from the famed William Morris Agency. Her luck flipped and soon she was doing leading comedic roles in over 45 national commercials, along with speaking roles on the big screen and TV shows. Her most famous credits include American Psycho, The Scorpion King, and Entourage. The 34-year-old appeared in mega ad campaigns for brands like Ralph Lauren, DKNY, Colgate, Pepsi, Budweiser, and Coors Light.
She became a household name thanks to Love and Hip Hop attracting 11 million viewers to the franchise’s debut season. After leaving the show, she starred in Famously Single and First Family of Hip Hop.
#2. Marketing Powerhouse
Somaya Reece cashed in her viral fame by building her social media following, which in turn, pushed her business. She once dominated MySpace and is now a star on Instagram. She has multiple businesses, including a clothing line, clothing store, fitness brand, and several weight loss products. She has a blog for her fitness advice and markets her ‘This Fits Me’ products on Instagram.
Her Instagram bio will attest to the social media maven’s various projects. She’s a tech and finance investor, designer, and runs her own fitness brand. She’s also working on health and children’s books. And all the while, she’s still busy with her main job as an actress.
She also crossed over to the music industry, likened to Missy Elliot and the late Latin sensation, Selena. Her music topped charts across Latin America, where she toured extensively as an independent artist.
Reece has a net worth estimated at $4.0 million and it will only grow from there. It is reported that she recently launched her TV and film production venture, La Rosa Ent and The Greatest Entertainment.
#3. Overcoming Pain
The entrepreneur went through tough times in her pre-fame days. Her father was an alcoholic, her mother was verbally abusive, and she herself suffered abuse at the hands of a boyfriend. She once opened about getting pregnant at a young age, becoming homeless after her mother kicked her out, living with the abusive father of her child and the murder of her young son.
On E!’s Famously Single, she opened up about a boyfriend from her teens who set the standard for every man she dated after that. “That guy, my boyfriend, did beat me. It was horrible,” she confessed on the show. “I tried to break up with him a couple [of] times. It just wasn’t easy and then he was like, ‘If you’re not going to be with me, you’re not going to be with anyone,'” she added.
Reece is openly bisexual and her abusive ex is the reason why she dated more women than men. “It just made me hate men,” she said, adding “I just think they’re disgusting.” But she made it clear that her traumatic relationship with a man is not why she likes girls. She found out she was attracted to females when she was young.
Her tumultuous past is behind her now. Reece has been dating rapper, Lady Luck, who famously held her own up against the great Remy Ma in a rap battle. They met years ago and Reece had a crush on her. They started as friends and did the song “Boss Lady” together, and both later starred in First Family of Hip Hop.
And now this adorable couple are engaged! Shanell Jones, a.k.a. Lady Luck, proposed to Reece in the season finale of First Family of Hip Hop, and of course the Queen said yes! The couple is taking it slow with the wedding planning for now. Hopefully, we’ll hear wedding bells soon!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaYBJGcBsM0/?taken-by=somayareece
