LHHNY Star, Chrissy Monroe Opens Up About Erica Mena, Her Role On Show, Business Endeavors & Much More
Chrissy Monroe may be one of the new faces to prime-time television but it didn’t take long for her to make an impact every Monday on VH1’s Love & Hip-Hop New York. While her on and off relationship with Chink Santana may be enough drama to tune in for, Chrissy also doesn’t mince words and keeps it all the way real at all times! She can be fiery and that may even make her appear to be aggressive as Erica Mena and her fans found out very early on, but Chrissy assures us that she’s not that person. We met up with Chrissy in the heart NYC at Promenade lounge celebrating her appearances on Love and Hip-Hop while also raising money for her charity. As far as we could tell during our heart to heart, Ms. Monroe is simply a beautiful woman with a loving heart, a passion for dogs and a penchant for the hustle. Take a look at her heart through our interview…
Parlé Magazine: Well first and foremost, you’re one of the newer faces on Love and Hip-hop NY, how did you even get involved?
Chrissy Monroe: I was always interested but I have to give the credit to my manager Tenisha Ramos. I told her I was interested and she made a phone call and the rest is history. Tenisha got me an interview in Mona’s office and three weeks later I was on the show.
Parlé: For people who may not watch the show, might have stopped watching or might just be familiar with your name but not the show, what do you bring to the show?
Chrissy Monroe: I bring the realness. I have no filter. The person you’re talking to right now is who I am on the show. I’m not being bougie. I’m not being fake or phony and what’s going on in my life is really going on in my life.
Parlé: What would you say to them to get them back watching?
Chrissy Monroe: People who may be going through issues in their relationships or even in their businesses, they should tune in because they may be going through something similar, not just with me, but with the other ladies and cast members as well.
Parlé: And you’re a joy to look at as well.
Chrissy Monroe: Right! You don’t know what I’m going to wear. I’m a bit of a fashionista. I wear wigs and I put wigs on my dog as well. I think I’m interesting in that aspect, interesting enough to tune in just to see what I got on.
Parlé: Going into it, what were some of the concerns you had or did you have any concerns?
Chrissy Monroe: I really didn’t have any concerns. I had a really rough upbringing, which the audience will get that see once they start to know me a little better. There’s no shame in my game and I really hope my story, of my childhood and my life, coming from a dysfunctional family and being homeless as a teenager inspires other young women or men to follow their dreams and don’t give up because I damn sure didn’t and I had every odd against me. People were telling me ‘you can’t do this,’ or ‘you’re not going to be able to do this.’
Parlé: You’re originally from Baltimore, correct?
Chrissy Monroe: Yes. East Baltimore. East Cresent Street.
Parlé: How did that environment mold you growing up? And now that you’re in NYC how does it impact you?
Chrissy: It made me a beast! (laughs) You don’t want to mess with me, I’m a shark. Business is business with me. I don’t take things personally. I’m also a sweetheart and I’m very loving. I grew up in a nice neighborhood, we were very friendly with each other and all that stuff so I have that code of honor as well.
Parlé: Now that your on the show and viewers have seen how you roll, a lot of people might consider you a bully. Do you consider yourself a bully?
Chrissy Monroe: No, not at all. A lot of people got to see that one little incident with this girl, but I am so anti that.
Parlé: So how did you even get to that point with her?
Chrissy Monroe: This chick had it coming a long time. We have a ten year history and a lot of stuff you don’t see on the show, other things that’s just grimy that you didn’t see that this chick did. And you know, I got tired of seeing her running down on everybody else, talking smack. Who’s really the bully? Is it me or did I go after the bully when I ran down on her ass and she started stuttering. Somebody needed to check that bitch. I wouldn’t call it bullying, but I would call it a ho check!
Parlé: Understood. (Laughs). So now, is there a relationship bwtween the two of you?
Chrissy Monroe: Not at all! We’ll never be friends. We’ll never be cool. I hope she gets help for her drug problem, I hope she gets custody of her son.
Parlé: How’s your relationship with the other cast members?
Chrissy Monroe: I love everybody. Rich is awesome, he’s so cool. Syn Santana is a sweetheart. She epitomizes to me everything a young Latina woman is supposed to represent and to me she’s more of a role model than anything Erica was for all these years. I’m glad they brought her on board because she’s so positive, she sings so well and she’s all for suicide prevention. I love Jhonni Blaze, that’s my ride or die. I love Yandy, she’s such a classy lady. Everybody on the show is really great.
Parlé: What type of opportunities are you hoping this can help lead to?
Chrissy Monroe: Man, I’m trying to get into a Steven Spielberg movie or something. Martin Scorsese. Heyyyy check me out.
Parlé: Did you ever envision yourself as a good fit for a reality show prior to this?
Chrissy Monroe: Oh yeah. I’m good friends with Jadakiss, he’s been saying for years, (imitates raspy voice) “you need your own show, you and that dog of yours. Ya’ll so crazy.” Just everywhere I’ve gone people are like you need your own show, you should be on TV. I’ve always been that over the top peesonality, that big presence when I walk into the room that everyone wants to know who I am. Of course, naturally I’ve always said yeah I need my own show. It’s easier said than done. So I’m really grateful to Mona Scott-Young, Stephanie Gayle and Rhonda Cohen—they run Love and Hip-Hop NY—for giving me this platform so that one day I can have my own show. And for now I’m having a great time. I don’t know why I get so much negative press and all that. No one’s telling you what to do on that show. You show up, no one’s telling you to act ratchet. They are actually very anti-ratchet and violence. You just have certain personalities that come on and don’t mix well. It’s fun for me. I love it.
Parlé: Coming back to that negative feedback. I’m sure you get a lot of comments on social media, does that affect you? And bigger than that how are you able to block it all out?
Chrissy Monroe: I could care less. I have such a thick skin. For you to hurt me, you gotta be someone who knows me. You gotta be a relative, I gotta be in love with you, you gotta be one of my close friends for you to say something that hurts me. Usually when someone hates it’s because their miserable with their life, so you kind’ve have to feel bad for them because they have no life. If they’re so obsessed with my life and a TV show that they are so wrapped up in it, it’s kinda sad. But haters are fans too. You not hurting me watching me every week get a check. So all that, I pay it no mind. I dust it right off. Everyone from the cast gets it. It doesn’t even phase me. They don’t know me, they don’t know my heart. So God bless them. God bless the haters.
Parlé: Introduce us to your dog a little bit. They’ll be seeing a lot of her, so if folks aren’t familiar, what should they know about her?
Chrissy Monroe: Marge Tiffany is my fur baby. She’s seven years old. She’s a tiny human to me. She’s a rescue baby. I took her from a bad situation and two weeks after I took her, her two sisters died. She’s a miracle. She’s so wonderful, she’s a professional actress and model. When I say Marge sit, she sits. When I say Marge model, she poses. So she’s fabulous. Me having her is one of the reasons I got involved with so many pet charities and wanted to save other dogs. A lot of people don’t know that chichauchas are the second most euthanized dogs next to pitbulls in the world. So there’s a lot of tiny chi’s in this world that need shelter and need love.
Parlé: In addition to that, you also work with models, a lot people don’t know that. Tell us about that.
Chrissy Monroe: It’s a talent development agency. It’s called LeJue Entertainment, it means The Game in French, because it is a game and it’s a dirty game. When I first came to New York twelve years ago I wanted to act and model but I had no one to help me. There was no programs where you could get that one-on-one or even a group talk of women in the industry. So I’m giving that mentoring to young women that come into my office and ask, ‘Am I supposed to be paying them?’ No. Or, ‘this casting agency, the director said I need to sleep with him if I want to be in the video.’ No! That’s dead ass wrong, but a lot of these women are falling for it. So I take pride in steering. I don’t work with everyone. You have to have a portfolio, you gotta be pretty much established. I don’t want some Instagram chick coming in with a screenshot of her ass. Honey you need to be a bit more dedicated to your craft.
Parlé: How’s the agency going so far and what’s next for it?
Chrissy Monroe: It’s going well, I’m going to start some runway classes. We’re going to open some acting classes, with some acting coaches. So it’s going pretty good. I went to Barbazon when I was 12 years old in Baltimore so that gave me the foundation to know what I was doing. It gave me some runway skills, they told me how to put on make-up but they didn’t teach me about the ins and outs of the business, because it is a business.
Parlé: What advice do you have for upcoming models trying to get their start in the business?
Chrissy Monroe: Be dedicated to your craft, which means, if you need to lose weight get your ass in the gym. If you need to get your teeth fixed, get your teeth fixed. And, it’s not for everybody. Some people are not meant for that industry. And I’m not here to sell anybody a dream either. There are so many great companies that deal with plus size modeling or hand modeling. I was a plus size model back in the day when I was working for Colt 45. It was an urban brand and I was considered plus size. I was a size 12, but I had the ass and hips that the urban market is looking for. But I knew that was my niche, I wasn’t trying to walk the runway and be 100 pounds. I never fit into that. And I wasn’t trying to starve myself and kill myself. But at the same time you gotta work hard, no one is going to come knock on your door.
Parlé: Besides the show, what’s next for you?
Chrissy Monroe: Right now this Love and Hip-Hop is taking so much of my time, I’m just riding the wave. The charity is my number one priority. It’s just so near and dear to my heart. I would like to get into some more acting, maybe get that Steven Spielberg film. I would like to get an agent, hoping by the Spring. Or to even get on a HBO series, something like a weekly thing on Showtime. I would love to do Saturday Night Live since I’m so funny and I’m not afraid to make a fool of myself.
Parlé: You mentioned earlier that people don’t know your heart. Share a bit of that with me. What’s in there?
Chrissy Monroe: Oh man, I’ll give you the shirt off my back. I’m so loving and caring and sometimes people take that as a weakness but it takes a lot of strength in this world to be loving and kind. It really takes a lot more, but when you been through so much and you’ve overcome so many things, you have empathy and sympathy for people going through certain situations. That takes a lot of growth and understanding. I’m not competing with anyone to get there before them. No. You need something, take it. Let me help you get where you need to be. So many people out here stabbing each other in the back, for what? Material gain? I’m so past that point in my life. It’s about encouraging people, motivating people. I wouldn’t mind being the next Oprah, just her positivity, kindness and understanding because there’s not enough of it in the world. So when I say people don’t know my heart, it’s because I know the difference I make in people’s lives outweighs anything you can say about me. They talk about Beyonce, they talked about Jesus. They gonna talk about you regardless!
Instagram @ChrissyMonroe
Twitter @ChrissyisBlonde
www.chrissymonroe.com for any model submissions or information
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