Hi, OWN family.
My name is Joi Carter.
And my name is Clifton Pettie.
And we're from "Love & Marriage, DC."
You are now watching OWN's 20 Questions.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
Oh.
Well, that's easy.
His name is Puddin'.
And her name is Munch.
[LAUGHS]
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
I would say go with your gut.
If it doesn't feel right, it ain't right.
[LAUGHS] And don't be afraid to take a risk.
My advice that I would give to my younger self
is, take a deep breath before answering any question.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
So that's a very broad question when it comes to us.
What makes us laugh the most?
Everything.
[LAUGHS] We really see the humor in every aspect of life.
It can be as simple as being at the grocery store or, you know,
watching movies.
We find the humor, not just in life but within ourselves.
So we crack jokes.
We laugh.
We love to laugh.
That's part of what makes us who we are.
[LAUGHS]
The bad part about me is I was at a funeral a few years ago
and my best friend's-- one of my best friend's father had
passed, and we're in there, and he's laughing
because the pastor at the top, you know, he's pastoring us,
and we're laughing at him because he
made some grammatical errors while he was speaking.
So not appropriate, but still funny.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
I'm going to leave that to the missus here.
JOI CARTER: Well, he wants the wedding,
so it would be nice if he was contributing some ideas
on what he would want.
Because I'm OK with going to the courthouse.
I mean, I guess if you look at it from my aspect, you know,
women, they get super excited, and they
take over the planning, and they leave the guy out of it,
so I would think that would be probably the majority
of what's happening here.
Yeah, but I'm not every woman.
[LAUGHS]
Well, then, let's save some money.
That's what I'm talking about.
So when we talk about progress, it hasn't really progressed,
but we have solidified a date.
So that's progress.
We know what we're looking forward to.
[LAUGHS]
[DOWNTEMPO MUSIC]
What I love about Clifton is he--
we started off-- you know, it was the funny thing.
He makes me laugh.
Like, what makes joy joy is someone who brings joy,
and that is what he does.
I'm normally the person that's always
giving that type of love, and energy, and laughter,
and making sure everyone's happy, and-- but he does that,
so I can actually step back and allow this person
to reciprocate that to me.
CLIFTON PETTIE: And for me, I love
her personality, her comfortability
of us having our communication.
And I mean, she has a great ass, so, I mean.
[LAUGHS]
Ass is good. OK.
Ass is great.
All right.
[LAUGHS]
[DOWNTEMPO MUSIC]
When we first met.
So I knew when we met that Joi was the one for me when we
were sitting on that bench in our other filming
at "Ready to Love."
And it was easy.
It was clear.
The fireworks were lit in the sky,
although no one else saw it.
It was me.
But I felt it in there.
[MELLOW MUSIC]
Means exactly what it says--
Black and love.
That's us.
We're Black.
We're in love.
It's two people.
We're happy.
We're fun.
And that's what makes things work.
If that's-- if that's-- if you're asking me specifically,
that's what Black love is.
It's a partnership as well, not just one-sided.
It takes two.
It's a work in progress. - Mm-hmm.
Always.
And you're learning something every day.
I know we say, like, Black love because we're Black,
but love is love.
And love is different for each, you know, couple.
It's never the same.
There is no-- you know, there is no blueprint to it.
It's the love that works for you.
And we found a love that works for us.
[MELLOW MUSIC]
CLIFTON PETTIE: So we've already been a part of the OWN family,
in all honesty--
we started with "Ready to Love"--
so it was more of a conversion.
Again, we've known a lot of the production persons
that we've worked with before--
a couple of new people that we're also working with.
But as far as joining the family and the cast, it's been great.
It's been an experience, but it's been great as well.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
A lot of familiar-- a lot of familiar faces.
But the opportunity for people to actually see more of us,
and who we are, and our dynamic, that's something
that, you know, is, one, the difference between the two,
for sure.
[MELLOW MUSIC]
Well, I mean, the journey in itself is what everyone saw.
We are people of our word.
When it comes to what it is that we want, we work for it.
You know, Clifton definitely made bounds and leaps,
you know, as far as showing his love and his effort as far
as I want to be with you, I want this to work.
And, you know, me making sure that I'm here, I'm present,
you know, I'm not gone for six months for us
to actually really focus on us.
Let's say my frequent-flier miles are out the roof.
[LAUGHS]
OK?
[MELLOW MUSIC]
For me, I enjoyed more so that we're actually
concentrating on us as a unit.
If I'm comparing to where we came from,
it was concentrated on each individual and their journey.
Now, it's our journey together. - Mm-hmm.
Well, the part I definitely love the most
is getting to know the other couples.
You know, like I said, when we talk about
familiar faces, like, the Tyler's,
hands down, that's, you know--
we immediately have been a very tight-knit family, so
being on this journey with them as well,
you know-- like, we know, like, we're not alone.
So it is-- it's something that--
getting the type of advice that we're getting from a couple
that's, let's say, seasoned--
[LAUGHS]
And, you know, I mean, they're celebrating their anniversary--
what, 26 years?
- 27. - 27.
Oh.
Like, damn.
You know, like, that's something that, honestly, our generation,
we stopped having that many-- that many years
of being married, you know?
Yeah.
We might be three or four and then--
- Yeah. - --it's onto the next.
But they are aspiration and admiration.
Yeah, we definitely-- we definitely, you know,
look up to them, and we aspire to, no matter what,
making sure that we have that type
of connection that they do.
[MELLOW MUSIC]
Our favorite thing right now is our new place.
Yes.
It's an island, basically, called "Peace."
Yeah. [LAUGHS]
That's what we're going to call it.
And we're away from everyone.
You have to-- it's basically, like, Wayne Manor, you know?
I'm Batman.
You have to have a code to get in.
Pretty much.
And you can't get out without the gate opening, you know?
And it's seclusion.
Yeah.
We're on the water.
So it's not necessarily-- it's not the real DMV
that everyone would see.
This is more so--
it looks like we could probably be living
in Florida but in Maryland.
Yeah.
[DOWNTEMPO MUSIC]
Fun, interesting, and slightly dramatic.
Fun, interesting, and dramatic?
CLIFTON PETTIE: I'm going to go with those for me.
JOI CARTER: Mmm.
I would say, two words, learning experience.
Those are the two words that I have.
[LAUGHS]
[DOWNTEMPO MUSIC]
You would expect all those things that we just said.
In a nutshell, the learning experience, the fun, the drama,
and, of course, you've got to be ready for the love
that we're gonna contribute to the show.
You know, that new piece to the table.
JOI CARTER: We bring some-- we bring some fun.
I'm going to tell you this, if we're
going to talk on a music standpoint,
we're going to be like the elements.
The new season of "Love & Marriage, DC"
is going to be like Earth, Wind & Fire.
[LAUGHS] All of the elements.
Freak water, you don't even need it.
[DOWNTEMPO MUSIC]
Mmm.
What's my go-to song?
It'll probably be Alanis Morissette, "Oughta Know."
That'd be my first go-to karaoke song.
Mine would be "Secret Garden."
And, of course, it would be the Barry White version
that I would jump in on.
[DOWNTEMPO MUSIC]
Mmm.
For me, I would have dinner with my father.
He's been gone for 20-plus, 25 years.
And if I could have dinner, I would have it with him.
Alive, I think I'd have dinner with Nas.
[EXHALES] Man.
Man.
You took my first answer.
[LAUGHS]
I would have dinner with my dad.
And I would say, if they're alive--
nah.
My dad would trump it all.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
My superpower would be I can become invisible.
Mmm.
My superpower would be when you're around me,
you can only tell the truth.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
No.
I've only always wanted to be me.
Hmm.
That's interesting.
I think I would be--
yeah, I'm gonna still be me, actually, too.
Yeah. - Yeah.
I'm a fun person.
I'm a nice person. I'm good people.
Yeah.
You got a good heart.
Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
[MELLOW MUSIC]
"Illmatic," Nas.
Mmm.
God.
You are saying this to a singer.
Do you know how difficult this is to pick one album?
Can it be a mixtape?
I need a variety. Uh.
Eh.
Mmm. Oh!
No.
Hmm.
[SUCKS TEETH] Mmm.
It would probably have to be, probably, like, Bob
Marley's "Greatest Hits."
[MELLOW MUSIC]
One area of my life.
I feel like where I am, it's kind of--
it's actually all of it, you know?
It's new love, and working on us every day,
and then positioning career-wise as far
as what does that look like.
For me, it actually is--
it's everything.
I can't say it's just one thing.
They all tie-- they all tie together for me, honestly.
For me, it would be probably focusing
on being a better father.
Not to say that I'm not a--
not to say I'm a bad father, but I know my oldest,
when I was in the younger years, I was still partying and being
out more, so now I want to contribute more of my time
to actually being with my children
so they can appreciate the time because time in life
is limited. - Precious.
Yeah.
CLIFTON PETTIE: Thanks for watching, OWN family.
For more "Love & Marriage, DC,"
subscribe to the OWN YouTube channel.
[MELLOW MUSIC]