The ill-fated pair of Omarion and Apryl Jones became a fan favorite on VH1's Love & Hip
Hop: Hollywood.
But reality TV stardom couldn't sustain the real-life relationship, and things went south,
fast.
We're casting light on all the shade as we explore why these two split up.
Omarion and Apryl Jones' relationship appeared to really flourish during the first season
of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood, but the former B2K frontman wanted to focus on more than
just his budding family.
He also wanted to spend time building up his music career post-B2K.
In 2015, while viewers were still waiting to see Season 2 of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood,
Omarion spoke to XXL, offering some hints about the drama to come.
He brought up the obligations of fatherhood, and the difficulties of balancing family time
with work, saying,
"Something is going to have to take some sacrifices."
Is that foreshadowing we hear?
Whatever it was, he promised viewers an interesting season for Omarion and Apryl.
A few months later, things apparently started to crumble.
The couple skipped the Season 2 reunion special, and it was revealed that the pair was quitting
the show ahead of Season 3.
Apryl dished out the details in an interview with Essence Live.
"We didn't go to the reunion because obviously Omari was on tour, and, you know, I was with
him, with our child, and it was just too much."
By the time the couple split in July of 2016, an insider revealed to E! News that all of
the travel involved in Omarion's tour life had started to test Apryl's patience.
"Everything is settling down.
So now it's time for Daddy to get back on his grinine."
Apryl and Omarion split in 2016, but eyebrows really shot up when the reality TV starlet
later started dating none other than her former beau's B2K bandmate, and Love & Hip Hop co-star,
Lil Fizz.
After months of denials, the two went public with the news in October 2019, confirming
their relationship in an episode of the show.
Fizz also posted a since-deleted Instagram photo of the couple in a warm embrace with
the provocative caption,
"Good things come to those who wait."
Fans were left wondering, could it be that their hookup happened earlier than they let
on?
With speculation rampant, Omarion had to learn to let go of any negativity surrounding his
ex's new relationship.
The singer told Madame Noire,
"I realized that maybe I would take it too far.
Maybe I would go further and there would be certain consequences that wouldn’t just
affect me, but it would affect my kids...I just did a lot of self-reflecting and I realized,
a lot of situations and circumstances are really out of your control."
While Omarion remained tight-lipped, Jones decided to "spill all the tea" on Nick Cannon's
radio show in November 2019.
For one thing, she scoffed at the idea that her relationship with Fizz represented some
kind of boy band betrayal, because according to her, the band members weren't very close
to begin with.
She said,
"People have this perception that this boy band was like a brotherhood...But there were
a lot of issues that they were having...The only time they were ever around each other
was for the filming purposes.
Outside of that, there was no friendship."
Despite this lack of brotherhood amongst the bandmates, Apryl insists that there was no
sneaking around involved in the new romance, which only developed long after her relationship
with Omarion had fizzled.
Did Omarion's mom, Leslie Burrell, influence her son's breakup with Apryl Jones?
Who knows, but both ladies definitely have a thing or two to say about their feelings
for each other.
The strain between the two women was so obvious that it came to be a plot point on Love & Hip
Hop: Hollywood, and the results weren't pretty.
On the Love and Hip Hop companion show Check Yourself in 2014, Leslie made it crystal clear
how she felt about Apryl.
"Ever since this little heifer came around, I feel like she thinks for him, she speaks
for him.
And now he just don't know how to act anymore."
Friendly, huh?
The eventual breakup didn't stop the verbal catfight, either, as Apryl went on Instagram
Live in April 2020 to share more about her side of the situation.
She said of Leslie,
"The father of my kids' mother, she was very nasty.
And I genuinely feel like at the end of the day, a mother is supposed to allow the son
to soar.
She should be happy with whoever you choose to love and be with."
While some celebrity duos are total power couples, others may struggle to find balance,
especially when it comes to money.
Apryl claimed in her interview with Nick Cannon that Omarion seemed irked that she was able
to flourish outside of their relationship.
But what does Omarion have to say about that?
Speaking to Sway's Universe in March 2020, Omarion shared his side of the story, revealing
why he split with Jones, and ultimately, why he didn't want to marry her.
In his words, he doesn't really believe in marriage, or at least the ways marriage could
force him to share the wealth from his success.
"It's not really beneficial for a person like me to work hard and then split half with someone
else."
The way he describes it, breaking up with Apryl was largely a financial decision.
But no matter, since their breakup, it looks like Apryl is thriving in her own career as
a wine merchant.
During an interview with Claudia Jordan on Fox Soul, she revealed that she came up with
the business while going through her breakup with Omarion in 2016.
"I named it after my daughter, her name is A'mei.
It means 'beautiful.'
So I named it 'A'mei La Vie,' which means 'beautiful life.'"
It goes to show that just even when you're going through a bad time, or a bad breakup,
you can still have a beautiful life to look forward to after it all blows over.
Apryl Jones isn't afraid to admit that she has a strong personality.
Speaking to Hip Hollywood back in 2014, Jones revealed,
"[Omarion] has a lot of intense women in his life.
From his grandmother to his mom, to his auntie, like they're strong women.
You know, so he can't obviously date anyone that's like, not strong, either."
So, was the wine entrepreneur just too much for Omarion to handle?
Some people seem to think so.
After the duo's breakup, Omarion's friend Bow Wow took to Instagram to congratulate
his buddy, saying,
"Bro you got your freedom!
We can hang again!!!"
If you think that seems like a shady comment, you're not the only one.
While you may think Apryl would have had a lot to say on the subject, she instead remained
relatively neutral, releasing a statement in which she washed her hands of the whole
thing, saying,
"As far as Bow Wow, his friend is Omari.
Whatever he feels like he needs to do or say for media purposes doesn't pertain to me."
But she has also pushed back on the perception that Omarion was the nice person in the relationship.
As she put it, only she and Omarion know how things really went down.
While a lot of people in the public see her ex as an all-around nice guy, she says she
knows better.
"You're getting the perception of O when he's out (snip a few seconds) You're not hanging
out with this man every day.
You don't see the life he's living.
You don't know."
While Apryl Jones may be quick to dish some unflattering comments about Omarion regarding
their breakup, the singer would prefer to offer up a more simple narrative.
Speaking about the breakup in an interview with Madame Noire, he said,
"At that period of time in my life, I was going through a lot of changes, especially
within my business...I was asking myself a lot of questions.
I just had kids.
I was like, why am I doing this?
I needed a moment to be able to just recalibrate and refocus and really think about what I
wanted to do."
That said, he still couldn't resist getting a dig at his ex, saying,
"I would really attribute her not understanding to lack of communication and upbringing."
While they may disagree about the reasons, one thing seems clear, this romance is beyond
over, and the feeling's mutual.
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