*Former TV host Ananda Lewis dominated the space for years in he mid to late ’90s and early ’00s, hosting shows such as BET’s “Teen Summit,” and MTV’s TRL and Hot Zone. She even went on to host her own daytime talk show, “The Ananda Lewis Show.”
If given the opportunity, Lewis says she wouldn’t return to being a steady TV personality because she prefers maintaining a low profile.
“I don’t know if I would want to do it now,” she said on “The DL Hughley Show” this week. “I probably could but I don’t think I would want to.”
“I like my privacy now,” she added. “I like feeling normal again. I didn’t feel normal at all. I didn’t seek out that career so it surprised me that that happened and it was scary to me for a while. I was frightened for a long time.”
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The truth is coming out. Tune in to the #Unexpected tell-all with host @AnandaLewis, Sunday at 10/9c. pic.twitter.com/mGTb4WN4sY
— TLC Network (@TLC) October 30, 2019
As reported by MadameNoire, Lewis said a number of uncomfortable encounters with fans in public left her wanting to retreat.
“What it felt like to me was, people, because they would see you, especially at MTV, but it started happening at Teen Summit, they would see you and you’re common in their lives, every day, every weekend, all day long. You meant something to them. I think that’s powerful and wonderful — right up until you’re in person and you don’t really know them, but they really know you,” she said. “Then they grab you and they come at you and it’s invasive. I like people, but I’m really private in terms of, I also need a lot of loner time. I’m a loner in my nature. It made a huge conflict in my heart.”
Lewis, now 46, says she quit the TV life after a few life events occurred .
“I had a, kind of a convergence of big life events happening that also influenced my decision,” she said. “It wasn’t only me going, I can’t do this anymore, and that was in the middle of the talk show that I knew it. I knew it before 9/11 happened because we had been taping, but when 9/11 happened I was like, ‘This is a sign. I’m not supposed to be here.’ There are major things going on that are like, ‘get out!’”
Ananda hasn’t quit on hosting duties all together, as she is moderating the reunion for Season 3 of the TLC series, Unexpected, which airs Sunday.
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