Gary finds out that the baby shower he's been planning for Beyonce might not happen, D'essence gets a rocky start to her internship with Ed Lover, Brandon and Rickey continue reconnecting with each other, and Aaryn's new boyfriend meets the family on TV One's Rickey Smiley For Real, airing Tuesday, July 18 at 8 p.m. ET. In Atlanta, Gary finds his world shattered when Beyonce tells him that the baby shower might be canceled in order to keep things calm around her as she and Starter, the baby's father, get closer to the end of the pregnancy. As they talk it over, Gary - who has been planning a monumental shower - loses his cool. "I put Juicy aside just for this baby shower. Juicy is not talking to me, I got a couple of my other friends not talking to me - I stopped my part time job to do this shower. This is my time to shine, to let the world know that I could arrange this. I have put a lot on the line for this shower!" Meanwhile, Aaryn brings her boyfriend Nico over to meet D'essence, Porcia, Ed, and Rickey - who is caught off guard when he sees Aaryn kiss Nico at the door. He diffuses the situation by grilling him with a comical set of questions - as he sharpens his cooking knives.
"I'm starting to like the kid a little bit. But at the same time, I'm still going to sharpen my knife to make sure I can cut up my bell peppers and onions because I might make some fresh spaghetti or something," says Rickey. D'essence begins her first day as an intern with The Ed Lover Show, and is tasked with navigating a complicated breakfast order for Ed and his crew. When she makes it known that she doesn't know who A Tribe Called Quest is, Ed kicks her out of the room for a 10 second timeout, which is the standard discipline for people who say off-the-cuff things in the station. "They kicked out me outside of the room and now I feel like a clown - an intern clown!" says D'essence. And in Birmingham, Brandon and Rickey spend more quality time together, after coming through a rough patch last season.
"It feels good to know that you can call your dad and it's genuine. He is going to be who he is and I'm going to be who I am but at the end of the day, he's still my father and I'm still his son. We're not going to live forever so why beef with a family member over stupid stuff," says Brandon. Rickey Smiley For Real is produced by Bobbcat Films for TV One with Rickey Smiley and Roger M. Bobb as executive producers and Angi Bones and Shante Paige as co-executive producers. For TV One, Jubba Seyyid is executive-in-charge of production, Robyn Greene Arrington is vice president of original programming and production, and D'Angela Proctor is head of original programming and production. After each episode, check out Gary with Da Tea's behind-the-scenes insights on the network's YouTube Channel and website at www.tvone.tv. Viewers can also join the conversation by connecting via social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@tvonetv)using the hash tag #RICKEYSMILEYFORREAL. For more information on Smiley's personal and professional background, please visit: http://therealrickeysmiley.com/ and http://rickeysmileymorningshow.com/.