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Adrienne Bailon-Houghton has been a pioneer in the entertainment industry for over two decades. She’s an actress, singer-songwriter, producer, and television personality with an NAACP and Daytime Emmy Award to her credit. Currently, she’s the co-host of E! News and Peacock’s Love for the Ages.

From Red Arrow’s Kinetic Content, the team behind Love is Blind, Married at First Sight, and Wife Swap, comes Love for the Ages. Is the grass greener on the other side? Deep in the heart of the legendary city of angels, three middle-aged LA-tino couples, all at a personal and emotional crossroads in their marriages, find themselves granted the wish of a lifetime. What will they do with the chance to turn back time and swap their current spouses for much younger partners for a month of real-life change? A powerful social and psychological experiment sparked by the current trend of “age-gap” couples, audiences will share in the discovery as to whether the original couples opt to remain together, for better or worse, or dare to embark on a new life alone or with a sexy new partner. The series became an overnight hit when it premiered on Peacock in December and now Adrienne is bringing all the couples and singles back for an unforgettable reunion special.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Adrienne about the Love for the Ages reunion special, joining the E! News family, motherhood, and more!

PC: You’ve done it all throughout your career. What was it about Love for the Ages that attracted you to this project and made you want to host it?
Adrienne: Honestly, it was the fact that I tune into these types of shows. I absolutely love all the relationship experiment shows. They’re intriguing. They keep us glued to our televisions. I’m super excited that I get to be in that mix. It’s funny because my whole team from hair, makeup, and management, normally will get me ready for a show and job and be like, “Have a great time at work.” This time, they were like, “Can we come with you? Can we find out what’s going on?” They didn’t want to miss a beat because they were invested in the storylines of these wild couples and what’s going on with the premise of this show.

PC: Each of the couples has a distinct reason for why they’re there. Which of their journeys surprised you the most and why?
Adrienne: I have to say Richie and Marioxi surprised me the most because I really appreciated Marioxi’s vulnerability and her transparency in talking about what she’d been through in their relationship and experiencing infidelity. I give it to Richie for being honest and open. He owned and took accountability for why his relationship was in the place that it was. That’s something that so many people can relate to. That one was really intriguing. At one point, she shared with me that she didn’t feel safe with Richie. I got emotional with her because it was that aha moment for her where she was like, “I know what I’m missing in my relationship because of this betrayal and mistrust. I don’t feel safe with my husband.”

PC: What was going on in your head when she was pouring her heart out during that final decision and you’re sitting between the two of them?
Adrienne: It was hard. Here’s the thing—I felt like I got to know Richie’s heart really well in the sense that I know he loves Marioxi. He really wants to be with her. He wishes so badly now looking back that he could change what was done in the past, but he can’t. I think it’s really frustrating for him also to have to feel like he was always on an upward climb with her in the sense of, “Okay, I messed up. We’ve chosen to stay together, but now every day I have to see the repercussions of the wrong that I did, not just by hearing about what I did, but seeing that she’s gone through depression and sadness, and she wasn’t able to move on.” It was really hard for her to go, “Okay, I know you were unfaithful to me, but you said, ‘I’m sorry.’ Now everything is okay.” That’s the reality of relationships, so I think just having a real insight into that was super interesting.

PC: Throughout your career, you’ve always shared the lessons that you’ve learned along this journey. What would you say is the biggest lesson that you learned being a part of this project that you’ve now been able to bring to future projects?
Adrienne: Wow. I would say that communication in a relationship is so important. We hear that all the time, but we don’t realize that when we’ve been with someone for such a long time. You almost have to recalibrate the relationship every so often because your goals and expectations are going to change as time changes and as your lives change. Look at Maria and Michael—they have been together since they were sixteen years old. Recognizing that the spark that you had at sixteen is not going to be the same two children later, twenty-something years later, and figuring out, “What are the expectations? I want to go out partying. I want to travel.” This person’s like, “That’s not really my interest.” It’s about learning to grow but growing in the same direction, and I know that’s not always easy.

PC: What can you tease about the reunion special? What was it like reuniting with the couples and the singles?
Adrienne: I was not ready. I didn’t expect such an explosive reunion. I thought I knew everything that was going to happen—or could happen—and I was completely thrown for a loop. I’m talking totally different new relationships emerging. There’s a specific relationship that comes out of this that you’re like, “Wait, what?” It’s insane. There are accusations. There are things that we actually get to see behind the scenes of clips of that maybe we didn’t get to see before. There’s so much that people are going to be shocked by at the reunion.

PC: You’ve had so many vulnerable conversations in the public eye, especially when you were hosting The Real. How have those experiences allowed you to build trust with the couples and singles, and have these open, authentic conversations that we see unfold?
Adrienne: I feel like being able to share. If they’re going to share their hearts, you have to do the same. There’s something to be said about, “Okay, let me ask you a million questions about yourself, but I don’t have any plans to share anything about me.” It creates a little awkward situation, so in my case, coming from a place like The Real where I shared everything and anything for almost ten years, it was easy for me to just really ask the questions and try to understand where they were coming from and what was going on. I feel like that made it really special. I think that made it that much more real.

PC: You’ve also become one of the co-hosts of E! News. What has it meant to you to be part of this legacy? Has it lived up to everything you expected and more?
Adrienne: Absolutely. It definitely has. As you said, I get to be part of the legacy that is E! News. It’s the gold standard of celebrity news. I think I’ve had the most fun working with Justin Sylvester and being able to literally give the rundown every single day of your top 10 craziest news stories. I feel like we are the go-to place for everything you need to know, whether it’s from our Instagram account to the actual show. I love being able to run it down. I feel like it keeps me in the know. I read my script every day, and I’m like, “Oh my gosh. I had no idea.” So, I absolutely love it. It’s been so much fun. I’m grateful to add more of a journalistic aspect to my resume.

PC: You’ve had so much success throughout your career. When you look back, is there a moment that stands out? Who or what has had the biggest influence on your journey?
Adrienne: Wow. I would say The Cheetah Girls was probably the biggest moment in my career because it really taught me that I might be like, “Oh my God. This seems like a fun little kid show,” but that thing has really catapulted me. To this day when I watch TikToks, I will see people getting dressed up for Halloween as the Cheetah Girls. I look back and I remind myself not to view any pieces of work as a throwaway. Every project is significant and important because you never know what will be the one that completely takes off. I would not have thought that The Cheetah Girls would’ve been and would’ve done what it did—selling out arenas, and having the impact that it did.

If I had to pick three major things that have helped my career, it’s been one, always being down for girl power and promoting and empowering women. I’ve been part of two girl groups, and then The Real was like my third. There’s something beautiful about being able to work with women. Two would be always being authentically who I am. I feel like my authenticity is what opens the doors for me. It makes me connect with people. That’s really what I’ve built my career on, which is reliability, so not changing and keeping that in mind when I’m doing projects. The third thing I would say is representation—the fact that I’m Latina and I literally walk around so proud of my culture and excited to represent it. I really feel that has knocked down multiple doors that I’m so excited to see this next generation run through.

PC: Speaking of representation, have you had time to reflect on the contributions that you’ve made on communities that want to see their stories represented on screen and the impact that you’ve had throughout your career?
Adrienne: I love hearing from people that are like, “Wow, you were the first person that I saw on TV that looked like me or sounded like me, especially when it comes to Disney Channel.” Then, obviously realizing the impact that The Real had. When it ended, it was the first time that we really realized, “Oh my gosh. We’re the first to ever have a show that looked like ours.” The fact that I was the first ever Latina on Daytime is wild to me. It’s still mind-blowing. I’m excited and waiting for the next person to do it. I can’t wait to pass this torch.”

PC: Throughout your career, you’ve picked projects that have resonated with audiences. What is the vetting process like when you’re deciding what you want to be part of?
Adrienne: It depends. That has changed as my career has gone on. Now being a mother, what I choose to be involved with now depends on, “Does it take away from the time that I get to have with my son? Is it something that he would be proud of or something he would love?” I’ve heard a lot of actors, actresses, or hosts say, “Oh, I took this job because my kid was a fan of it.”

At some point, I’ve always wanted to do voiceovers. So, as Everly gets older and he starts watching cartoons, I think a dream job would be to be part of an animated series that he’s like, “My mom is the voice of that!” I want to do things that he would find cool, significant, and awesome. But long-term, I think with what I went through to have my son and the fertility issues that I went through and my whole journey, I want to find a way that I can share that and turn that into a legacy of trying to help people and bring some people information that can be somewhat helpful to them and bring hope. That’s my main goal.

To keep up with Adrienne, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Love for the Ages reunion on Peacock today.

Photo Credit: Arianna Garcia