Exclusive Interview: Faith Jenkins Talks Killer Relationships Season 2, Giving a Voice to the Victims, and More

Host and executive producer Faith Jenkins is back with Season 2 of Killer Relationships.

The true crime series delves into jaw-droppingly evil stories of love that sours and break-ups that turn downright murderous. Hosted by Divorce Court’s presiding judge, Faith Jenkins, these twisted tales of relationships gone bad show what happens when breaking up means only one thing: someone has to die.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Faith about her role as host and executive producer of the show, what audiences can expect from Season 2, giving a voice to the victims, and more.

PC: The sophomore season of Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins is premiering on May 28th. What can audiences expect from the upcoming season?
Faith: In the first season, we really highlighted a lot of relationships between lovers. That resonated with people because we can all relate to that—most of us have had romantic relationships. This season, we branched out a little more with the types of relationships that we are covering, so you’re going to see different kinds of killer relationships. You’re going to see more diverse types of relationships that we dove into. I think what that did this season is that it brought an even bigger element of surprise because the title can give away a lot about the show and who did it. In every episode, you’re going to be wondering in the beginning who really did because there are so many other people involved. That’s the biggest difference this season.

PC: The true crime genre has grown in popularity throughout the years. What makes this series different from others?
Faith: It’s the cases. We really took a lot of time with research to find cases that we thought would resonate the most with our audiences. Having worked in crime for over fifteen years, reading about them in the paper, if reading it makes me emotional, then I know that once we put it on air and you can see the families and friends telling their stories, it will resonate with audiences.

The first case is a young African American woman entrepreneur. She was the homecoming queen. She graduated at the top of her class in high school. She finished college and started a successful business. She met a guy who was the son of a preacher and checked off all the boxes. Who would have thought that meeting and that relationship would take the turn that it did? We dig into a lot of the why, which is why people really watch a lot of true crime shows—because it could happen to anyone. These are people in your community. They’re your next-door neighbors. They’re people you went to school with. They’re people you work with. The question really comes down to why?

PC: The series finds you combining your relationship experience with your background as a prosecutor. How have these experiences lent themselves to this series?
Faith: When I first started working in New York, I worked for a big corporate law firm, and I never saw the inside of a courtroom. They asked us for volunteer attorneys to handle cases for women who couldn’t afford attorneys in family court. That was my first court appearance in New York, when I started going to family court to handle those cases. So, I handled divorces, child custody, child support, and children visitation cases. After that, for whatever reason, my career kept bringing me back to cases involving relationships. Even when I went to the prosecutor’s office in Manhattan, I started handling domestic violence cases. That really opened my eyes to the world of victims and how to handle those cases in a way that I hadn’t experienced before.

A lot of people say, “You’re in a relationship that’s not healthy for you. Why don’t you just leave?” 90% of the cases I had were women. 90% of them would eventually back out and would not want to go forward with the prosecution. These were all violent situations where people had been hurt and there was evidence of it. In order for my office to take it, there had to be physical evidence. They would all back out. They would all recant and not want to move forward.

What I learned is that you have to have more in place than just a prosecutor on board to convince someone to move on. You have to have resources because there were all of these reasons. If you leave someone, then you’re going to be homeless. Your kids will be homeless. Are you going to leave? There have to be resources in place to support people who want to make a different decision and want to move on. They need to realize that they don’t have to be alone with their decision.

PC: In so many of the cases that you cover, often the friends and family of the other victims don’t even realize that there’s turmoil in these relationships. What are some of the red flags that someone close to these victims or anybody in a toxic relationship should be mindful of?
Faith: What’s interesting about this season is there are several cases where no one would know or see any red flags. When things took a turn for the worse, if things got really violent, someone died. Prior to that, people were keeping secrets. They were harboring secrets. They were living a different life, or they wanted out of their relationship but weren’t sure how they would support themselves financially. By all accounts, the outsiders looking in would not have known that anything was wrong. So, you have to be aware that those kinds of scenarios are actually happening and taking place.

In terms of intervening, you’ll hear from the families and friends, and they will tell you, “We liked this person at the very beginning.” Do you remember the Scott Peterson case? In the beginning, the family came out in a press conference and said that they couldn’t believe that the investigators were looking at Scott like this. We see that a lot this season because people did not know the person was capable of this level of violence because there were no warning signs, but you don’t know what’s going on in someone’s head when they’re having an affair. They don’t know how to get out of it or they’re afraid of it being exposed.

One of the cases this season, there was an affair going on, and the person who they were having an affair with threatened to tell their significant other. To keep that secret from being exposed, there was a homicide. What you’re going to see is a level of surprise in many of these cases, even though the name of the show lends itself to giving away what happens. This season, there will be a level of surprise that I don’t know if a lot of our cases had last season.

PC: There’s so much trust and vulnerability that’s required when you’re interviewing friends and families of these victims. How have you and the creative team built that with everyone that you feature in the series?
Faith: That’s a really good question because we do not cover cases where we don’t have family approval or they’re not on board because we want to be respectful in telling these stories about the victims and their lives. If we don’t have family approval because it’s too painful for people, we totally respect that. We don’t push back. We move on to the next case. In many of these cases, the families want to tell the story because they want to share what a great person their loved one was and the life that they led. They want to give a voice beyond the grave. So as difficult as it is, they want to share their story. I think that’s really important because they’re the driving force behind these stories and making sure that the victim’s story and voice are being heard and these stories are being told.

PC: Speaking of voices, throughout your career, you’ve always celebrated diverse storytellers. How did you discover your own voice as a storyteller?
Faith: I had to have the courage to put myself out there as a content creator and storyteller. I’ve hosted a few shows now. I knew that I wanted to move forward in the role of executive producing. I wanted to add my voice to the mix of what’s being created, produced, and shown on television. It’s really important to have diverse storytelling because what’s going to happen as a result is you’re going to see that diversity reflected in what’s shown. You see that diversity in my shows in terms of the victims that we showcase and the families and communities that they come from. That’s important to me as an executive producer.

PC: This is the first series that you’ve executively produced. Did anything surprise you about the experience? What did you learn about your craft?
Faith: I’ve learned that you don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great. This was something new and different for me. It was a big learning curve at this point in my career, but I’ve learned a lot now. I’ve created more shows that I’m pitching to sell and hope they get on the air. My experience on this show and taking the step to become an executive producer, create my content, and put it out there for the world to see that has given me the confidence to move further in that role.

To keep up with Faith, follow her on Twitter and Instagram. New episodes of Killer Relationships with Faith Jenkins air every Sunday at 7/6c on Oxygen.