Whitney, Renee, and Sondi’s journeys continue in Run The World season 2, which premieres on May 26. The first season ended in dramatic fashion for Whitney after she confessed to Ola that she slept with someone else ahead of their wedding. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with the Run The World cast about the fallout of Whitney and Ola’s breakup and more. Is there hope for these two?
“I think for a while there she does [have hope] because that seems to be the easiest path to take. If she can get forgiveness from him and just get back to the track that she was on before, she thinks she knows where that train’s headed and it’s more predictable and it’s easy and it’s safe and it’s familiar. I think that forgiveness will make her feel better about the choice that she made, but that’s not real,” Amber Stevens West told HollywoodLife.
She continued, “I think that it’s nice to watch Ola really struggle if he even wants to forgive her. He clearly loves her back. This was very unexpected. He wanted to marry this person, so it’s going to take a while for them both to figure out what they both want to do next. I’m grateful that we are given that space in this next season to watch her figure out if making that relationship work is what she really wants. Does she really want to make that relationship work for her in her heart? Or did she make that big mistake because there’s something unfulfilled inside of her?”
Whitney will be entering her first true single-girl era, and Amber admitted that Whitney will be “struggling” with it. She’s “really sure if she’s ready for that, but also, there’s something exciting about it, a little bit scary, so thank god she has her girlfriends to lean on.”
For Sondi, Amari’s mom and Matthew’s ex will be entering the picture in season 2, which will have an impact on Sondi and Matthew’s relationship. “I think it accelerates the inevitable. I think it also accelerates things she’s been suppressing,” Corbin Reid said about how Amari’s arrival changes things. “Season 1 you very much see Sondi exclusively in a caretaker role for his daughter but also for him. She’s very much walking in his shadow, and it overshadows what she wants and needs not only in their personal relationship but in her career path.”
Cobrin added, “You see the mother come back into the picture. and she has to make decisions. She can’t sort of just go along to get along anymore. There’s a very definitive line that is drawn, and Tika [Sumpter] does such a beautiful job with that, and it’s actually really fun to watch these two characters sort of bump up against what I feel like is a bit of an elephant in the room.”
The actress noted that it was “fun” to play Sondi in season 2 because “she’s making decisions. She’s just not just wallowing or worrying and she’s doing it very boldly and unapologetically.”
As for Renee and Jason’s relationship, Bresha Webb teased that Renee will be “exploring her single life again and trying to figure out what her heart wants. I think she’s been doing things so one-sided, like what would look good, what would be right for her career, and now she’s taking a leap of faith in her career and she’s walking that out and now she is also trying to adapt to the single life and dating and maybe dating someone new and seeing where that goes and really listening to her heart also and trying to figure out what works for her at this time, what would be the best thing for her future. It’s going to surprise a lot of people I think.”
Run The World season 2 will not feature Ella, but her absence will be explained. “We get updates on her. She’s absolutely still a girlfriend of ours,” Amber told HollywoodLife. “She’s just chosen to spend her time elsewhere so we support her in that, and we still reference her and try to talk to her and reach out to her for help because she’s still a close girlfriend.”
Bresha noted that there are “sweet” moments in season 2 where “Ella still saves the day for the characters, so I can’t wait for viewers to still see how we honor her and still lean on her when we need to.” Run The World season 2 will premiere new episodes Fridays on STARZ.