TV & Movies

RHOA Star Shereé Whitfield’s Boyfriend Tyrone Gilliams Hinted He’s Single

Marlo Hampton, for one, is not rooting for a reconciliation.

The Joy to the World Fest founder Tyrone L. Gilliams, Jr.attends the 2010 Joy to the World Fest Blac...
Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic/Getty Images

When The Real Housewives of Atlanta reintroduced Shereé Whitfield in Season 14, she and longtime on-and-off boyfriend Tyrone Gilliams seemed to be on solid ground. After more than seven years behind bars, Tyrone was released from federal prison in February 2021, finally giving them a chance to reconnect. After Shereé explained on RHOA that Tyrone couldn’t travel more than 100 miles from Philadelphia as part of his “house arrest,” he appeared only via video chats in several of the first Season 14 episodes. A cast trip to New York City seemed to be the perfect opportunity for some more literal facetime, and though everyone seemed excited for Tyrone to join the group, he never made it to the Big Apple.

Instead, Shereé traveled to Philadelphia to see Tyrone, who ultimately stood her up for their date — and potentially even blocked her phone number. “Tyrone left me in a city that I’m unfamiliar with — not a text, not a call,” she said in a June RHOA episode, adding that when Tyrone did eventually reach out, he acted like nothing happened. “Like, the first thing you should’ve said to me was, ‘Babe, let me explain.’ Something. So I said, ‘Hey, let me call you back,’ and I just never called back.”

Calling the situation “f*cking humiliating,” Shereé told her daughter Tierra that she still wasn’t “ready to give up on” their relationship. “I think when you love someone, you don’t stop loving them overnight even when sometimes they hurt you, they do bad things,” Shereé elaborated in a confessional. “It’s not that easy to just move on.”

Since then, however, it appears that Shereé and Tyrone, who first connected around 2010, have broken up again. In November 2021, which was shortly after the aforementioned scenes were shot, TMZ reported that they were no longer speaking, as Tyrone was upset that Shereé insisted he film RHOA scenes outside of his home, despite knowing he was under strict house arrest rules. (In October 2013, the commodities trader was sentenced to 10 years in prison for wire fraud after allegedly scamming $5 million from investors, according to Reuters; he was released early in 2020 due to COVID-related concerns.)

Per TMZ’s report, after Tyrone passed on filming, the Bravo production team informed his attorneys they’d edit the scene to look like he no-showed for their date. Despite reportedly sending the network a cease and desist about using his image on the show early on, he worked out a deal to film more scenes later in the season.

While promoting a new show entitled Love in the Feds on Unwine with Tasha K in April, the former college basketball player and hip-hop promoter had a telling response when the interviewer claimed Shereé had called his series a scam. “Your ex, is it your ex?” Tasha K asked, to which Tyrone replied, “I don’t get into exes or current. That’s not my language. You’re either married or you’re not married.” Though he went on to say that he was aware of Shereé’s statement, he was choosing now to focus on “God, family, and business.”

Meanwhile, Shereé’s recent tweets don’t bode well for their current relationship status, either. While live-tweeting the June 5 episode, she encouraged women to “go with [their] gut” and protect their hearts, also tweeting a broken heart emoji. Days later, however, Shereé wrote that she was “good” and ready to “let the healing begin.”

One person who’s certainly not rooting for reconciliation is Shereé’s RHOA co-star Marlo Hampton. “I definitely don’t want her [with him]. She can do better,” Marlo told Page Six in May, calling Tyrone a “jerk” for standing up to her friend in Philadelphia. “Like, who does that? I was so pissed. I was done after that. When he stood her up, I’m like, ‘Oh no, forget him. Don’t forget who the hell you are.’”

Whether or not Shereé will follow her advice remains anyone’s guess. “I don’t know if she’s going to go back. I hope not after someone has humiliated her in front of her friends and the whole world. I just wanted her to know her worth,” Marlo added. “And that was the most important thing, to be the girlfriend like, ‘Hey, you have my shoulder to cry on. Cry 15 minutes, wipe your tears and let’s figure this out. Let’s go find a new man.’”