Originally posted Friday, September 27, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
When "Real Housewives of Atlanta" cast member Eva Marcille got on the phone with me earlier this week to talk about a preview party for her new CBD products, she also happened to be 39 weeks pregnant.
“The timing is very conveniently inconvenient,” she said.
Her third child Maverick, she said, was due the same week as her party on September 28 during a ReLeaf Medical Cannabis Summit in Midtown Atlanta. Her new CBD products called cEVAd include eye cream and oil and will be available to preview on September 28 online.
“My head is spinning upside down and this baby could literally happen on this call,” she said. “So if the call comes, you know what happened!” (It didn’t. The baby actually came September 27, the day before the party.)
Recently legalized, CBD products are popping up all over metro Atlanta in stand-alone stores and other retailers. CBD is cannabidio, an active ingredient found in hemp, a strain of the cannabis sativa plant that does not give you a high.
The CBD oil has been cited to help with a wide variety of ailments from epileptic seizures to anxiety to inflammation to sleeplessness. But it's not regulated and according to WebMD, outside of epilepsy, many of CBD's supposed healing qualities are not scientifically proven.
Eva is a big believer in holistic medicine and healing. “A lot of chronic pain people have... comes from inflammation,” she said. “When you use CBD as a natural alternative to Western pharmaceuticals, it helps with that inflammation.” It can be ingested, topically or vaped, she added.
She wants to keep her world as natural and organic as she can. She doesn’t use Tylenol or Motrin and believes Asian herbs and CBD are good alternatives.
“I created this for the moms, the women out there, particularly black women trying to figure out a healthy alternative,” Eva said.
Her launch party might end up on "Real Housewives of Atlanta," which returns November 3 and is still filming, so her launch party might end up on the show. Cynthia Bailey also hosted a baby shower, which will certainly make it on the show.
She said her storylines this season will focus on settling into married life and her pregnancy and acclimating to the city of Atlanta and a new home. What she does find annoying but understands is part of the downside of being on a show like this is “people are very curious about things that do not pertain to them.” (Last year, her finances became a major topic of conversation, which did not thrill Eva.)
Eva said, as usual, dynamics among the women will shift, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
"Part of it is par for the course," Eva said. "I had the fortune and pleasure to develop a genuine and beautiful friendship with a couple of the girls. I'm new to Atlanta. I work. I have my radio show. I do well. But everyone needs a friend, right?"
Her husband Michael Sterling, an attorney, is a "workaholic," she said. "He has a new law practice."
He works with those wrongfully accused. “He absolutely loves it,” she said. “He’s a super supportive husband.”
Eva's take on Kenya Moore's surprise breakup with Marc Daly: "I have nothing to do with nor know enough information to speak of her situation. She is a beautiful woman. I've gotten to know her. the show is one thing. She's a big personality. All in all, as a person, she's a great mother and was a great wife. I wish her well."
The California native plans to stay in Atlanta for the long term. “My kids have to love the Hawks and the Falcons!” she said. “This is my home. Life goes on.”
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