VH1 Exclusive: Rich Dollaz Sets The Record Straight About MariahLynn After Her 'Love & Hip Hop New York' Reunion Outburst
In case you missed it, at this season's Love & Hip Hop New York reunion, MariahLynn told everyone that she loves Rich Dollaz, that they've had an on-again/off-again relationship that spans eight years, and that she wants his children.
The revelation had everyone like:
After the reunion aired, Twitter was abuzz with fans who said MariahLynn was exposing herself for a man who wasn't claiming her, but Rich Dollaz is ready to set the record straight on all things MariahLynn.
In this VH1 exclusive interview, Rich tells us how he really feels about MariahLynn, why he was actually upset at the reunion, and gives us a status update on their relationship.
VH1: Were you genuinely upset with MariahLynn for revealing so much personal stuff at the reunion, or was your reaction based more in shock?
It was a combination of the two. I think that, ultimately, when you speak to somebody you don't expect that information will be divulged in any setting, much less a reunion-style setting. Obviously the diabetes thing --- I read online that people were like 'We already knew Rich had diabetes.' It wasn't about the diabetes. It was about the vasectomy that was the result of having the diabetes. Obviously, I put my diabetes out to the world because I think it's something that needed to be shared and that people need to know, but the results of having diabetes was not something that needed to be, you know, discussed --- especially by someone other than me --- in a reunion-style setting. So that was kind of my issue. It was a bit of shock, as well as the anger of like, 'Why are you going so deep into my personal business when I haven't even done that?' If anything, let me talk about my stuff. It's my stuff.
VH1: Is there anything about what she said that you want to clarify or wish she hadn’t revealed?
I just think the whole Mariah thing in general was a bit random and, I guess, bizarre. Like, me and Mariah have been on and off for eight years, but I think people are thinking this thing where I had her hidden or something. Mariah has clearly dated other people. I mean, and that's not a dig at Mariah. You can go on social media and see that Mariah has been with other people. So when people say, 'Oh my god! Rich, you had her hidden for eight years!' It sounds ridiculous to me! It sounds absolutely ridiculous to me.
All things considered, we were both on and off. In our off times, we've dated other people. So the whole misconstrued sentiment that Rich is hiding Mariah and hiding the relationship...no. What it is is two people, they stray away, they get back together, they connect, they talk, they hang out, you know? We're friends. So, in between the personal personal relationship it is still a friendship. So if we see each other, we don't hate each other, but just because we stray away and we reconnect at a later date doesn't mean that I have her hiding in the dungeon R.Kelly style. This sh-t sounds f-cking ridiculous to me.
VH1: Was there anything she said on the stage about your relationship that surprised you? You know, she said that she loves you, she said that she wants to have children with you. Was any of that a shock to you or have you guys discussed that before?
No, we've had those conversations. I think that, like I said, the whole thing was bizarre. You have these conversations, right? And then something happens in life that you'll be like, "Okay, then I don't know even if that was really that serious." Like, if I'm talking to you and we're having a conversation and I'm like, 'Oh my god, I'm 30 years old now and I want to have babies" and then all of a sudden, two weeks later, I see you on the blogs with another dude, then obviously I don't take our conversation so seriously. So I think the same thing with her. If we're having a conversation and all of a sudden she's like "Oh I just saw Richie or I heard about Richie on VH1.com and he was with such-and-such a girl," then I don't know that she takes those conversations seriously.
When you put it out to the world like that, obviously the world takes it seriously or they make their own judgment. They make their own opinion. And I think you should often be careful when you say things without disseminating full information because now you leave it open for people to create their own narrative. And then you create your own narrative it's usually not true because you're not equipped with all the information to make a good judgment, and now you're just running with sh-t that isn't even true to some degree.
VH1: How would you define your relationship with her now? What’s your status with her since the reunion? Have you guys been talking?
We talk, we speak all the time. I think ultimately after getting angry and then coming back full circle and calming down and having a conversation and then the apologies started. Now it's like, 'Okay, now that we're beyond that, I get it. What's done is done, it's water under the bridge. Now, what is it? Because you said things on the reunion that would imply that this is something that needed to be serious. At least a conversation needs to be had about the seriousness of the relationship. Now we need to sit down and figure out where do we go from here in regards to how we move forward with Rich and Mariah.'
I think that's the stage that we're in now is that, the stuff that's said is said. It's water under the bridge. I think it was said out of, like, just trying to get a point across without disseminating all the proper information. So, I mean, we've both forgiven each other and now it's to the point where it's like "Okay, based on what was said, what are we doing now?" and that's where we are now. Trying to figure out what's our next steps for Rich and Mariah.
Read MariahLynn's take on the whole thing here and find out how she would define their relationship.