LisaRaye McCoy has much to say about her past. The actress has been involved in a few high-profile relationships, from her brief marriage to former NFL player Tony Martin, to film producer Datari Turner, and a rumored relationship with prominent Bishop Noel Jones. Most notably, McCoy became Mrs. Michael Misick after marrying the former prime minister of Turks and Caicos. In 2008, the marriage ended, finalizing in divorce in 2009, and the actress is revealing why she believes their marriage stood no chance.
LisaRaye is most famous for starring as “Diamond” in the 1998 film The Player’s Club and has also held starring roles in the shows All Of Us and VH1’s Single Ladies. While attending the 2005 Trumpet Awards, the two met and sparks soon began to fly. The couple wed in 2006, but the marriage was short-lived and ultimately the actress would have to testify against him in court for accusations of abusing public funds.
The former Mrs. Misick told Essence in a 2009 interview that despite their marriage being over so soon and she was now involved in his legal matters, she still loved him. However, the “fairy tale” that she was trying to create with him, “turned into a nightmare” she said.
“The love I have for him is based on the time we spent together,” the actress shared. “The start of our relationship was phenomenal and when we came together it was something special. He embraced my family and I knew he cared about me.”
McCoy also shared that there was a bit of imbalance between their personal and professional lives and how they viewed one another. “Again, I think I could have spoken up more. A lot of times I would ask what can or what am I supposed to do,” she told Essence. “Many times I was there to support him, which I was happy to do. But I always felt I could do more. I want to be beside my man, not behind him when we’re building as mates. It should not only be about the money or building for the allure.”
She continued, “If all he wanted to do was reel me in for some type of partnership or agreement, then he could have been honest and said that and we could have possibly worked something out. But don’t try to mess up my life and get me more involved in things I don’t have anything to do with. It’s just not fair.”
Over the years, more details would emerge about the failure of their marriage, including accusations that actor Duane Martin had allegedly been meddling in their marital affairs. By the time the seemingly tumultuous marriage arrangement was drawing its end, McCoy was ready to leave it all behind and walk away empty-handed if she had to.
“I was like Tina Turner. I was like, ‘I just want to leave with my name.’ [Do] you know what I mean? I’m just gon’ start all over,” the former First Lady of Turks and Caicos shared on an episode of Cocktails with Queens. “To some people, it’s like ‘What? You were in a marriage and he had more than you and you helped him get even more than that and you all were together and building together at least for a couple of years. Don’t you deserve something?’ But sometimes you walk away because you deserve your peace. So for me, as I was fighting, and it became more and more expensive, and more and more of my time and more and more of my peace, then it was like, you know what? It’s very obvious that I have to start over.”
The actress appeared on Claudia Jordan’s Out Loud on Fox Soul where she dove deeper, sharing that in her opinion, their marriage was not built on love, but rather the “potential” of falling in love. If she has any regrets, it would be that she did not marry for love.
For me, hands down I should have married for love,” she recently admitted while stating that the marriage was not for clout. “It was the potential of falling love, but I should have been in that before the marriage. Perhaps you know, the dream that he sold me was, ‘I want to date you in our marriage,’” she continued. “Well, I had never heard that before and I was thinking that’s kind of clever, and we’re going towards that way anyway, so OK we can accomplish what we were trying to accomplish sooner in a partnership.”
McCoy was also married prior to her romance with Misick in 1992, but that also ended in divorce after 2 years.