Mercedes Javid “MJ” of Bravo’s Shahs of Sunset
Bravo’s Shahs of Sunset is about to start Season 6 and from a peek at the premiere episode, I can say that the mix of high drama and shenanigans will keep you riveted.
I spoke with Mercedes Javid “MJ” about what to expect this season:
Hi Mercedes. First of all, I feel terrible seeing that your dad is in the hospital, not doing well at the start of this new season. How is he doing now?
Fortunately he’s stable now but went through terrible complications, one right after another, when we began filming the season in summer of 2016. What a lot of people don’t know was that my dad was the ‘single mom’ raising me. He’s the quieter person not featured on the show. He has always been my best friend, the one who picked me up from school, nursery through college. My friends and I would walk over and tell my dad everything, so now talking about my dad is important to me. Sometimes people want to avoid discussing the subjects that aren’t happy-go-lucky, but this is a reality and everyone goes through it. In the past year I’ve dedicated a lion’s share of my time to hanging out at my dad’s bedside, playing video games with him on my phone and bonding through things we did when I was a kid. We used to love Family Feud and now I have it as an app on my phone in addition to Trivial Pursuit.
At the Season 5 reunion, you said you planned to get married in June of 2017. In the first episode of this new season, you say the wedding is on hold while you’re focusing on your dad. Do you guys have a new date in mind?
Culturally, you don’t plan a joyous occasion when someone is in such a critical condition. There were so many complications all at once and there are times when you can’t even function. I’m proud of how well I held myself together, but have been trying to hold it together as best as I could. There will definitely be a wedding!
How are you and Tommy doing? I know you’ve discussed past abandonment issues and some things you wanted to work through. Have things changed on that front?
The person I was before I met Tommy and as I grew stronger with him...I definitely evolved a lot. I was always looking like someone who clearly had past phobias and baggage about commitment. I’m much more reasonable and more rational now. The last thing I’m going to do is pick a fight with this good guy while we have moving boxes and stresses and real life things. Tommy’s so stable you can set your clock by him. I was always looking for time to make me feel better about my choice, but I don’t feel I need that and I don’t think that way anymore. We have long since gotten past the initial phase of our relationship.I am more focused on us just spending time together and having fun, but yes, we are ready to start planning our wedding now that my dad is more stable.
There were a lot of tension between cast mates at the reunion. You said you would never be friends with Asa again. Where are the two of you now?
Let me say that I was so naive for such a long time. I gave Asa the benefit of the doubt and allowed her to take cheap shots at me. I’m annoyed with myself for being beguiled by her for so many years. Things are cold. What you will see unfold is: what kind of double standard her definition of friendship is - not just with me, but with everyone. She criticized me last season, she criticized my mom, she made anti-feminist remarks and she was ageist towards me. She was pretending to be this empowering person - a demagogue complex. I’m glad I articulated things at the reunion because what she does this year is going to take the cake!
How is your friendship with GG now? In the past, you two also had turbulent times. I know we’ll see her relationship with Shalom, how they quickly get engaged and then married. We know from the blogs that it doesn’t ultimately work out for them.
My relationship with GG is good. I have gotten to the place where I have to respect someone’s life choices. With GG, I have a conversation with myself beforehand and consider her like a little sister who will figure it out. I think that everyone will find out what went down with GG and Shalom, how things unfolded and why she decided to get divorced. The reason we get along now is because we have this sisterly love. That’s the dynamic. It’s not that I revere her or respect all of her life decisions - I used to think I had to respect all her decisions during the years when we had the most issues.
Will we see lots of pranks and silly shenanigans this season as we did in prior seasons?
The first thing you might see is me getting revenge on Reza. In Season One, he took me for an enema. Now I get him back by taking him for anal bleaching. The two of us are so fun because of the shenanigans. We also prank Mike. We like to call our friends out in a playful way when they’re being douchey or out of line. Reza and I are in a really good place with each other. We’re honest, we tell each other everything and I’ve told him not to hold back because I can’t function in a friendship where there is an elephant in the room. He used to have a problem with that and now he doesn’t so we get along.
We see that Mike’s ex wife Jessica reappears this season. Have your feelings changed towards her?
I was supportive of her until she started to show these really shitty sides of herself and then tried to make it my fault. When her husband cheated on her, I had nothing to do with it. I reacted to it, but there were things that happened factually way before I opened my mouth. ‘I’m sorry you’re angry that your husband cheats.’ I was deeply insulted because I had her back and as a woman, I took the woman’s side. I didn’t want this double standard of a Persian man, or any man, allowed to have casual affairs. That’s why I was always supportive on and off camera of Jessica until we had this falling out. There were other thing that I knew and kept confidential prior to that. With the way that she responded? F you! Nothing has changed there between us.
Let’s talk about Shervin. I don’t know so much about him except that he came to the show as your friend initially. Will we get more insight into his life?
Shervin is not the easiest guy to get to know through reality TV. He’s extremely smart, educated and he’s very much like a brother I never had. If I had a quarter form a payphone in jail, he would be the only person I would call. He grew up in Palo Allto, so there’ s a lot of dazzle and fairy dust when you’re new to LA. He’s got a lot of money and toys he likes to enjoy. This season you’ll get to see what happens with him and his Australian girlfriend - there is sort of a conflict for him between what his mother wants him to do and what he wants to do. Also, I think other ‘bachelors’ who are questioning ‘Have I met this amazing girl too soon?’ will be able to relate to Shervin. He seems to have it all but is not able to fully appreciate that and is not ready for everything. He is really good with all of us and an amazing friend. If we have a problem, he’s the fixer in our group.
Catch the season premiere of Shahs of Sunset July 16th, 8/7c on Bravo.