EXCLUSIVE Hit the Floor’s Taylour Paige Talks Season 2 Romance and Rivalry! — Exclusive Share Reward Me Taylour Paige as Ahsha Hayes on VH1's Hit the Floor Credit: VH1 Memorial Day (Monday, May 26) marked the Season 2 premiere of VH1’s hit NBA-centered scripted show, Hit the Floor. Actress Taylour Paige comes back to the small screen as lead character Ahsha Hayes, but this time around she’s got a lot more on her plate. As Ahsha’s star rises, she’s met with a strained relationship with her mother and new boss, Sloane, secretly dating Devil’s star player Derek, and working with her ex, German. Oh yeah, and she’s still contending with team member Jelena, who is always plotting to take her down.
So what can we expect from Ahsha this season? When Wetpaint Entertainment caught up with Taylour, she gave us quite a bit on what’s ahead.
Wetpaint Entertainment: What can fans expect to see with Ahsha and Derek’s relationship this season? Taylour Paige: I think that there are the Team Ahsha-Derek and Team Ahsha-German fans, but I think they will be pleasantly surprised to see a vulnerable side of Derek. I mean, people who see him as this Roman emperor, he’s this talented basketball player who gets all the ladies, see him be vulnerable and kind of honest. I think you’ll see another side to him and how Ahsha becomes a reflection of the good in Derek. I don’t want to spoil it, but the most exciting thing to see is his vulnerability and how much they actually care about each other and that their relationship is a little more mature and grown like their sex, what they talk about, how they’re trying to keep their thing under wraps because they’re not allowed to date, and to see how they go about it, because they really do care about each other.
And how does Ahsha handle what’s to come with German now becoming an assistant coach on the team? You know, there’s definitely an “awkward turtle” going. Their chemistry and relationship is still very much high school, but they’re very mature about it. It’s very truthful in the respect as if you were working with your ex-boyfriend, if he were working in the same workplace as you. It’s very honest and truthful, and I mean they were together for a very long time, so they have an unspoken understanding of one another with what they each want to do for so long. German’s wanted to be in the basketball world for forever, and Ahsha’s always wanted to be a dancer on the team, so I think it’s cool. No one hates German because he’s a pretty good guy, so you’ll be rooting for him in a different way, but you’ll also want to see if he has that curiosity about Ahsha and Derek. But everyone still respects him. He wasn’t a shady boyfriend.
Obviously love is complicated and Ahsha’s been with someone that she’s been comfortable with and safe with and I think that she loves German, but she takes on a different persona when she’s with Derek. I feel like she belongs in a different way, and it’s like her old life and new life are merging and she’s going to have to face both, but I think it’s going to be interesting to see how she keeps her own sense of identity while being someone else’s girlfriend with so much going on.
And will Ahsha and her mom, Sloane, work on their relationship now that Sloane’s her boss? I think their relationship is definitely a little weird right now and strange. I think that Ahsha’s jilted and she’s almost like ‘Can you get a life? Dang. I’m trying to be myself here, and get credit for being willful and strong’ and think she’s almost like ‘Can I do it on my own?’ which is always a relationship with parents … so there’s that tension of course. But I think it’s going to be cool to see how their relationship stands out because it’s her mother the director, and also it’s her mother. She has to be respectful, but her mother’s also her boss now, and Ahsha has no clue why her mother’s really there.
Does her relationship with dad, Pete Davenport, get any better? You will see more of Ahsha and Pete and they wrote some really cute stuff for us … It was really great working with Dean [Cain] because he really is like a dad. It’s cool to see their relationship evolve, you know, because they’re starting from square one. It’s cool to see how they can relate in a world where they’re both awkward; Pete was the star of this organization that he’s now coaching, which he’s never done, and Ahsha has been dancing her whole life, but she’s never been in this situation where her star is rising … they’re both going through the same thing, but different.
The Cast of VH1's Hit the Floor Season 2 Credit: VH1 What kind of evolution can we see in Ahsha’s overall character this season? I think that people will be happy to see that Ahsha’s developing a backbone and she’s starting to speak up for herself. There’s a toughness that I think has been underestimated because she was trying to stay true … but you’re going to see her become a woman and she has to be because of what she wants. She’s in a specific atmosphere that is pretty new and you can’t be soft or you’re not going to make it. She’s realizing what she has to do to get there and she’s starting to play a bit of Jelena (Logan Browning)’s game. She’s not going to ignore it anymore. And I think she wants to be accepted for doing it on her own. She’s not there because of her mother; she’s here because she has a talent and she has the potential to be a star. She doesn’t want to be a throwaway flousy. She wants in the business and she’s there for a reason and here to make her mark. I think it’ll be cool because there are different opportunities this season to prove why she’s here. She gets tested and it’ll be cool for everyone to see how she’s handled it.
What can you tell us about Ahsha’s interaction with Jelena this season? You know, Jelena always has something up her sleeve! But Ahsha’s growing a backbone to say some s—t back to her! She’s not going to stand there and make a sad face. She’s more to say this season because she’s made it dealing with her shenanigans and crazy motives. And I think she’s trying to be on to her, so she’s starting to think ahead more than she has before because she wants to stay and be a part of the team.
One thing that fans love aside from the drama are the amazing dance sequences. What can you tell us about some of the dance routines this season? They are really dynamic and exciting. I think that every time you’ll say ‘Oh, I love that’ and the next week you’ll say ‘Oh my god. I love that.’ One of the dances we’re doing is so sick and huge! It’s not as technical as some are and everyone gets to bring their own personalities. And it’s cool how every episode’s appearance or location and music [for the routine] goes with the storyline … For instance, there’s a song called ‘Radar’ that we’re dancing to, and in a part of the dance, Ahsha and Jelena are looking at each other like they have each other on their radars. And it’s not that everyone doesn’t know that, but specifically in that episode something happens where they’re like ‘Oh girl, I got you.’
Before you go, tell us why fans should keep watching Season 2. If you don’t want to see girls dancing and shaking their thang, or these sexy men revealing their bodies, we’ve got incredible actors coming together, and there’s so much mystery and drama and sex. I think we have everything! There’s comedy — we have amazing Kat[herine] Bailess who brings so much relief to these dramatic storylines and she’s also got motive, so you’re like wait, what does she have. I think there’s a dynamic group of people and our dynamic characters come out with our personalities and we’re colorful. And that’s why you should watch!
A new episode of Hit the Floor airs on Monday, June 2, at 9 p.m. ET on VH1. Will you be watching? Tell us in the comments below!
http://www.wetpaint.com/urban/articles/2014-05-30-hit-floors-taylour-paige-season
