It’s become quite the TV trend of late: Bravo’s biggest Housewives are moonlighting as Lifetime movie stars. This year alone, we’ve seen the likes of Lisa Rinna, Denise Richards, NeNe Leakes and Bethenny Frankel from The Real Housewives franchise pop up in dramatic Lifetime titles like Mommy Meanest, Hunting Housewives and Danger in the Dorm. And you can add yet another The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills castmate to the mix, with Garcelle Beauvais leading Tempted by Love, the network’s new May-December romantic drama presented by Terry McMillan.
McMillan, of course, is the writer behind such popular novels as Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Disappearing Acts and A Day Late and a Dollar Short, all of which have famously been adapted for the screen. Tempted by Love is a creative collaboration between the scribe, Beauvais and Lifetime: it centers on Ava (played by Beauvais, who also is an executive producer), a world-renowned chef living in Europe, who rushes home to care for her elderly aunt (Donna Biscoe) in South Carolina after she suffers from a fall.
“Picked up from the long flight by Luke (Vaughn W. Hebron), a handsome driver 20-years her junior, the pair feel an unexpected, yet passionate, connection. With a mutual interest in food, family and fun, Ava and Luke are the perfect recipe for love,” reads the official description from Lifetime. “Despite her feelings for him, Ava soon realizes that Luke still has so much to experience in life and she must decide what is best for her own career and relationships.” Joining Beauvais, Biscoe and Hebron in the cast, Lela Rochon and Loretta Devine also star.
In an interview with The Wrap, Beauvais noted how it was important to both her and McMillan for the film to deal with the realities that come with a woman of a certain age. “I really wanted it to come from a real place,” Beauvais told the outlet. “At first we’re like, ‘Is it too much to do the arthritis? Is it too much to do the menopause?’ But we’re like, ‘But that’s what real women go through.’ So why would we shy away from that?”
She continued: “What I love about the story is that even if you’re going through those things, you can still find love. You can still be intimate and feel sexy. That’s what I want people to [feel] after they see the movie. And then when it’s Terry McMillan, it’s told from a woman’s point of view.”
Tempted by Love airs tonight, August 17 at 8pm Eastern Time on Lifetime. Those with cable packages can watch on their local Lifetime channel, but cable-cutters can also tune in online with a live TV streaming service that carries Lifetime, such as Frndly TV, Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and Philo TV. And if you miss the television broadcast, the films will also be available to stream on MyLifetime.com beginning tomorrow, August 18.
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