BGC16’s Kandyce Hogan Talks About Her Experience On Bad Girls Club & Life After
Kandyce Hogan. A face and a name that you’ll never forget. From a growing internet sensation to a TV sensation, the Chicago native has made a significant presence with just her daring personality and looks alone. An exceptional voice and an inspiring story lying deep within, Hogan’s notability all began on social media. Pursuing her early dreams of music, the 25-year-old began posting videos of her singing to her social media sites, attaining a great social media following in just a short period of time.
However, after snagging a spot on season sixteen of one of Oxygen’s most controversial shows, Bad Girls Club, Hogan instantly became an esteemed megastar. Fans from all over would flood the timelines—professing their overwhelming love for the reality star, every Tuesday night. To date, she has over 200k followers on both Twitter and Instagram. Eccentric and edgy, BGC16’s Kandyce Hogan is an acclaimed trendsetter.
Though life has taken an amazing turn for her since the show, Hogan has had her hand in other things as well. In support of women and the LGBT community as a whole, she is currently spending her time touring the world on her ‘Kandy’s Sexy Slumber Parties Tour’. The parties are to celebrate freedom and fun while having a chance to connect with her fans.
We recently got a chance to catch up with Kandyce Hogan and she let us in on her behind the scenes experience as a ‘Bad Girl’ and more…
Parlé Mag: Tell us a little bit about your life before Bad Girls Club and how you got on the show.
Kandyce Hogan: Basically, before Bad Girls Club, I literally was just working a regular little job. It wasn’t really a lot; I was working call center jobs, and I was working for retail because I’m really into fashion. It was just something to do. I had already auditioned for [Bad Girls Club] like two years before, and I didn’t get it. They did call me back for a second little interview, but this last time, I just kind of got it! This particular second time, I was not even supposed to try out. You’re going to crack up. My cousin, she came in from Aurora and, when she came in, she was like, “I would love for you to come with me to audition for the Bad Girls Club!”. I’m thinking in my head like, “I already tried out”, but, you know, whatever. So, she was like, “Please? Can you come with me?”. Mind you, I hadn’t talked to this particular cousin in a while. At that point, I’m just laughing. Like, “Okay. Well, I’ll come.” I went and, the crazy thing about it is, when you audition for Bad Girls Club, you’re in a group. I was in the group; it was me and my cousin. We were in the same group and they didn’t pick her.
Parlé Mag: Oh, no!
Kandyce Hogan: It was so awkward! You know, the fact that she asked me to come with her. Usually, when you do it, they’ll say to you, “Okay, well, we want you to stand back”, “We want you to go and you guys leave” or “We want to keep her, her, and her.” So, they said they wanted to keep me. It was so awkward! That was the vibe, at that moment. Then, after that, she wasn’t upset or anything. From what I saw, she wasn’t upset. They ended up calling me, again, to do another interview. Basically, they just wanted me to do stuff that I did on the normal. I had to do anything that I would do on the normal. So, that was pretty cool! It was the longest process ever. It’s not as fast as people think. It takes months, and months, and months!
Parlé Mag: Really, months?
Kandyce Hogan: Yeah, months! Oh, yeah. They were like, “We want to hear more! We want to know more about you.”. They had a Skype interview with my mom; they wanted to meet my mom. After they met my mom, it was another process. Altogether, it was kind of like a three-month stretch before you even knew anything. I’m not even kidding. Longest process ever.
Parlé Mag: So, how did your mom feel about you joining Bad Girls Club?
Kandyce Hogan: My mom, she was really excited. The type of person that she is, she just wants to do whatever makes me happy. She was very, very supportive. She was not even judgmental at all. Of course, a mom, they’re worried—they don’t know, but she was on board, instantly. My grandparents, they hated it. They really were like, “No! Why would you do that?” But, the way I live my life, I do what I want to do. It’s kind of just like that.
Parlé Mag: Over time, you actually became a fan favorite on the show. How was the experience on the show—being that it’s so controversial and not the conventional reality show?
Kandyce Hogan: When I tell girls, they’ll ask me, “Would you refer people to do it?” and I say, “Honestly, if you can handle it!” It is not easy. The problem, with girls, they don’t go in being themselves. So, it kind of like backfires in your face because, eventually, now, you’re going to meet girls who are badder than you, who think they’re better than you. It’s all about just standing your ground and being yourself. As long as you’re yourself, nobody can really take that from you. That was the only thing about that. It was more so like you just really want to make sure that you’re really being honest with who you are because you can feel pressured, being in the house full of other types of girls you don’t even know. So, it was give or take. But, I was totally in on it. I knew everything that I was going to be getting myself into. It was expected.
Parlé Mag: If anything, what would you say you learned from being on the show?
Kandyce Hogan: What did I learn? Honestly, being on the inside—and not actually watching now, it’s nothing that you guys see. You guys see all of the fun; you guys see all of this. It helped me learn to appreciate what was at home. It was the little things that they took away from me, like being able to just go out and get food when I wanted to or go to the grocery store—go to Walmart, go to Target. Literally, you can’t do any of that stuff! So, it really makes you appreciate the things that you have at home. It’s the little things—not having your cell phone, not being able to talk on the phone when you want to talk on the phone, not being able to talk on the phone in private. It’s nothing that’s private; from the moment you do it, everything is out in the open.
Parlé Mag: Do you still keep in touch with any of the girls?
Kandyce Hogan: Oh, absolutely! Yeah. We all flew out to Orlando—me, Tiara, Kabrina, and Kailie. We flew out to surprise Stephanie for an end of the season party. We all had such a great time! Kailie had such a great time. Her being around us, she’s way more comfortable with us than she was with the girls in the house. It was really exciting!
Parlé Mag: That’s wonderful!
Kandyce Hogan: Pretty much! I definitely keep in touch with them.
Parlé Mag: What do you think is the biggest misconception about you?
Kandyce Hogan: I got a lot of feedback from certain situations [on the show]. It made me look really, really aggressive in certain parts—which, I am an aggressive person. I’m not going to lie. But, at the same time, they made me look a little more extra, like when it came to liking this one girl on the show. They stretched it out to make it seem like I really liked her more than I really did. It was kind of annoying, but, it was just like, you know what, I signed the paper; I knew what I was signing up for. They’re allowed to make me look however they want. For the most part, I got a lot of positive feedback, too, because I wasn’t jumping on the bandwagon with the girls who didn’t like the other girls or the underdogs. I was the opposite. Even in real life—not even TV, I don’t believe that you should just pick on people who you feel like are beneath you.
Parlé Mag: Exactly.
Kandyce Hogan: Who are you to think that? That was really where I stood out from all the other girls because everybody else would just sit back and watch it. Even on other seasons, you’ll see girls just sitting back and watching—not really getting involved. But, it’s just like, no! How could you just sit back and watch someone do this to somebody who never did anything to them? You know? It kind of sucks.
Parlé Mag: So, how has life been for you since the show?
Kandyce Hogan: Oh my gosh! Let me tell you. It’s interesting! It’s like, before the show, I already had a pretty decent following on Instagram and all of that—which was perfect. But, now! It’s way more interesting now than before! [laughs]
Parlé Mag: [laughs] Was it challenging for you to adjust to this new lifestyle?
Kandyce Hogan: No, actually! The thing about it now is that “That’s Kandy from Bad Girls Club.’ At first, it was, “That’s Kandy from Instagram!” or “That’s Kruel Kandy!” So, now, it’s more like all over. When I was getting off the plane, over in Orlando, and this random lady—she was about sixty years old, she goes, “Oh my God! My granddaughter loves you! Can I please take your picture?”
Parlé Mag: Wow!
Kandyce Hogan: They instantly know me from my haircut. So, they’re like, “You’re Kandy!” And, my tattoos. It’s interesting because she stopped me in the airport and said, “I don’t even watch that show, but, my granddaughter, she insisted that I watch it ever since you’ve been on there. We’re hooked; we love you!” It’s definitely dope; it’s really, really dope. And, I’m hoping that you know, after this, I fall into some other show because, even Oxygen, they loved me! I gave you guys your ratings; it wasn’t all negative. So, hopefully, I get more opportunities, after this.
Parlé Mag: Definitely! Maybe a show with just you? You seem like a really interesting person!
Kandyce Hogan: Something! Yeah, everybody says that! It’s so funny because it’s true. I’m definitely grateful to be able to be like, “Wow, actually, now more people are able to see me!” I think that was the best part about it, too, because now it’s just not Instagram; you guys get to watch me on TV! Then, people got to listen to me sing, got to do all of that. It was a lot.
Parlé Mag: What’s new in your music career? Can we expect new music soon?
Kandyce Hogan: Yeah! Well, what I did was, I dropped a new single on the day of my viewing event. November first.. that was when I dropped it. You can definitely find music on Soundcloud at ‘Kandyce Hogan‘. Right now, I’m just finally trying to get back into the music thing. I really wasn’t going to do music, but then I’m just like, “Just do it!” I know I have a great voice, but music really makes me so shy! I’m not shy to do anything else, but sing. Now, I’m just trying to get out of my shell and do it because I know that it can really help me in the long run with what I’m trying to do.
Listen to Kandyce Hogan “Recent” here:
Parlé Mag: Let’s talk about Kandy’s Sexy Slumber Party Tour! I know that’s exciting! How did that come about?
Kandyce Hogan: I’m really excited about that! Now, as far as the slumber parties, I have thrown slumber parties way before the show. So, when they asked me to throw one on the show—because I had that in my casting tape, and they were asking me like, “I need you to throw some slumber parties on the show,” and I’m like, “Okay!” I threw one on the show, and, ever since then, everybody’s been like, “Come to my city! Come to my city!” My first one was here [Chicago]. After Chicago, I’m going to go over to Atlanta, then I’m probably going to do Houston and New York, and then go over to L.A. But, my V.I.P. tickets sold out within the first three days! People are excited! This is something that I’ve always done and this is something that I take pride in, throwing my parties—making it special. The sexy slumber party—I’m really big on the LGBT community, so, it’s always women and gay guys. It’s kind of like a mixture. Basically, you just come have fun, unwind, get to know new people. That’s really what it is—mingling. You’re in your sexy pajamas, we’re playing games—sexy games. You know, if the girls want to make out, if guys want to make out. Free spirit type of vibe. Nobody is judged; you can just do whatever the hell you want to do! That’s pretty much what it is. Even people in London, they keep on hitting me up like, “Please come to London!” I’m like, “Oh my God!”
Parlé Mag: You should definitely take it overseas!
Kandyce Hogan: Yeah! Exactly. So, I’m thinking about it. Those tickets are so damn expensive, but it’ll be worth it! Once I get all of these cities done, then I think I’m going to make London my last stop and go from there. That’s what I think I’m going to do.
Parlé Mag: How many cities are you hoping to hit on this tour?
Kandyce Hogan: At least six. Atlanta is going to be next and I know Atlanta is going to be a big hit because when I say they are waiting for me to bring this to Atlanta! [laughs] It’s really dope. So, I’m excited.
Parlé Mag: What’s next for you?
Kandyce Hogan: I feel like whatever falls in my lap. At this point, I’m just on the edge with trying to move forward. The show was dope; it was a good experience. Let’s move forward. I definitely want to get back in front of the TV again because I know the people are waiting! They’re literally like, “No, there is something that she has to be doing. That wasn’t enough time!” People tweet me all the time; they’ll tag Oxygen like, “Bring her back!” [laughs] I’m just trying to definitely get back into my music and see what’s next. I really am pushing my slumber parties. That is the main thing right now; I want everybody to know that ‘I’m coming to your city to throw my slumber party’ because I feel it gives girls a time to unwind and have a moment with other girls without drama! It’s sweet fun. I even have my cotton candy machine; It’s going to be fun.
Stay connected:
Twitter: @KandyceH
Instagram: @Kruel_Kandyy
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