BET Orders Reality Series Starring Nelly, Keyshia Cole and Mann Family

BET is bulking up its unscripted programming.

 

The Viacom-owned cable network has handed out series orders to docuseries starring rapper Nelly, a new entry with Keyshia Cole and one featuring Meet the Browns stars David and Tamela Mann.

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The untitled Cole project, picked up for six half-hour episodes, marks BET's third series featuring the multiplatinum-selling singer. The new series chronicles Cole's ongoing emotional journey as she confronts real-life issues, including her unstable marriage to NBA player Daniel Gibson, her evolving career, motherhood and family struggles. (The previous series, Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is and Keyshia & Daniel: Family First, ran from 2006-08 and in 2012, respectively.) The series hails from DuBose Entertainment's James DuBose, Imani Entertainment Group's Manny Halley and Cole. Kai Bowe will co-executive produce.

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The untitled Nelly vehicle, meanwhile, will focus on the rapper navigating his hip-hop career, fashion businessman/co-owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats and father to his biological children and his late sister's children, all while balancing a relationship with Miss Jackson, Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s ex-girlfriend. The eight hourlong episodes will, as BET says, offer viewers an all-access pass to Nelly's life. Nelly will executive produce the Entertainment One series alongside Tara Long, John Morayniss, Howie Miller, David Shaye, Kim McKoy and Shanta Conic and co-executive producer J. Erving.

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Finally, the untitled Manns entry will follow Tamela Mann (Diary of a Mad Black Woman) and David

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Mann (Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns) and feature the couple at home with their four adult children, at exclusive events and with their famous friends. The couple, married for 26 years, have become well-known around the globe for their roles in Tyler Perry's film and stage work. BET has picked up eight hourlong episodes of the show from Entertainment One. The Manns exec produce alongside Long, Miller, McKoy, Roger Bobb and Phil Thornton.

"These three shows are led by talent that our audience connects with but are also very different shows," BET senior vp original programming Charlie Jordan Brookins tells THR. "We're excited about these new shows. What BET does is give the audience what they've been looking for."

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The three additions join an unscripted roster that features long-running hit Sunday Best and scripted entries such as The Game, Being Mary Jane, Let's Stay Together and Real Husbands of Hollywood.