Spice Relives Near-Death Ordeal On LHHATL’s MTV Premiere

Queen of Dancehall Spice kickstarted the ‘rebooted’ Love & Hip-Hop: Atlanta (LHHATL) series with an emotional moment as she relived her near-death experience in the Dominican Republic and how it affected her children.

The series, which had called VH1 home since its debut in 2012, has moved to MTV for its eleventh season, which is billed as a reboot with a “more docu approach to storytelling.”

The move comes as Tyler Perry reportedly acquired BET and VH1 from Paramount, which has decided to keep a number of its biggest titles (including LHHATL) on its other network, MTV.

Spice first appeared on the show during season six, and was later promoted to the main cast in season eight.

In the premiere episode on Tuesday (June 13), titled Out Of The Woods, Back In These Streets, the producers touched on her Grammy nomination last year before turning to the Dancehall singer’s medical scare in the Dominican Republic in October.

“Spice In A Coma In Dominican Republic” and “Spice Unresponsive” flickered on the screen as the Queen of Dancehall made her way to sit in her confessional scene with the assistance of an escort. 

“Welcome back Spice, how are you?” the show producers were heard asking the Romping Shop singer, who replied, “I’ve been better.”

In a brief flashback, Spice appeared in the hospital along with several chilling post-surgery photos. “My world just came crashing down,” Spice said. “The last thing I remember when I went into that emergency surgery was everyone looking real puzzled like ‘Oh my God how is she still alive.’”

“I was admitted to the hospital, fighting for my life, fighting through this sepsis infection that was taking over all the organs in my body. My lungs were collapsing and everything was just going bad for me. My world was upside down, I was living in hell,” she continued. 

Spice also shared a video taken in the hospital after her surgery with a touching testimony. “I might sound crazy when mi say dis but the truth is on October 31, 2022, I died,” she revealed. “And God literally gave me a second chance and I’m so grateful to be here.” 

The LHHATL cameras caught up with the Go Down Deh singer three months later at her Atlanta home with her family and kids. Spice revealed that her family all flew in from Jamaica to be with her when they heard the rumors of her death on social media. 

Her children, Nicholas and Nicholatoy, were especially affected by the speculation. “My son Nicholas, and Nicholatoy, they are my life. Losing me would just be devastating for them,” Spice said.

“I always ask God to spare my life and not to do that to my children ’cause I went through so much losing my father. My family have seen me through the darkest time in my life … that was a time you know, that was a moment,” she continued.

With a hectic work schedule ahead, however, the QOD – a single mother – decided there was no better option than to send her children back to Jamaica in the care of her mother and sister. Besides, they both had to return to school.

On the ride home from a tearful goodbye at the airport, Spice and her cousin Nancy agreed they would never want to relive those terrifying moments again. “Every time I think about it I get emotional,” Spice said, “Because the doc called my sister and was like, ‘I’m sorry to say this but it doesn’t look good for Grace. It was bad.” 

Nancy mentioned that in the midst of her tragedy, her son Nicholas told his aunt to “Bring my mommy home,” which brought the singer to tears. 

“Really,” she said. “I think that was the hardest part for me, cause when everything was on the Internet and then my son go pon di Internet and see, how say mi dead, you understand? And it nuh true! You can imagine what dat do to the kids?” … “Mi nuh like talk bout it,” she concluded before breaking into tears. 

The show ended with highlights of what’s to come this season, including the infamous table flip during a heated argument between Spice and Erica Mena.

Watch upcoming episodes of LHHATL at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.