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Monique isn’t making the same mistake twice, no matter what Love During Lockup viewers might think. 

After sharing her tumultuous relationship with Derek on a past season of Love After Lockup, Monique, 36, has returned to the We TV franchise with a new look, and a new man. She’s lost 100 pounds and is in a relationship with an inmate named Titus, 35. He’s been behind bars for 13 years, serving time for aggravated robbery and kidnapping. 

“I got into this relationship with Titus and I felt like we were going really good at the time and I was really at peace. I was happy within the relationship, so I’m like, why not share this journey again with the world,” she told Showbiz Cheat Sheet of her decision to return to TV. 

“I think a lot of my supporters see a change in me,” she added. “Last season I was just so drained, emotionally drained. It just wasn’t a good time in my life, and it’s like, this time I’m happy.”

‘Love During Lockup’ star ‘connected on a different level’ with her new boyfriend 

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Monique fell hard for Titus after they connected on a prison pen pal website and they “clicked pretty fast.” Soon after meeting, she moved from Chicago to Cleveland to be closer to him, though they’ve yet to actually meet in person. (“Prisons scare me,” she admits.)

Despite not having met face to face, Titus and Monique have “connected on a different level than I did [in] all my other relationships,” she said. 

“I knew it was going to be different because our conversation was different,” she shared. “We had very meaningful conversations. He really wanted to know me inside and out. He was very spiritual and that’s what I adored most about him. He’s very smart, he’s very intelligent.”

The couple’s relationship is built on a solid foundation of clear communication.

“We hardly ever fight, but he actually taught me how to communicate,” she said. “He was like, ‘I’m not doing that toxic stuff if you don’t know how to communicate. Even though I’m in prison, I’m at peace. So if you don’t know how to communicate at your grown age, I don’t know if this is going to work.’ So early on he just told me he’s a communicator. He likes to talk things out.”

Titus is ‘overprotective,’ Monique says 

While Monique was charmed by Titus, her sisters were skeptical. After getting burned in her last inmate relationship, they wanted to make sure that she wasn’t walking down the path to heartbreak again. Now, they’ve come around – sort of. 

“My sisters are just now, whatever you’re going to do, whatever makes you happy, OK,” Monique said. “They know I’m going to do what I want to do whether they approve or not, so they’re not going to fight me over it anymore.”

What about viewers who might see some of Titus’ behavior as a red flag? In the January 30 episode of Love During Lockup, he questions a fainting episode that sent her to the ER, wondering if she’s faking it to get out of meeting his family. 

“He basically blamed me for fainting and called me a dumb b*tch,” Monique confesses in a diary cam segment. 

While Titus doesn’t come off well in that moment, Monique says his behavior comes from a place of love. 

“I can see how people see things as red flags when it comes to Titus, but Titus is very overprotective, especially with people that he loves … he’s just protective over the women that’s in his life automatically,” she said. “So that’s just him. I don’t think it’s a controlling thing. I just think he’s just always in protective mode.” 

Love During Lockup airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on We TV. It streams the same day on All Reality and next day on AMC+.

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