Toni's 'Braxton Family Values'

It took some persuading to get Toni Braxton to agree to do a reality show.

"My sisters asked me to do this show in 2008 and I said yes, but then I reneged and said 'No, I'm not doing it, I'm not doing it," Braxton said during a recent press event.

The singer best known for hits like "Breathe Again" and "Un-Break My Heart" eventually relented, and the result is her new reality series "Braxton Family Values," which debuts tonight on WEtv.

The show features Braxton in her role as the eldest sister to siblings Trina, Tamar, Traci and Towanda, and as a single mother of two sons. There is plenty of drama among the sisters (there's also a brother who declined to star in the show but will make an appearance), who at one time all performed as a group.

One sister in particular, Tamar, is very vocal about her desire to no longer be a backup singer and to become a star apart from her famous sister Toni. The tension leads to a few dramatic moments within the family.

"I've always been an open and outspoken person but I didn't know that through all of that I was actually hurting people's feelings," Tamar said. "For me it was a big lesson."

But the dramatics don't stop there: One sister deals with an open marriage, another with a drinking problem and yet another with her feelings about being left out of show business. And of course there's Toni, who opens up about her health issues and two bankruptcies. Residing over all of the action is the matriarch of the family, Evelyn Braxton.

The show premieres on WEtv Tuesday at 9 p.m.

Post by: CNN writer Lisa Respers France
Filed under: Celebrities • television