As a viewer from the very beginning, I was so bummed to hear that Shahs of Sunset was cancelled. The news came after 9 seasons of the show that introduced us to the Persian culture through a tight-knit friend group. One of the things I loved about Shahs was the genuine relationships between the cast. Something that rarely see on Bravo shows anymore. But in the last few seasons, the show had taken a darker turn and became harder to enjoy. Regardless, I hated to see them go out on such a low note.
But now Shahs OG Mercedes “MJ” Javid is teasing that the Shahs might be back on our screens soon. She told Page Six that a new, unscripted project is in the works for her and longtime friend Reza Farahan and Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi. Said MJ, “This, for me, feels like a second chance that most people don’t get to make your wrongs right.” She added that the group has since “mended fences” over their many feuds on the final season of the show.
MJ went on to explain, “[We’re] putting the past behind us where it belongs and just really supporting and loving each other, laughing again. It’s like these beautiful wounds [are healing].”
At the time of the show being cancelled, multiple sources said that NBCUniversal was in the early stages of the series. NBCUniversal is the parent company of both Bravo and Peacock, making us wonder which network the show could appear on. While no official announcement has been made, the group was seen filming in West Hollywood. MJ recalled, “Reuniting with my little squad that I love to death felt amazing. Because it’s very current.”
Both MJ and GG have grown significantly in their personal lives over the years. MJ, who married husband Tommy Feight in 2018, welcomed a son a year later. GG is also a mother now, having given birth to son Elijah in 2020. MJ said that their new lives feel like a “modern family.” She stated, “It’s just, like, we have our kids, we’re like a blended family. We want to make TV that. That has got to be nontoxic.”
Despite the fights on Shahs being raw and brutal, MJ still considers herself grateful for the platform the show gave her. She shared, “From day one, I was relating to women and so that’s just my big takeaway. You have to take the good and the bad together, right? So I focus on the body positivity, the confidence [I gave viewers]. When women were feeling like they needed to obsess over their size and cellulite.” She also gave props to Reza’s LGBTQIA+ advocacy and said, “I love that there’s a road that we paved toward being in front of social stigmas.”
Since Shahs ended, MJ revealed that she’s been spending more time on her podcast, Till The Dirt. She hosts the relationship-focused pod with Tommy. MJ remarked, “The podcast is for us. It also happens to make people laugh, cry and connect. People listen together with their significant other, they can turn the podcast on and it can be a conversation starter for something that’s going on with them that they’re too shy to bring up on their own.” She concluded, “Till the Dirt is a place where the two of us come together to retrace steps about our life that we’re obviously so open and shameless and proud of, all the ups and downs. We know that someone else is going through it right now and needs that safe place to go.”
TELL US – WERE YOU SAD THAT SHAHS WAS CANCELLED? WOULD YOU WATCH THEIR SPIN-OFF? WHAT DO YOU THINK IT’S ABOUT?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo]