Former NFL player turned actor Devale Ellis starred in Tyler Perry's "Sistas" as Zac and is preparing to return for the spinoff "Zatima." Ellis joined Cheddar News to talk about the series coming to BET+, his upcoming "Dead-Ass" podcast tour, and fatherhood.

Cheddar's News Wrap

Devale Ellis on ‘Sistas’ Spinoff ‘Zatima’

B. E. T. Series. Tyler Perry Sisters follows a group as best friends as they navigate the ups and downs of their love lives careers and friendships now. Season four premiered this month picking up right where the midseason finale left off and a spin off of the show is set to premiere later this year. Joining me now is former NFL player, content creator and star of the series, Duval, Ellis and Duval. Tell us about your character in Tyler Perry's sisters and what he's up to in season four. What's up ken how's everything? Thanks for having me first and foremost. Um Well I play Zach on Sisters. This Zack is actually Karen's ex boyfriend if you're watching from season one, but if you're all caught up he's now Fatima's boyfriend and Fatimah ends up being Andy's assistant. So there's a little bit of conflict there within the sister circle because I'm dating one of the other sisters assistance. But Zach is a guy who's typically in and out of prison, finally gets out of prison and stumbles upon some things that set his life on the right path and now he's made a ton of money. He's bought a condo, he's changing his life and his ex girlfriend is having a hard time letting him go while the new girl is helping him be a better man than he was before. Um We learned a lot about Zach in the next couple of seasons of sisters but definitely more as a team A. Yeah I was gonna say how excited are you for that? Like you get to have this huge character development, can you share with us a little bit about the series, What should we see from your character and Fatima? Well, I'm excited about the team because the team number one is very different than sisters. The tone of the show is different. You know, um Sisters moves more like a soap opera, so it's a little bit slower. It's more like your traditional soap opera, but they put it in prime time. Whereas the team is more like your dramedy. So you're gonna have a mix of the comedy, but of course the drama, cause that's what keeps people excited. But the show is gonna move a lot faster. You host the podcast with your wife called dada's, what kind of topics do you discuss together and what's the creative process like between you two? Well the creative process is actually rather easy. We just live like we're married, we've been together for 20 years, we've been married for 12 years. We have four beautiful boys, Jackson Cairo cast in Dakota and my wife and I pretty much started this podcast to have open therapy sessions to be an example for other millennial couples of what it's like to just speak openly about your wants, your needs and also being willing to be of service to each other. What's the secret to a long and happy marriage relationship. The secret is very simple. You got to be honest, open and vulnerable in real time and you have to do it consistently. Like there's no point in your marriage where you're gonna figure, hey, I got everything is figured out. No marriage is a constant conversation and you're constantly evolving and is enjoying the process of loving someone while doing it. That really is the truth. This is a perfect name. Now. You're both going on tour this summer for the podcast. Where are you headed and what can people expect from the shows? Yes sir. So we're headed to four states. We start off in new york Brooklyn. What's up then? We had to Philly. We had to D. C. And we finish back home now a new home in Atlanta and the people can expect some surprises. I'm not gonna just say all the surprise now, but they can expect some surprise guests. You get to watch Cody and I have an open conversation about what it's like to be married, but it's more about being involved in the process with us. You're not gonna watch us do a podcast that all of the guests in the audience are going to partake in the podcast. So it's an exciting event like that. All right. And you and your wife also created a Youtube and facebook social sitcom channel in this series. The Alice is where we get a glimpse inside the life of your family. So how do you have time to be a father and do everything else that you're doing because I'm a dad of two and I barely have time for this. Oh, so you already know, you probably, you know what it is, you're probably in between takes going and running and changing diapers and doing whatever it is. Fatherhood never stops, but this is just my passion. Like I love to create, I love people, I love to tell stories and any time you find a way to monetize your truth but live truthfully in your passion, you don't feel like you're working. So I get to create content with my best friend, my wife, I get to build a legacy with my four other best friends, my sons, we have a ton of help. Both of our parents help her mom and dad actually live with us so they can help the movement as I'm filming and things of that nature. But we, we really rely on our village, like we rely on the people around us to help us be the best parents we can be while being the best entertainers we can be. You're an incredibly inspirational former NFL Player, content creator, actor and incredible dad Duvall Alice, thank you so much for being on our show and God bless and congratulations on your success