Though First Wives Club’s core trio will always remain close to our hearts, Michelle Mitchenor’s Jayla Wright has certainly earned her place in the friend group by now.
Tracy Oliver’s First Wives Club remake, much like the original 1996 version, The First Wives Club, which starred Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, and Diane Keaton, follows the lives of three best friends who support each other through their various personal and professional struggles.
First Wives Club’s new addition
However, just like in real life friendships, this close-knit friend group, which comprises Bree Washington (played by Michelle Buteau), Hazel Rachelle (played by Jill Scott) and Ari Montgonery (played by Ryan Michelle Bathe) is forced to change in the second season of the show.
At this point, Ari moves away and implores her old college buddies to take her law firm mentee, Jayla Wright, under their wing while she settles into her new job.
Fortunately for everyone involved, Jayla, who is portrayed by the multi-talented Michelle Mitchenor, fits right in with this somewhat rag-tag – and honestly, up-for-anything group of girlfriends.
And now that the curtain has closed on First Wives Club season three, it is time to admit not only that Jayla is now the unofficially-official fourth person in this once three-way friendship, but also to investigate the actor which has brought the attitude-first role of Jayla to life so masterfully for the past two seasons.
The other actors that joined First Wives Club in season two
Even remakes like First Wives Club often need to spend some time finding their feet in the first season, especially after the series went through such a rollercoaster to make it to the air.
However, by the time that First Wives Club was renewed for a second season, it seemed like the creator of the series, Tracy Oliver, and the rest of its production team, had big plans on the horizon, as they had brought on tons of new cast members.
This includes Michelle Mitchenor, who signed on to play Jayla Wright, as well as:
| Cast member | Role |
| Gary Dourdan | Dr. Malcolm Reynard |
| Jordan Carlos | Curtis |
| Essence Atkins | Maxine Hart |
| Mikhail Keize | Nigel |
| Bill Barrett | Jacob Rosen |
| Deborah Cox | Regina Crowell |
| Sydney Mitchell | Vanessa |
| Auston Jon Moore | Ollie Washington |
| Jaxon Rose Moore | Imani Washington |
| Bailey Tippen | Megan Montgomery |
The unexpected beginning of Michelle Mitchenor’s career
Being thrown onto a set where the likes of Michelle Buteau, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Jill Scott and Deborah Cox have all already settled in, would be an intimidating task for almost anybody to undertake.
However, Wright’s rather unconventional start in the entertainment industry, where she worked as a backup dancer for stars like Beyoncé and Rihanna, definitely prepared her to stand her ground on such an intimidating set.
In fact, Wright shared with WhereistheBuzz TV in 2021, that her years of experience among so many talented celebrities did not only train her “not to shrink” on the set of First Wives Club, but also to step up to the plate when it came to filming her first few scenes.
Did you know that Michelle Mitchenor welcomed a baby between First Wives Club seasons?
Although you would never have been able to tell by Jayla’s always-impeccable ensembles, Mitchenor actually had a bun in the oven around November 2022.
This was just before the most recent season of First Wives Club started airing (though quite a while before the series made it to BET).
This was actually Mitchenor’s third pregnancy in two years, but even after the complications in her second pregnancy ultimately meant that it had to be terminated, Mitchenor welcomed a very healthy baby named Legacy, to her growing family earlier in 2023.
And while this is not much to go on, if art really does imitate life, this may mean that fans will get so see a much softer side of the usually cut-throat lawyer, Jayla, emerging on the show if it does end up return for another season.
Other projects that you may recognize Michelle Mitchenor from
Whilst Mitchenor wasted no time climbing into the hearts of First Wives Club fans in the past few years, she has actually had a few notable roles outside of this fan-favorite show.
This, of course, includes being discovered by the famed director, Spike Lee, for his musical-drama film, Chi-Raq, which debuted in 2015.
But also roles like the series regular, Detective Sonya Bailey on the Fox buddy-cop series, Lethal Weapon (which ran from 2016 to 2019) and the role of ‘Crystal’ in Tales.
More recently, Mitchenor has also landed the starring role in BET+’s First Lady of BMF: The Tonesa Welch Story, where she acts alongside her First Wives Club co-star, Tobias Truvillion.
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