Erica Mena, star of the Zeus Network dating show Two Ways with Erica Mena, recently spoke out about the tragic passing of one of the contestants on her show.
Two Ways with Erica Mena follows as a mixed group of men and women compete to win the heart of Erica Mena, a reality TV star and video vixen who rose to fame in music videos for artists like 50 Cent and for her time on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta.
This new dating show is a fun and dramatic callback to classic dating competition shows, notably being compared to an older VH1 dating series, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, because of its bisexual nature and mixed cast of contestants.
What happened to Two Ways with Erica Mena contestant Saiveon Hopkins?
Saiveon "Seven" Hopkins, also known as Jay Hefner, was one of the contestants on Two Ways with Erica Mena and became a fan favorite among the contestants once the show started airing but unfortunately, Saiveon Hopkins lost his life shortly after filming for Two Ways with Erica Mena concluded.
According to a GoFundMe created by those close to Saiveon Hopkins, he was in his hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska for a birthday celebration when he and one other man who survived the attack were shot. Police responded to reports of gunshots at around 1:30 a.m. on September 8, 2024 and the two men were rushed to the hospital where Saiveon Hopkins, who was 24 at the time, would tragically succumb to his wounds.
Two Ways with Erica Mena began filming in August 2024, just a month before the contestant and father's life was tragically cut short. The show premiered on February 2, 2025 and Saiveon Hopkins quickly became a fan favorite with many fans taking to social media to share their love for him and share that they relate to Erica Mena refusing to eliminate him from the series.
What did Erica Mena say about Saiveon Hopkins' passing?
While appearing on the We In Miami podcast, Erica Mena spoke out about the tragic loss of Saiveon Hopkins. "I think that was the hardest part of this experience, falling in love with these people for different reasons," Erica Mena said and continued to speak about her experience getting to know him by saying, "I still think about him and cry. He's such a great man. You guys will get to know him, but he's not only a beautiful man but also inside, too -- he did not miss his parenting time with his daughter, his daughter would come on set."
In the comments of the podcast's Instagram account, the reality star left a heartfelt comment about the contestant and said, "Real deal Love and miss you Saiveon." Meanwhile, fans of the show shared their condolences for his family and commented on how much they enjoy seeing him on the show.
New episodes of Two Ways with Erica Mena are released every Sunday on Zeus Network.