Who is Jillian Hervey?
Jillian Kristin Hervey was born in Los Angeles, California USA, on 19 June 1989 – her zodiac sign’s Gemini, and she holds American nationality. She’s a professional dancer, singer and actress, while she’s perhaps known best for two things: for being one half of the American R&B duo Lion Babe, and for being a daughter of American singer, actress and former model Vanessa Lynn Williams.
Early life and education
Jillian was raised in Chappaqua, New York State alongside her siblings Melanie and Devin, by their mother and their father Ramon Hervey II; their parents divorced when Jillian was eight, and she then divided her time between their homes. She also has a half-sister Sasha Gabriella Fox, from her mother’s second marriage to Canadian-Bahamian actor and former professional basketball player Ulrich Alexander ‘Rich’ Fox.
Jillian grew up being interested in music, and was 11 years old when she began taking guitar lessons, while she studied dancing at the New School; it was while at the school that she began working with Lucas Goodman, who’s today the second half of Lion Babe. She was also physically quite active during her teenage years, as she played a couple of sports with her peers.
Jillian matriculated in 2007, and because she hasn’t spoken of her further education, it’s believed that she hasn’t attended college.
Acting credits
Jillian’s appeared in two movies and a single TV series. She played French Student in the 2000 historical romantic movie “The Courage to Love”, directed by Kari Skogland, and which starred her mother Vanessa, Gil Bellows and Karen Williams. Set in the 19th century, the movie follows Henriette who has to choose between dedicating her life to the church and being with the man she loves.
In 2019, Jillian starred as Dog Owner in the short comedy film “The Dog Thief”, and appeared in the 2021 episode “Separ8 Ways” of the musical comedy series “Girls5Eva”.
She’s also made a guest appearance in numerous talk-shows, such as “TFI Friday”, “Megyn Kelly Today”, and “The Dr. Oz Show”.
Career as a singer
Jillian and Lucas released their duo’s debut song “Treat Me Like Fire” in December 2012, and they then went on to collaborate with many famous musicians, such as Childish Gambino, Mark Ronson and Pharrell Williams.
Their next single “Jungle Lady” was released in 2014, and in July 2015, the duo performed at the annual four-day musical festival Lollapalooza.
Lion Babe’s debut album “Begin” was released in 2016.
Celebrating 6 years of our debut album #Begin this weekend! 🤯 cheers to you all for the love! #LIONBABE pic.twitter.com/4Z2oc2QRBi
— LION BABE (@LionBabe) February 6, 2022
Career in the fashion and beauty industry
Jillian became a spokeswoman for MAC Cosmetics in 2016, and the same year saw her become a representative for Pantene hair products.
She’s had many fashion shoots with her mother, and has stated that two of her main influences are American singer-songwriter Yvette Marie Stevens, known better as Chaka Khan, and British model and singer Naomi Elaine Campbell.
Presence on social media networks
Jillian doesn’t have her own Instagram account, but she and Lucas are together running their account ‘Lion Babe’; it’s today followed by close to 150,000 people, and numbers nearly 7,000 pictures and videos uploaded onto it.
Jillian launched her Twitter account in March 2011, and it’s today followed by close to 10,000 people, while she’s tweeted more than 20,000 times, mostly to promote Lion Babe’s music, but also to share her thoughts on various matters with her fans.
Lion Babe’s eponymous YouTube channel was launched on 11 July 2012, and it’s today subscribed to by more than 100,000 people, while it numbers close to 40 million views of all their videos combined; their most popular video – “LION BABE – Got Body” – has been watched more than a million times since 15 February 2017.
Love life and boyfriend
Jillian prefers to keep the details of her love life away from the media’s attention, but has still allowed her fans to have a glimpse into it. In late 2021, Jillian revealed that she was in a long-term relationship with Lucas Goodman, as well as that she had given birth to their daughter George, having kept her pregnancy a secret for the entire nine months. Jillian and Lucas haven’t spoken about whether or not they’re planning to marry, while some of their fans have claimed that the two have already become engaged, but this is yet to be confirmed by the pair.
She hasn’t mentioned any other men whom she’s perhaps been with, so as of September 2022, Jillian’s in a relationship with Lucas Goodman, hasn’t married and has a daughter with him.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CdZmfQBuRnf/
Hobbies and other interests
Jillian’s physically highly active and has multiple training sessions at the gym every week, mostly because it’s important for her career to stay in shape; she enjoys playing various sports with her friends in her spare time, while she also practices yoga on a daily basis.
She’s a philanthropist and has donated money to a couple of charity organizations working with underprivileged children, as well as to several animal shelters.
Jillian’s passionate about travelling, and has been to many US states, as well as to a couple of European and African countries, while her dream travel destination’s Cairo, Egypt.
She likes to watch movies late at night – her favorite actor and actress are Al Pacino and Natalie Portman, while some of her favorite films include “Scent of a Woman”, “Leon: The Professional”, and “The Devil’s Advocate”.
Age, height and net worth
Jillian’s age is 33. She has long curly brown hair and brown eyes, her height is 5ft 9ins (1.75m) and she weighs around 145lbs (65kgs).
As of September 2022, her net worth’s been estimated at more than $2 million, and her mother’s at over $25 million.
Who is her mother Vanessa Williams?
Vanessa was born in New York City, USA on 18 March 1963 – her zodiac sign’s Pisces, and she holds American nationality. She’s probably still known best for having been the first African-American Miss America when she was crowned in 1983, however, Vanessa was forced to resign her crown because the magazine “Penthouse” published her nude photographs; during the Miss America 2016 beauty pageant, the organization’s CEO Sam Haskell publicly apologized to Vanessa for how she was treated.
She was raised in Millwood, New York State alongside her younger brother Chris who’s today a popular actor, by their mother Helen Tinch and father Milton Augustine Williams Jr., both of whom taught music at an elementary school. Vanessa studied at Chappaqua Central School District prior to progressing to Robert E. Bell Middle School; upon matriculating in 1981, she enrolled at Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, Department of Drama, from which she dropped out following her second year.
She made her debut TV series appearance in the 1980 musical drama “A Capitol Fourth”, while the rest of the decade saw her appear in an episode or two of various series, including the mystery crime drama “Partners in Crime”, the action crime drama “T.J. Hooker”, and the romantic comedy drama “The Love Boat”.
What marked the ‘90s for Vanessa was perhaps her portrayal of the lead character Lee in the 1996 action crime thriller movie “Eraser”, directed by Chuck Russell, and which also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Caan. It follows a Witness Protection specialist who’s begun to suspect that his co-workers are members of the mafia; the movie won three of the six awards for which it was nominated, including an Oscar nomination for Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing.
Vanessa had a couple of other notable movie performances in the ‘90s, such as in the 1997 crime drama “Hoodlum”, the 1998 romantic musical drama “Dance with Me”, and the 1999 family comedy “The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland”.
She played Vita in the 2009 family comedy drama “Hannah Montana: The Movie”, directed by Peter Chelsom, and which starred Miley Cyrus, Emily Osment and Billy Ray Cyrus. It follows Miley Stewart aka Hannah Montana, who’s become a popular singer, and has travelled to her hometown of Crowley Corners to learn about what really matters in life; the movie won six of the 16 awards for which it was nominated.
Three of Vanessa’s most recent roles have been in two episodes of the 2021 musical comedy series “Girls5Eva”, three episodes of the 2021 comedy series “Twenties”, and 64 episodes of the short animated adventure series “T.O.T.S.” since 2019 (voice role).
Vanessa’s won 13 of the 71 awards for which she’s been nominated, including three Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2007, ‘08 and ‘09, all for her performance in the series “Ugly Betty”.
She launched her career as a singer in 1988, with the release of her debut album “The Right Stuff”, with three singles charting and becoming hits: “The Right Stuff”, “He’s Got the Look” and “Dreamin’”; the album’s since become certified platinum, and it won Vanessa three Grammys. She released her second album “The Comfort Zone” on 20 August 1991, and it remains the biggest success of her music career; it was nominated for five Grammys.
Vanessa’s third album “The Sweetest Days” came out on 6 December 1994, while some of her following albums were the 1996 “Star Bright”, the 1997 “Next”, and the 2005 “Everlasting Love”; her most recent (eighth) album “The Real Thing” was released in 2009.
Vanessa and Ramon Hervey II exchanged vows at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in 1987; he was a public relations specialist, and they met when he was hired to help her with her career. The two divorced in 1997. She married her second husband, Rick Fox in 1999, and their divorce was finalized in 2004. Since 2015, Vanessa’s been married to American businessman Jim Skrip.
She was presented with her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 19 March 2007.
