Kelly Rowland Talks About Her New BET Show “Chasing Destiny”

Obviously she believes television is her destiny.

Singer Kelly Rowland, a founding member of Destiny’s Child, says her years of music industry experience have helped shape her character on the hit hip-hop soap “Empire” and laid the groundwork for her new BET reality show, “Chasing Destiny.”

On “Empire,” Rowland, 34, appears in emotion-packed flashbacks, playing music mogul Lucious Lyon’s bipolar mother, Leah.

“The thing she and I have in common is that we just genuinely love our children,” says Rowland, a new mother in real life.

“We both want to be great mothers and Leah’s love for Lucious goes so deep. It takes my breath away. She goes to great lengths to make sure her son is happy, it’s a really powerful role.”

Rowland says that the show’s creator, Lee Daniels, allowed her to participate in writing the character. That’s something that doesn’t happen too often in television.

“We just all sat around and talked about what kinds of elements my character Leah could bring to the show. I really lucked out,” Rowland says.

Her son, Titan, was born in November 2014. That milestone forced her to balance being a mother with her busy career. She uses the emotions behind that challenge to build her “Empire” character.

“My son came at the most beautiful time in my life and I have had to learn, like every other mom, how to balance — because I’m still grasping that concept,” she says. “It’s a very hard concept. Nobody ever told me that.”

Rowland understand the appeal of “Empire.”

“I think the characters are just really strong and the show keeps people hanging - when each episode ends, I get really upset that I have to wait another week to find out what happens next.” Rowland admits to cheating a bit and flipping through the script on the days she was working on “Empire,” just to find out what happens to other characters.

“It was a perk of the job,” she says.

A lot of the music-industry storylines at the core of “Empire” seem familiar to her.

“It all makes sense, even though the story gets a little over the top sometimes. But it’s really like a behind- the-scenes look at things and maybe that’s why people are so intrigued by it.”

The singer hopes people will be just as intrigued by her new BET show, “Chasing Destiny.” When it debuts next year, she’ll be overseeing the creation of a girl-group brought together in the flavor of Destiny’s Child.

“The only thing I really require from the girls is professionalism, which is the same thing the label required of myself and the ladies,” she says, referring to Destiny’s Child cohorts Beyonce Knowles and Michelle Williams.

“It’s a documentary about nurturing the evolution of a girl group. I want to pass the torch — if the group is worthy,” Rowland says.

Rowland also took on the role this year of brand ambassador for a holiday rewards program called 35 Days of Plenti. Shoppers sign up for the initiative, earning points by spending money at places like Macy’s or Exxon. Then the reward points can be used to save money in other stores.

“It all just comes down to my love of shopping,” says Rowland.

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