‘A treat to come back’: Reality TV star returns to Marshall to support relative’s nonprofit organization

Published 5:45 am Friday, March 6, 2026

“Married to Medicine” star Cecil Whitmore returned to Marshall recently to shine a light on his ties to the city as well as on a new nonprofit organization started by his family.

Whitmore, whose maternal family is from Marshall, flew in from his Atlanta home after accepting an invitation from his cousin, Kresha Lane, to join her at Marshall’s Fifth Annual Black History Parade and Unity Festival. Lane was promoting her new nonprofit organization, Babysister’s Haven.

Whitmore is part of the cast of the Bravo reality TV series, “Married to Medicine.”

“(Whitmore) shouted out (Marshall) on the episode about the macaroni and cheese,” Lane said, referring to a recent episode where he and his now ex-wife, Dr. Simone Whitmore, were prepping for a cast “mac-off.” Whitmore mentioned his award-winning recipe hailed from a rich family history in Marshall.

“Everybody was trying to find out who Cecil’s people were. And so I said, ‘It’s us! We’re his people!’ ” Lane said with a chuckle as she shared her response to social media questions.

“And so I asked Cecil if he would come down,” she said.

His grandmother and Lane’s father are siblings.

Lane said she was thrilled her cousin could step away from his busy filming schedule to oblige her request.

“It worked out perfectly,” Whitmore said.

He said he was pleased to be able to come to the annual festival as Marshall is dear to his heart. His mother and grandparents are Marshall natives.

“My grandmother was a Lane and my grandfather a Hawkins,” Whitmore said. “I hadn’t been back to Marshall probably in 40 years.”

He’s originally from Los Angeles.

“We used to come to Marshall every summer to visit my grandmother and grandfather,” he said.

He said his mother, Euniece Hawkins Whitmore, and his uncle, Milton Hawkins, were both Wiley University alumni. His grandmother, Patsy Lane Hawkins, lived near the university and was a member of New Bethel Baptist Church.

“So Marshall will always be a home to me,” Whitmore said.

He said his famous mac and cheese recipe has been passed through generations — from his grandmother to his mother and then to him. It’s one he prepares often for family gatherings.

“I’m the mac and cheese guy. I make it for Thanksgiving, for Christmas … and cook-offs,” he said. “They didn’t have mine out there (on the TV show), but I believe if they had put mine out, I would have won.”

Whitmore said he was pleased to be able to come to the Black History Month festival and support the vision of his cousin’s nonprofit organization and promote its mission — to reach at-risk youth.

“It is beautiful,” Whitmore said. “You know, when you start talking about at-risk kids, there’s so many kids out there that all they need sometimes is just a little help. You know, not everyone is as blessed as I was, as Kresha was, with parents that were able to give you everything you needed. And there are kids out here that just don’t have that. And because of that, Kresha is really stepping into the gap to help kids, and it’s just a beautiful thing.”

The vision of Babysister’s Haven was inspired by Lane’s brother, Earnest Lane, and is founded on the belief that “prayer changes everything.”

“I started it because I’m my brother’s baby sister. My mom’s nickname was ‘Baby Sister.’ And my brother is my ‘why’ that I chose education,” said Lane, a school administrator. “He is the reason why I chose to go into education.”

She said she watched firsthand how the power of prayer transformed her brother from a troubled child into a productive citizen.

“He was a tough kid growing up, but he’s turned his life around through the power of prayer,” Lane said. “You can’t tell the difference between who’s the college graduate and who’s not. My brother has done very well, and that’s because my mom raised us praying. She was a prayer warrior; my grandmother was a prayer warrior. And so now, my brother is doing very well. And so we just want to help other at-risk youth.”

Lane spent the past 27 years in education, including being an elementary school principal at Marshall’s former Lee Elementary School. She now serves as an administrator in Houston.

“But I want to impact my own community in Marshall where I grew up, and kids like me. So now that I’m about to retire within the next two years, I’m going to come back here and work with the youth,” Lane said.

Babysister’s Haven is set to offer a variety of programs—from vocational training to gardening — all inspired by the skills passed down from Lane’s parents.

“My mom loved plants, she loved plants and gardening,” Lane said. “My dad did carpentry work. And so as we work to restore our (family) home, I’m going to have contractors that are willing to let kids shadow them and learn some vocational skills as well.”

She said she was thrilled to host a soft launch of the program at the parade and unity festival.

“We’re going to be planning a bigger launch towards the end of the year,” she said of her nonprofit.

As for Whitmore, he said he’ll definitely be returning to Marshall to support Lane. While in Marshall, he said he looked forward to trying the downtown restaurants everyone’s raved about, visiting the site of his grandmother’s home and picking up some Wiley merchandise to showcase his family’s alma mater.

“It has definitely been a treat to come back to Marshall. And it won’t be my last time back in Marshall,” he said.