Essence Atkins quotes:

I attended Professional Children's School in Manhattan because my ballet and modern dance schedules were intensive and had started to interfere with regular school hours.

I like to make Arroz con Gandules, rice with pigeon peas. My husband loves it. It's a Puerto Rican dish my mother taught me.

Challenges, when you're in a tumultuous situation, are an opportunity to grow, an opportunity to get closer to God, an opportunity to find and kind of reform yourself, and to figure out what really matters and what your priorities are.

After 35, I felt like I'd been in these relationships; some were great, some weren't so great, but they weren't right partnerships.

Reality TV is really just based for sensationalism. So, it's extreme versions and extreme caricatures of personalities.

What online dating did was offer me the opportunity to go out with a bunch of different people from different industries; I really didn't want to limit myself with people who are in the entertainment industry.

Just the desire to play a mom, wanting to play someone actually closer to who I am and where I am in my life. People are used to seeing me play the single, hot girl, which has been fun, but at the same time, this role is more akin to my natural proclivities.