Exotic dancer Coco De Thick blames lack of support from her mother for career choice - Says she understands what Mackerel is going through

Exotic dancer Coco De Thick says she could not help but sympathise with social media sensation Mackerel following her emotional TV interview last weekend.

Coco, whose given name is Kyla Ramsay, says there are a lot of adults carrying baggages because of emotional trauma they suffered, as children, at the hands of their parents. She wants parents, particularly mothers, to pay more attention to their children, especially their daughters.

Coco, who in addition to being an exotic dancer, sells her used panties online, said that like Mackerel, she too received little love from her mother. The dancer said her mother migrated to the United States when she was 11 years old, and while she took care of her financially, until she was 18-years old, she never felt close to or loved by her mother.

"She left to go and live in the States and left me with my aunt and grandmother. We always had a very bad relationship and we've had to have a lot of sessions with counsellors. I wasn't a troublesome child; in fact, I was in the top of the class and I fell back because I was trying to get her attention and she just didn't care. I tried to reach out to her in many ways, but I think she just didn't like me. I don't know what else to say," she said, through sharp sighs.

Coco said she would have loved if her mother had shown her some love. She said that had she been a caring mother, her life would have perhaps taken a different course. The dancer said that she loved cosmetics and entertained the idea of becoming a make-up artist, but was discouraged by her mother.

"When I told my mother I wanted to go Di Marie Institute to do make-up because I loved it, she say she nah send me and is not like she never have the money, she just never care. I started dancing because it was not only a way for me to fend for myself, but it was also my escape from everything that was happening. So people judge me because of what I do, but they wouldn't even know the half of my story," she told THE WEEKEND STAR.

ONLY CHILD

"I'm the only child, I do not have any siblings. I don't have any sister or brother who would stand up for me, so she was the one I always looked to when I was growing up. When I was living with my aunt and my grandmother, whenever they did anything to me and I told her, she always take side wid dem and tell me say me a di reason why nobody nuh like me, and dem sup'm deh. If dem call her and tell her any likkle rumour, she quick fi believe it. She make me feel like me a di worse person. She tell me say me nah turn out to nothing and she can't wait fi mi turn 18 so me can take man so she can save her money, and dem sup'm deh."

Coco said when she saw Mackerel's interview she got emotional, as she could absolutely relate to that dark place Mackerel was in.

"I know what that feels like to just want love from the one person you think should love you, no matter what. Because of dat, you go out and try to find dat love in other places. I spent a lot of my birthdays alone, a lot of my Christmas alone, because my mother was never there for me. My last birthday, I didn't even get a ' happy birthday' from her, it's always me who has to reach out to her," she said.

"I think Jamaican mothers don't understand the meaning of love. They think that beating you is love, or doing the basic duties is love. It is more than that. It is spending time with your children, not taking your problems out on your kids. That's why so many kids are running away from their homes," Coco De Thick said.

The dancer, who hopes to have children some day, said that because of her experiences with her mother, she has vowed to be the best example to her future children.

"I don't want my children to grow up in a dysfunctional home like I did, and that is part of the reason I don't have any yet. I want to give them a stable home with both parents, and a mother who can raise them and love them properly. I am taking time to heal from my pain because I want to break the cycle. I want everyone else who has gone through something similar to do the same."