'P-Valley' star Brandee Evans says her character's steamy sex scene is about 'strength' and being 'inspired'

• Brandee Evans spoke to Insider about her character Mercedes' sex scene on "P-Valley."
• After signing a sugar baby contract with the coach, Mercedes is lured to their apartment by his wife.

"P-Valley" star Brandee Evans spoke to Insider about her character Mercedes' sex scenes with Farrah Haynes (Shamika Cotton) and what attracted the dancer to the wife of her regular client.

Evans plays Mercedes, a renowned stripper and the "bottom bitch" of the Pynk strip club who is one-third of the establishment's legendary trinity formation. She has headlined its sultry pole-dancing sets for years under the mentorship of the club's proprietor, Uncle Clifford, who is "a mother to Mercedes in a sense," according to Evans, for helping to turn her into a top earner and authority figure.

Her twirling skills earn her several regulars, including a wealthy football coach named Cedric Haynes (Sherman Augustus). He offers her a lucrative sugar baby contract, and while Mercedes resists at first, she ultimately gives in after injuring her shoulder by falling from the top of the pole. Mercedes, who needs the money to remain financially secure and pursue her dream of re-opening her gymnastics studio, agrees to accept $40,000 in payment and signs a non-disclosure agreement on the condition that he gets permission for their arrangement from his wife.

But there's a twist. Cedric is not the only Haynes family member mesmerized by Mercedes when she comes to their condo in only a trench coat and lingerie — his wife, Farrah, falls for her too, enamored by the effort Mercedes puts into her craft.

Farrah immediately strips naked for Mercedes and her husband after watching her dance in an intimate setting and discussing her art with her in the third episode of season two, which aired June 19. She decides that she no longer wants to just give her permission. She wants to play, too.

Cotton and Evans are sorority sisters in real life but on screen, they become passionate lovers. Farrah fakes texts from her husband to get Mercedes to see her one-on-one for sex, risking her marriage and Mercedes' money, in season two episode four, which aired June 26.

For Evans, it's clear what draws Farrah to Mercedes. "She's beautiful, but it's the strength, it's that athleticism," Evans said about her character's physical attributes.

She thinks the attraction goes beyond Mercedes' shapely figure. "I think it's more so watching this woman and going, wow," she said, adding that seeing Mercedes "going after her dreams and fighting" is what turns Farrah on and causes her to look inward and question where the fight is within herself.

"It's almost that moment of, 'Oh, okay. I see why Coach is attracted.' It's not just about her beauty. She's actually smart," Evans told Insider.

"I think that's attractive in a sense when you've got someone that's motivating you to be better or do better. And I think that's what's attractive to her," she added.

But Farrah and Mercedes' relationship just got a whole lot more complicated.

On Sunday's latest episode, "Savage," Coach Haynes senses the two women's attraction during a threesome and figures out they've had sex behind his back. He is infuriated with his wife when she tells him she might "like pussy more than you do" and sends Mercedes packing without the "40 stacks" they agreed on. Farrah fights for Mercedes, and the two share a look that leads viewers to wonder if their affair is really over.

"P-Valley" airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET. The first six episodes of season two are now streaming on Starz.