Perhaps, it's best to refrain from mentioning Tina Knowles' name. During a recent interview, Mathew Knowles abruptly terminated the conversation and exited early when his ex-wife was brought up in relation to their work with Destiny's Child, a group that featured their daughter Beyoncé, along with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. When PIX 11 anchor Kendis Gibson mentioned the contributions of both Tina and Mathew—who are also parents to Solange Knowles—to the girl group, Mathew inquired, in a clip shared by Page Six, "What work did she put in?"
Kendis then referred to how Tina used to style the group's hair and design their costumes in the early days of their career. While Mathew—who was married to Tina for over 30 years before their 2011 split—agreed that Tina was involved in the group's "styling" and "imaging," he then stood up from his chair and said, "We'll stop now."
Kendis chuckled before asking and extending his hand, "Sorry, did I say something wrong?" "No, no, no," Mathew replied as he shook the reporter's hand. "We're good."
After the interview, Mathew—who is promoting a Destiny's Child tribute concert—claimed to Page Six that there were multiple questions about Tina "when the interview was supposed to be about" the upcoming performance. "I politely ended the interview," the 74-year-old told the outlet, "shook his hand, and took a photograph."
Over the years, Tina has been candid about her tumultuous relationship with Mathew, which initially ended in 2009 after she discovered he'd fathered a child outside of their marriage. But while they briefly rekindled their romance, they split for good in 2011. The on-again, off-again romance is something Tina detailed in her 2025 memoir Matriarch, writing how she and Mathew "were so good half the time" that it made it difficult to leave.
"He would cheat or act up, and I would say I'd had enough," she wrote. "He'd beg for forgiveness, crying and promising to get better." And though he would get better, "the same thing would happen again," Tina wrote. "But this is what married people did, I told myself."
Though Mathew was a "wonderful father," Tina noted, "He had issues that did not make for a good husband then." But years after she and Mathew parted ways for good, Tina said there were no lingering hard feelings.
"We are on good terms because we did a good job," Tina said of their parenting on an April 2025 episode of SIRIUSXM's Gayle King in the House podcast. "We did some really good stuff." Adding that the relationship "was a long time ago," the 72-year-old noted, "What I've said over and over is that yes, I had some really tumultuous, terrible times with Matthew, but I never questioned whether he loved me or my kids."
