Longtime ‘Real Housewives’ Star Comments on Return to Show After 2 Years Off

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Former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Cynthia Bailey told Page Six’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast that “some new blood was needed” on the show and she’s “excited” to return as a Friend of the Housewives for season 16.

“I feel like the show has been just OK for the past couple of years. No shade but it just has not thrived the way that ‘Atlanta’ has always thrived,” she said on the podcast episode aired May 23. “We were number one for so long, and to watch us not be number one was really hard, even sitting on the sidelines. It really, really was, so I think some new blood was needed, and from what I can tell these ladies seem like they really have it going on and I’m really excited to meet them.”

Season 16 is seeing a major cast shakeup, with four main cast members exiting the series after season 15 and multiple fan-favorite stars making their return to the series.

Porsha Williams is back to RHOA full-time for the new season. Bailey and Williams both left the show in 2021 after season 13, taking two seasons off before their respective returns.

Cynthia Bailey Will Have a More Formal Role on RHOA Season 16

Bailey told “Virtual Reali-Tea” that even as she left RHOA, she was always open to the idea of “popping in and out as a Friend” and even made a few guest appearances on season 15, as she is still friends with some of her co-stars after the cameras stop rolling.

For the upcoming season, Bailey noted that Bravo wanted her to take on more of an official role in the season as a Friend of the Housewives. Although Bailey said she is focusing on her acting right now, she said she was able to work it out with the network and is excited to keep working on RHOA.

During their official cast announcement, Bravo unveiled the names of three RHOA newcomers: Brittany Eady, Kelli Ferrell and Angela Oakley. Meanwhile, longtime Friend of the Housewives and guest star Shamea Morton has earned her peach, becoming a full-time Housewife for the first time since first appearing on the show’s fifth season in 2012.

Cynthia Bailey Appeared on ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’

During her time off from RHOA, Bailey has spent a lot of time in Los Angeles, scoring acting roles including a recurring role in the hit Starz original series “BMF.”

While in LA, Bailey connected with her friend and “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Sutton Stracke, who invited her as a plus-one to Kyle Richards’ THC Dinner Party, which was filmed for season 13 of RHOBH, making Bailey one of few “Housewives” stars to cameo in another franchise.

“Sutton was definitely in the hot seat I can tell you that right now. You like totally went in there and basically threw a grenade on the table,” Bailey told the “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast in September 2023 of the dinner, which fans later saw evolve into a tableside argument between Stracke and Richards over Stracke’s assertion that Richards was not being vocal enough about the troubles in her marriage.

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