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Former “Real Housewives” star Kandi Burruss announced her decision to exit the Atlanta franchise after 14 seasons. However, she still has plans to watch the next season of the Bravo series, especially because of the major cast shake-up.
“I’m excited,” Burruss told E! News. “I’m excited for Shamea [Morton Mwangi], who is our friend. I’m glad it’s announced so I don’t have to keep secrets anymore. I’m gonna be watching because my friends are still on the show,” she continued.
Burruss also told the outlet that she’s happy that Porsha Williams will be holding a peach on season 16.
“I already knew she was going back before she announced it. We both had talked about our decisions, what we were thinking about doing. I was telling her I didn’t know if I was going to go back. She was telling me how she was thinking she might go back. So we knew. I am excited for her,” she said.
The Official Cast of ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Was Announced in May
After much speculation about what would happen to the Atlanta franchise, Bravo officially announced the new cast on May 14.
Porsha Williams, Kenya Moore, and Drew Sidora will be full-time on the show, according to a press release obtained by Heavy. Newcomers adding to the cast are Brittany Eady, Kelli Ferrell, Shamea Morton Mwangi, and Angela Oakley.
Meanwhile, former RHOA star Cynthia Bailey is set to return in a friend-of role. Bailey left the show in 2021 after 11 seasons as a full-time Housewife and was a guest on season 15.
Fans of the show will not see Burruss, Marlo Hampton, Sanya Richards-Ross or Shereé Whitfield when the show returns in 2025.
Burruss’ decision to leave the franchise was due to her desire to pursue other things.
“I decided I’m not coming back this year,” she told Variety’s Marc Malkin on the red carpet. “It’s been 14 seasons, and they allowed us to sit around for a little too long. But during that time I had started working on a lot of other things, and I got some nice, big projects coming soon, so I’m super excited about those things,” she explained.
Kandi Burruss Won’t Miss the ‘Stress’ of the Show
As Burruss moves on to explore other avenues in her career, she told E! News that she won’t miss the stress that comes along with being a Real Housewife.
“They started filming this week. I was talking to one of them—I can’t say who it was—but she was like, ‘Girl, it’s just a lot.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know if I missed that part.’ I forgot about that first stress of getting the ball rolling when you’re meeting new people,” she said.
Her comments come after she told Andy Cohen that she felt “free” after leaving the franchise.
“I feel totally free actually,” she said on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live in April.
“Cynthia told me that I’m not gonna feel it until the show is on air,” she continued, adding, “she said right now, I’m living my best life. Right? So, she’s like, ‘I’m not really gonna care,’ but she says when the show starts airing, I’m gonna feel like, ‘Oh man, I’m not there with them.'”
Burruss joined the cast of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” in a full-time role in season 2.
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