On the season 14 premiere of Real Housewives of Atlanta, Sheree Whitfield made her triumphant return — again. After four long years, the star who’s famous for the line, “Who gone check me boo?” was granted the Bravo peach.
With NeNe Leakes off the franchise, Sheree is the last remaining OG on the show. Much has changed since the series began 14 years ago in the wealthy neighborhoods of Atlanta.
“I feel super blessed to have come back for the third time,” said Sheree in an interview with ET. “To even consider me or [have] the fans who continuously have supported me throughout the years and asked for my return and for them to listen. Housewives is a very smart brand and they go with what worked, and I guess I worked.”
Why did Sheree come back? “I felt like I was in a better place, I wasn’t dealing with the past [and] I felt like I dealt with so much drama going on in my life,” she answered. “I felt like I was in a happy place mentally and physically, and it was just a good time for me.”
The 52-year-old star, who often speaks her truth, told producers that RHOA should “go back to what it was… We were classy girls. You’re not gonna get class all the time, but it wasn’t all about drama,” she said. “It was a sisterhood and we were able to, you know, have fun times. But, of course, it’s not always gonna be peaches and cream. So they listened, they heard, and they were in agreeance, so here I am.”
This season, viewers will see another side of Sheree: “I feel like I’m mentally just in a different place… You guys have watched me go through a divorce, fight for child support, take 15 years to build a home, saw the struggles I’ve gone through with ‘She by Sheree’… That’s another thing that I really get into, some of the reasons why I feel like it took me so long… You’ll see the process of me moving forward but you’ll also get to hear a lot of the problems and issues that I had with ‘She by Sheree’ in the past.”
The star addressed her relationship with Tyrone Gilliams, who was recently incarcerated in Kentucky. Sheree explained, “It wasn’t on my bucket list to fall in love with a man that was in prison.”
“People are like, ‘Why would you date a man in prison?’ It’s nothing that I set out to do,” said the star. “It was me being there to support a friend, someone that I knew in my past, when he reached out. It started as you know just conversations and… we established a great emotional connection. No one can talk you out of your panties better than a man in prison.”
Concerning their relationship, Sheree revealed an issue that arises in the season. “It was me, you know, really taking time to get to know him outside of prison because in prison you can be one person and then when you come out, you could be someone different,” she said.
However, the fashion designer is certain she’ll “be getting married again.”
Although she’s in contact with former castmates (including Phaedra Parks), Sheree has not seen NeNe — who is suing Bravo regarding an allegedly racist work environment.
In terms of the lawsuit, Sheree is “staying far away from that.” She eventually expressed, “I have a great relationship with Bravo and I have not experienced what [NeNe]’s experienced, but I wish her the best in all her endeavors.”
If Sheree had the choice, an RHOA peach would fall back into the hands of her friend, Lisa Wu, who departed from the show after season three.
“Lisa and I have maintained a great friendship throughout the years [and] I don’t think you guys got to see who Lisa really, really is,” said the socialite. “She’s a lot of fun, she’s actually funny as sh*t but she’s also a girl’s girl.”
Sheree added, “She supports her friends and, you know, that’s me as well, and we have a good time. So [if] we’re talking season 15 or 16, definitely Lisa Wu. She has a lot going on right now and she’s in a different place than she was before.”