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Real Housewives of Atlanta alum and current Celebrity Big Brother contestant Cynthia Bailey is moving on with her life after her tenure on the hit Bravo show. In a new interview, she’s sharing her thoughts on the new cast additions and what she misses most about the show. She also shares her thoughts on former costar NeNe Leakes, and she hints at a possible return to the Housewives franchise.
Sitting down with the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast, Cynthia explained that she hasn’t really had the time to process the fact that she is no longer part of the show and probably wouldn’t until the show airs.
“I honestly, hadn’t had a lot of the time to really, to think about the fact that I’m not on the show anymore, to be very honest with you,” she said. “Like, it’s you know, it’s kind of weird sometimes not to, you know, cause I just call myself a former housewife now because I forget that I’m not on the show sometimes, but honestly, it really hasn’t hit me. I don’t think it’s going to hit me until the show airs.”
Always one to be honest, Cynthia also does miss the paycheck the show provided, but she says she’s got projects and opportunities in the works and has always been “financially secure.”
“Well, let’s keep it 100. I mean, I was getting paid very well to be on Real Housewives of Atlanta…That was definitely like, how do I replace this check? So of course, you know, I went right into hustle mode, but I had already been planting seeds the whole time when I was thinking about this,” she said.
Cynthia also explained that her marriage plays a major factor in her decision to leave RHOA as the work would have taken attention away from the relationship. Plus, she admitted she felt “disconnected” at her final reunion.
“I was kinda, you know, at the reunion, I just kinda just felt so disconnected. I just felt like, wow, I’ve just, I don’t really have anything else to say. I just don’t have anything else I want to share. Like, you know, for me it was almost kind of a full-circle moment. You know, I got married my first season and I got married my last season and I really wanted to commit to my marriage.”
As for her thoughts on bringing back Sheree Whitfield and promoting Marlo Hampton to a full-time peach holder, Cynthia has nothing but positive things to say about the two.
“I’m so excited for Marlo. I mean, she’s definitely put in her time. So, I think her fans deserve to get to see more of her life,” Cynthia said. “Sheree’s been on and off the show for as long as I’ve been on the show. So, I think it’s always, I think a little dose of Sheree is always on time.”
Despite the show still going strong, the franchise did see a decline in ratings over the past few seasons, and when Cynthia was asked if she thought it was because of her forever frenemy NeNe Leakes’ absence, she didn’t mince words.
“I don’t think that any one person is bigger than the show. I think the show is always going to go on. You know what I’m saying? However, I do think that Nene, no one’s going to ever argue that she like, I’ll say it in this interview, like I’ve said it in all the other interviews, when you think of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you think of NeNe Leakes because she was the breakout star then, and she definitely is the one person that comes to mind,” Cynthia admitted.
As for a return to the franchise? Since becoming bicoastal and spending most of her time out in Los Angeles, Cynthia said she would totally be down for joining The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
“For sure. Would I consider Beverly Hills whenever I decided I wanted to go for another round of Housewives? 100%. Yeah. I’m spending most of my time out in LA now, and this, you know, Noelle’s here. It’s feeling more and more like home for me. So yes, I would absolutely consider it. Yes. When, and if it makes sense, definitely.”