Oh Atlanta… I am thankful to you for many reasons. You’ve got peaches. You’ve got the Falcons (Rise up! I know nothing about NFL teams except for their tag lines), you’ve got the best shopping for those of us in the South who live off I-85 (thank you Phipps Plaza!) who think fine apparel comes from Target (a lot of it does. IT DOES). And you’ve got the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Bless you fair Georgian city. Let’s get right to the newest RHOA gossip, shall we?
Just because she’s starring on Bravo’s sure to be latest hit Don’t Be Tardy for the Wedding with her new husband Kroy Biermann doesn’t mean that Kim Zolciak has forgotten her RHOA roots. After being the palest wig wearer for four seasons, many speculated she would be taking the Bethenny Frankel route and not returning to the show that made her a star household name.
Fear not, dear readers. Kim’s twitterverse (of course, where else?) has been abuzz with rumors that the fair Kim (no pun intended…okay, pun totally intended which is why I italicized) would not be returning to Bravo’s Atlanta franchise for season 5. On Friday, Kim pacified many a worried viewer, tweeting, “I’ll be back don’t believe rumors!!”
In fact, when many Kim followers started to voice their concern that the voluminous wig wearer was placating her masses, her twitters tweeters tweet peeps fans were relieved when Kim reiterated, “I’ll be back!!! Xxx”
Even though there is no official word from Bravo as to the season five cast, I, for one, can rest assured that if Kim’s wig doesn’t grace my screen next season, I can hopefully watch a twitter inspired video network of her future life. #trademarkedandregisteredsaidtwittervideofeedsobackoffpeoplewhowanttobeonsharktank 🙂
In other, and equally important RHOA news, Phaedra Parks is speaking out on eurweb.com about her place on the show and her new career as a funeral director.
As we all know, Phaedra isn’t just a reality star, she’s a savvy business woman and attorney. And due to that, she’s hoping that the show serves as an advertisement for her new other worldly business ventures. It appears that she was picked up for the show just in time to realize her true dream.
Phaedra tells the site, “It wasn’t that I had so much of a desire to be on the Real Housewives of Atlanta. It came at a great time. I was on bed rest. I was pregnant and it was a good opportunity for me to really expand my brand because I had produced TV shows.”
She continues, “I am an entertainment attorney, but I had never been in front of the screen so I understood all the workings of reality except for being a true cast mate. So it gave me an opportunity to say ‘Hey, I have diversified and I can do every part of TV now.’ I know the legal side. I know the technical side and I know the artist side of it.’”
While it’s easy for viewers to see that being a part of the show was a big jump start for Phaedra, she is quick to admit that viewers are the the ones who make the call as to who is popular, who is hated, who needs to stay, and who needs to go. Regardless, Phaedra is very happy with the part she’s played in the franchise and shares what she believes to be the most important aspect of her time with Bravo.
Phaedra asserts, “I think as black people, we have to stop saying this show represents our whole race. We have to vote with our viewership and say ‘On the show we want to see professionals. We want to see mothers. We want to see whatever it is that you actually want to see…[u]nfortunately, as viewers we have sort of bought into the stereotypes that the mass media has shown us for years and we glorify it. One of our biggest characters on there is probably very stereotypical of what we want to admonish as a people, but people love to say ‘Oh we love to see her cut up because that’s what we’re tuning in to see.’”
Amen, Phaedra. I have always thought she brought the comic relief (pickle photo shoots and baby poop, anyone?), but I love to hear her intelligent side give the general opinion of the show. She is, of course, totally correct… people want drama. Sadly, we wouldn’t be tuning in in droves to see the women succeeding in their professional lives. We just like to see Nene Leakes and Kim go at it. #SadForUs
“It’s unfortunate, but I think we have been programmed to want to see drama,” Phaedra continues. “We want to see discord. And when you see people getting along, instead of us actually praising ‘Oh wow, they’re getting along. There’s teamwork. There’s camaraderie. There’s things that’s positive about us as black women,’ people will say ‘Oh, that’s boring. That’s so boring. We don’t want to see that.’ I think we sort of went in a direction where we subscribe to drama and we appreciate that more than sensible behavior.”
In the interview, Phaedra veers away from the show and discusses her dream to own and operate a funeral home. I have to say that for once I don’t think this is a story line Bravo was smart enough to think up on its own, let alone encourage. No offense Andy Cohen, but I do think this has been the long time brainchild of Phaedra herself.
The star speaks candidly about her passion for owning her own mortuary. Phaedra states, “I developed a big desire to be in the funeral home business about five or six years ago. I had a lot of friends that passed away and I was the person that would plan their homegoing services, so that’s how the interest started.” She reveals, “The funeral home I’m going open will be fabulous and the services will be a celebration of life. It will be a family business. My husband, my mother, and my brother will be involved. It’s going to be a great legacy we can leave for our son.”
Bless you, Phaedra. I wish you had been around when I had to plan the funerals of family members. No, I am not Phaedra’s biggest fan, but I do have to applaud what seems like a sincere effort to follow her passion. Bottom line, I do think that if this was the last season we saw of RHOA, ten years from now Phaedra would be embalming our loved ones. And that’s solid on her part.
Finally, turning away from the macabre, I have new cast members to report on…or not report on, as the case may be. Thankfully the Atlanta Journal Constitution is relaying that CNN magnate Ted Turner (the same man who is not, I repeat happily is NOT, Marlo Hampton’s rich older sugar daddy)’s daughter Laura Turner Seydel has been approached by Bravo to join the fifth season.
While she made an appearance on a recent episode to tout her charity, Laura is however way too busy not being uber-dramatic actually doing volunteer work to have her world filmed for the Bravo series.
The site reports that while she did enjoy her minutes in the limelight, she will be turning down Bravo’s offer. Her spokesperson Denise Elsbree claims, “[Laura] really enjoyed that. It was fun. She was able to promote Captain Planet. She works hard to get the message out about the group’s different initiatives.”
After graciously declining Bravo’s invitation, her spokesperson (how many times do I get to quote the actual spokesperson – not a ‘source’ or an ‘insider’ when referring to Bravo-lebrities? Answer: never) states, “[Laura] has a really complicated schedule. She’s on all sorts of boards of foundations and travels all the time. She’s flattered to be considered but there’s no way she could do it.” More respect for you, Mrs. Seydel, more respect.
If you have digested all of this wonderful RHOA info, then clearly you are ready for a preview of tonight’s episode which airs on Bravo at 9PM ET. It’s the third installment of the “ladies'” trip to South Africa and the drama is still high between Marlo and Sheree. When Nene is the voice of reason in screaming match, you know it’s bad! The smalls head to Sheree’s friend’s for dinner while the talls head to Nobu. There is a good deal of fire juggling and Sassafras. The smalls try to set up Kandi with a struggling actor and model, but she didn’t come all the way to Africa to find someone who is fakes it till they make it. With the talls, Cynthia is disappointed that she is with the group that doesn’t want to soak up any culture. Nene eats her sushi with a fork. Can’t wait! A preview clip is below.
ARE YOU EXCITED THAT KIM WILL BE BACK FOR SEASON 5? THOUGHTS ON PHAEDRA’S INTERVIEW? ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT LAURA TURNER SEYDEL WAS APPROACHED FOR THE SHOW?
CLICK THE CONTINUE READING BUTTON TO SEE THE PREVIEW!
