Was Peter Thomas the ticket to getting Cynthia Bailey cast on The Real Housewives of Atlanta? NeNe Leakes thinks so. In an exclusive interview with former RHOA producer Carlos King, NeNe got real about how she felt when Cynthia first joined the show. It’s safe to say that NeNe was less than impressed with Cynthia when they first met.
Nene and Carlos spilled the tea
When chatting with Carlos, NeNe reflected on the RHOA casting decisions ahead of Season 3. NeNe said that before filming started for Season 3, she had never met Cynthia. Producers asked her to meet Cynthia and get to know her so NeNe could bring her into the group. At the time, NeNe claimed she had never even heard of Cynthia.
“The only supermodels I had heard of was Naomi [Campbell] and Tyra [Banks] and maybe a couple of other Black girls…” NeNe continued, “But I had never heard of Cynthia.”
NeNe reminisced on their first dinner together, and she claimed that Cynthia was nervous and perhaps a little star-struck when they first met. They clicked, but NeNe couldn’t see her holding a peach.
“I felt like she was a little nervous. I didn’t think that she was Housewives material, just being honest.” NeNe continued, “I was like, ‘You know she’s a little quiet, she’s a little this … I don’t know that she is the one that you guys are looking for.'”
However, NeNe said her thoughts on Cynthia changed when she met Peter. NeNe described him as “loud” and “aggressive” when they first met. She recalled, “I was like, ‘Oh my god. This is her guy? I got why they like Cynthia because Peter was extra.'”
Carlos proceeded to ask NeNe if Cynthia would have been cast without Peter in the picture, and that’s when NeNe really drilled it home on Cynthia. According to NeNe, Cynthia has the ferocity needed for Housewives deep inside her, but she wasn’t willing to show that on camera. Of course, this was well before the days of “50 Cynt” and years before NeNe called her out on camera for this exact behavior.
Responding to Carlos, NeNe said, “I feel like definitely the Cynthia that’s not on camera has the strength, and she’s vocal enough to be on the show for sure without Peter. But on camera, I felt like she never really wanted to show that side of her.”
Although Cynthia and NeNe are no longer in the picture, Season 15 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta continues on Bravo, Sunday nights at 8/7c.
TELL US – DO YOU AGREE WITH NENE THAT CYNTHIA’S MARRIAGE TO PETER HELPED SECURE HER SPOT ON THE SHOW? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON NENE’S INTERVIEW WITH CARLOS?
