It’s been 546 long days since we last had a new episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. When we last saw them, Drew was singing to her estranged husband about their messy breakup. Her cousin was running around wreaking havoc. The show we loved and cherished had slowly faded away into a mess of nothingness.
Since then, the bigwigs at Bravo put on their thinking caps and spent as much time as they needed to get RHOA just right. We all wanted to trust and believe that Bravo could restore the once glorious franchise, but then a nasty little revenge porn scandal threatened to send Season 16 into a tailspin.
Despite the controversies, the premiere has arrived. Bravo made us wait all of this time, but was it worth the wait? We certainly think so. Keep reading for our full rundown on Real Housewives Atlanta Season 16, Episode 1, “Welcome Back Peaches.”
What happened in The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 16, Episode 1?
In the RHOA Season 16 premiere, we hopped on Shamea’s elevator and got introduced to her fabulous circle of friends. Meanwhile, her bestie Porsha found herself caught in a sticky situation thanks to a legal threat from her estranged husband. The stress was so serious that she had to go to a strip club to decompress! By the end of the episode, we got a glimpse into Season 16’s first feud.
Shamea is the peach that connects them all
If you thought the RHOA Season 16 reboot was going to be all about Porsha, you couldn’t be more wrong. Of course, she’s a big part of this, but the premiere wasted no time establishing that it’s Shamea who is the nucleus of this group.
In the first five minutes of the episode, Shamea introduced us to her $9 million home, which is outfitted with more elevators than your local mall. If you wanted wealth out of this reboot, Shamea’s got it covered. She even gave the house a name, Sterling Hall, so we can add this to the map of Bravo landmarks.
As a longtime RHOA watcher, it feels a little shocking knowing that Shamea was just running around as Porsha’s sidekick this whole time. However, she made it clear in this premiere that she earned this promotion from second fiddle to main character.
While showcasing hr multimillion-dollar house, which was allegedly paid for through her husband’s HVAC work, she explained her connections to the original cast and the new friends she wants to introduce at her upcoming birthday party. It has Housewives written all over it, and that’s where Atlanta’s new chapter begins.
Drew has a new normal
Drew spent her year away from the cameras adjusting to life without Ralph. She’s also been getting oddly close to Porsha’s ex, Dennis McKinley, the Hot Dog King. She claims it’s because he’s helping her with her music.
Kenya showed up at Drew’s house ready to talk about all of it, because yes, Kenya is a part of this show. You’d never know it based on the cast pictures, but she was present in the Season 16 premiere.
At Drew’s house, the two started talking about Dennis, and Kenya had a hard time wrapping her head around the idea of him helping Drew with a music career. If he’s in the studio with Drew, who’s going to cook the hot dogs?
“Apparently he’s been doing music for a very, very long time,” Drew told Kenya with a smile.
Of course, Kenya hit back with some very important follow-up questions. First of all, how does Porsha feel about this? Second of all, if he’s so big into music, why didn’t he produce a track for his baby’s mother? She’s a singer sometimes, too!
Kelli the Waffle Queen makes her debut
The first real newbie we met in the premiere was Kelli, and she’s one of those cast members who seems like they were printed at the Housewives factory. Seriously, she checks all of the boxes of your average Real Housewife star. She’s got money, she’s got twins, and she’s got a big mouth ready to spread some gossip.
Kelli nicknamed herself the Waffle Queen because she owns a chicken and waffle restaurant that exploded into a huge business. If you need gold-infused syrup for your waffles, she’s your girl.
In the premiere, Kelli established herself as the messy one of this new group. At a lunch with Shamea and Brit, she started stirring the pot. Someone has to do it.
The ladies were talking about Shamea’s upcoming birthday party, when Porsha’s name came up. Kelli immediately started talking about Simon and how Porsha shouldn’t have been messing around with him in the first place.
Is Kelli wrong? Absolutely not, but she’s putting Shamea in a rough spot. Her friendship with Porsha is going to be tested as she starts to mix friend groups together.
Porsha is gearing up for a legal battle
In Kelli’s defense, we were all watching this episode and thinking about Porsha’s divorce. It’s the elephant in the room, and since Bravo cameras weren’t allowed in her home, she brought them into her lawyer’s office. There, she and her lawyers plotted an emergency request to have a judge allow filming in the marital home. It’s just a glimpse into the nastiness still to come with Simon, who in real-time has been detained by ICE.
The situation with Simon is so draining that Shamea decided to take Porsha to a strip club to take her mind off of things. The two took shots, ate chicken wings, and watched booties bounce. You have to get creative when you can’t film at home!
Overall, Porsha has a lot on her plate this season, and when Shamea gave her a heads up about what Kelli had been saying about her, it was like it flipped a switch in Porsha. She’s back in the game of Housewives, and she’s ready to play.
Things get spicy at Shamea’s birthday party
The last part of the premiere episode brought us back to Sterling Hall for Shamea’s birthday bash, which served as the first all-cast event of Season 16. That included Cynthia, who is part-time but had more confessionals than some of the newbies, and Angela, a full-time newbie married to a former NBA player.
As Shamea ushered in the new generation of RHOA, you could see little sprinklings of drama start to pop up throughout the party. Kenya gave an icy introduction to Brit. Kelli and Porsha haven’t met but have been talking about each other through Shamea. Then, there’s also the Dennis and Drew situation that has everyone talking. It’s a lot, and Shamea’s elaborate party could only distract from the drama for so long.
At the end of the episode, the ladies took an elevator ride to another wing of Sterling Hall to have an all-hands chat about the rumors floating around. The premiere episode ended with a “to be continued,” but it looks like this is about to get juicy.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 16 continues on Bravo every Sunday at 8/7c.
TELL US – WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA SEASON 16 PREMIERE? ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT SHAMEA IS THE NUCLEUS OF THE NEW GROUP? SO FAR, WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE OUT OF THE NEWBIES?
