The Real Housewives of Atlanta | |
Current Housewives | Shereé Whitfield (Seasons 1–4, 9–10, 14–) Kenya Moore (Seasons 5–10, 12–) |
Former Housewives | NeNe Leakes (Seasons 1–7, 10–12) Kim Zolciak (Seasons 1–5) |
Country of Origin | United States |
Original Language | English |
Number of Seasons | 15 |
Number of Episodes | 320 |
Original Release | October 7, 2008–Present |
Preceded By | The Real Housewives of New York City |
Followed By | The Real Housewives of New Jersey |
Spin-Off(s) | Don’t Be Tardy The Kandi Factory |
The Real Housewives of Atlanta, abbreviated RHOA, is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo, on October 7, 2008. Developed as the third installment of The Real Housewives franchise, it has aired fifteen seasons and focuses on the personal and professional lives of several women residing in and around Atlanta, Georgia.
The cast of the recent fifteenth season consists of Shereé Whitfield, Kandi Burruss, Kenya Moore, Drew Sidora, Marlo Hampton and Sanya Richards-Ross, with Monyetta Shaw-Carter and Courtney Rhodes serving as ‘Friends of the Housewives’. Previously-featured cast members include: original housewives, NeNe Leakes, DeShawn Snow, Lisa Wu and Kim Zolciak; and subsequent housewives, Cynthia Bailey, Phaedra Parks, Porsha Williams, Claudia Jordan, Kim Fields, Shamari DeVoe and Eva Marcille.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta has received moderately favorable reviews from critics and has been recognized as a "guilty pleasure" by several media outlets. However, the series has been criticized for appearing to fabricate portions of its storyline. It has anchored Bravo's Sunday night offerings since the show's third season in 2010, eventually becoming Bravo's highest-rated program by 2014.
The success of the show has resulted in ten spin-offs: Don't Be Tardy, The Kandi Factory, I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding, Kandi's Wedding, Kandi's Ski Trip, Xscape: Still Kickin' It, Kandi Koated Nights, Porsha's Having a Baby, Porsha's Family Matters and Kandi & The Gang.
Overview[]
Seasons 1–4[]
The Real Housewives of Atlanta was announced as the third installment in The Real Housewives franchise, intending to capitalize on the successes of its predecessors, The Real Housewives of Orange County and New York City. Throughout its run, the show has been led by five to seven housewives, who are credited by their first name. The first season premiered on October 7, 2008, starred: Lisa Wu, DeShawn Snow, NeNe Leakes, Kim Zolciak and Shereé Whitfield.
Kandi Burruss joined the show in the second season, which premiered on July 30, 2009. Snow did not return.
Premiering on October 4, 2010, the third season saw Wu depart as a Housewife, appearing as a guest, as well as the additions of Cynthia Bailey and Phaedra Parks.
The fourth season which premiered on November 6, 2011, saw no changes to the main cast, besides introducing Marlo Hampton as the first official "Friend of the Housewives".
Seasons 5–7[]
Whitfield did not return, while Kenya Moore and Porsha Williams, joined the show in the fifth season which premiered on November 4, 2012. Zolciak quit the show halfway through filming.
The sixth season premiered on November 3, 2013, and featured the same cast from the previous season, excluding Zolciak, making Leakes the last original housewife on Atlanta at the time. Hampton returned in a Guest capacity.
The seventh season, which premiered on November 9, 2014, saw Williams demoted to a ’Friend of the Housewives’, alongside Demetria McKinney, while Claudia Jordan was introduced as a Housewife.
Seasons 8–11[]
The eighth season premiered on November 8, 2015, which featured Williams returning as a full-time Housewife and Kim Fields joining as the latest housewife. Whitfield returned as a ’Friend of the Housewives’ alongside Shamea Morton. Leakes and Jordan did not return as Housewives but both did, instead, feature as Guests alongside Hampton and McKinney.
The ninth season premiered on November 6, 2016, with Whitfield returning in a full-time capacity. Fields did not return. Hampton made numerous guest appearances along with Morton, while original housewives, Wu and Zolciak-Biermann, appearing in the season finale.
Leakes returned as a full-time cast member for the tenth season, which premiered on November 5, 2017. Parks did not return, while Zolciak-Biermann and Hampton returned as ‘Friend of the Housewives’, alongside Eva Marcille. Morton and Wu appeared throughout the season as well. Whitfield, for the second time, and Moore, left the show after the tenth season.
Marcille was promoted to a full-time capacity, alongside the addition of Shamari DeVoe for the eleventh season, which premiered on November 4, 2018. The season also introduced Tanya Sam as a new ’Friend of the Housewives’, alongside Hampton. Moore appeared as a Guest, alongside Morton.
Seasons 12–15[]
The twelfth season premiered on November 3, 2019, with Moore returning full-time, and Hampton and Sam returning in recurring capacities. DeVoe did not return. Morton appeared as a guest. Marcille and Leakes announced their departure from the show in June 2020 and September 2020 respectively.
The thirteenth season premiered on December 6, 2020, with Drew Sidora joining as the newest Housewife. LaToya Ali joined as "Friend of the Housewives" alongside Hampton and Sam. Marcille returned as a Guest alongside Morton as well as former housewives, Whitfield and Jordan. Bailey and Williams departed the series in September 2021.
The fourteenth season premiered on May 1, 2022. Burruss, Moore and Sidora returned, along with Hampton being promoted to a full-time cast member, after seasons in recurring and guest capacities. Whitfield also returned as a full-time cast member for a third time, along with the additions of Sanya Richards-Ross as a Housewife, and Monyetta Shaw-Carter being introduced as a "Friend of the Housewives". Original housewives, Snow and Wu, returned as guests.
The fifteenth season premiered on May 7, 2023. Whitfield, Burruss, Moore, Sidora, Hampton and Richards-Ross returned to the series. Shaw-Carter returned as a ’Friend of the Housewives’, along with Courtney Rhodes. Morton and Ali appeared as guests, alongside former housewives: Snow, Wu, Zolciak-Biermann and Bailey.
Season 16–Present[]
In February 2024, it was confirmed the show would be returning for a sixteenth season when Burruss announced she had decided to depart the series. Burruss serves as the longest-running housewife, appearing on the series from seasons two to fifteen and was the first housewife across the entire franchise to reach fourteen seasons. On February 13, Porsha Williams announced her return to the series via an Instagram video. On February 24, Hampton announced her departure from the show.
Cast[]
Housewives | Seasons | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | |
NeNe Leakes | Main | Guest | Main | ||||||||||||
Kim Zolciak-Biermann | Main | Guest | Friend | Guest | |||||||||||
Shereé Whitfield | Main | Friend | Main | Guest | Main | ||||||||||
Lisa Wu | Main | Guest | Guest | Guest | |||||||||||
DeShawn Snow | Main | Guest | |||||||||||||
Kandi Burruss | Main | ||||||||||||||
Cynthia Bailey | Main | Guest | |||||||||||||
Phaedra Parks | Main | ||||||||||||||
Kenya Moore | Main | Guest | Main | ||||||||||||
Porsha Williams | Main | Friend | Main | ||||||||||||
Claudia Jordan | Main | Guest | Guest | ||||||||||||
Kim Fields | Main | ||||||||||||||
Eva Marcille | Friend | Main | |||||||||||||
Shamari DeVoe | Main | ||||||||||||||
Drew Sidora | Main | ||||||||||||||
Marlo Hampton | Friend | Guest | Guest | Friend | Main | ||||||||||
Sanya Richards-Ross | Main | ||||||||||||||
Friends of the Housewives | |||||||||||||||
Demetria McKinney | Friend | Guest | |||||||||||||
Shamea Morton | Guest | Friend | Guest | ||||||||||||
Tanya Sam | Friend | ||||||||||||||
LaToya Ali | Friend | ||||||||||||||
Monyetta Shaw | Friend | ||||||||||||||
Courtney Rhodes | Friend |
Episodes[]
Season | Episodes | Season premiere | Season finale | Reunion | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 8 | October 7, 2008 | November 18, 2008 | November 25, 2008 | |
2 | 16 | July 30, 2009 | October 22, 2009 | October 29, 2009 November 5, 2009 | |
3 | 18 | October 4, 2010 | January 30, 2011 | February 13, 2011 February 20, 2011 | |
4 | 23 | November 6, 2011 | April 8, 2012 | April 15, 2012 April 19, 2012 April 22, 2012 | |
24 | November 4, 2012 | March 31, 2013 | April 7, 2013 April 14, 2013 April 21, 2013 | ||
6 | 27 | November 3, 2013 | April 13, 2014 |
April 20, 2014 | |
7 | 25 | November 9, 2014 | April 19, 2015 | April 26, 2015 May 3, 2015 May 10, 2015 | |
8 | 21 | November 8, 2015 | March 13, 2016 | March 20, 2016 March 27, 2016 April 3, 2016 | |
9 | 25 | November 6, 2016 | April 9, 2017 | April 16, 2017 April 23, 2017 April 30, 2017 May 9, 2017 | |
10 | 22 | November 5, 2017 | April 29, 2018 |
April 8, 2018 | |
11 | 26 | November 4, 2018 | May 12, 2019 |
April 7, 2019 | |
12 | 26 | November 3, 2019 | April 19, 2020 | May 10, 2020 May 17, 2020 May 24, 2020 | |
13 | 21 | December 6, 2020 | April 18, 2021 | April 25, 2021 May 2, 2021 May 9, 2021 | |
14 | 20 | May 1, 2022 | September 4, 2022 | September 11, 2022 September 18, 2022 September 25, 2022 | |
15 | 18 | May 7, 2023 | August 20, 2023 | August 27, 2023 September 3, 2023 September 11, 2023 |
Trivia[]
- The first Real Housewives installment to include a predominantly black cast.
- The first program to have a season that does not include an original housewife as one of its main cast members with the exit of Nene Leakes.