The alleged curse of NeNe Leakes’ absence has caused a longtime fan fave and OG reality star to abandon the Bravo Real Housewives gravy train. Kandi Burruss-Tucker, the only true multi-millionaire actually married on the Atlanta franchise, is biting the dust for a more exciting bag.
“A friend of mine was like, ‘Why do you keep doing [RHOA]?'” Burruss told a red carpet Variety reporter on Sunday, Feb. 4. “I was like, ‘Well, I think because I just been doing it so long, it just feels weird to think not to do it. So, I was just like, you know what, I’m [going to] take a break, I’m [going to] take a moment.”
When the reporter inquired whether she would be quitting the show for good or simply taking a break, Burruss gave a very cryptic answer.
“I’ve decided I’m not coming back this year,” Burruss said. “It’s been 14 seasons, and they allowed us to sit around for a little too long… During that time, I started working on a lot of other things and I got some nice big projects coming soon.”
Kandi Burruss says she's not returning to "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." | Variety On the Carpet presented by @DIRECTV https://t.co/HaRikxpmPK pic.twitter.com/qmNTPiOjsA
— Variety (@Variety) February 4, 2024
The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s current roster includes Burruss, Shereé Whitfield, Kenya Moore, Marlo Hampton, Drew Sidora, Sanya Richards-Ross, and friends of the show, Courtney Rhodes and Monyetta Shaw-Carter.
The reality series premiered Oct. 7, 2008 with Leakes, Whitfield, Kim Zolciak, and Lisa Wu. Porsha Williams, Phaedra Harris, and Cynthia Bailey joined the cast in later seasons.
Once considered the standard for reality franchises in its genre, RHOA suffered a steady decline in ratings over the last few years starting in 2020, which also happens to be when Leakes exited the show in its 12th season after a contract dispute with Bravo.
Ratings dropped below RHOA’s signature million-viewer performance during the 14th season in 2022, a season noticeably struggling from the absence of Leakes and Williams, who exited the show in season 13.
Burruss wisely used the RHOA platform to promote side hustles, including two restaurants, a sex toy line, theatre productions, and television roles. Prior to RHOA, Burruss was known for being one-fourth of the R&B group Xscape and an award-winning songwriter where she penned hit songs for TLC, Destiny’s Child, Mariah Carey, N’Sync, and several other big time artists.
