Tonight, the ladies of the The Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA) made their return back to the small screen with their tenth season! Phaedra Parks is out, NeNe Leakes is back and the shade is definitely still real.
The first episode of the season ten opens with a scene at Old Lady Gang restaurant, and business is booming at Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker’s first restaurant. Kandi reveals that although she’s excited for the success of the restaurant, she’s also been struggling with being both a mom and businesswoman, considering all of her extra time is spent at the restaurant. And to make matters even crazier, Kandi is getting ready to go back on tour with her former singing group Xscape.
Now that Cynthia Bailey is 50, divorced and living in her dream house (which she’s dubbed Lake Bailey), she reveals that she’s finally found peace in her new home. She’s also planning a 50th birthday party that she’s calling “50 Shades of Cynthia” and is asking her guests to dress up as different versions of her from the past. NeNe makes her return to season ten by paying Cynthia a visit to see Lake Bailey for the first time. Cynthia mentions that it’s time to celebrate since Kenya Moore is now married, although she admits she had no idea Kenya was sneaking off to St. Lucia to become a wife. NeNe however is skeptical and wants to see a marriage certificate.
When Kenya shows up at Lake Bailey to see Cynthia and NeNe, she acts coy at first but confirms she’s married. Kenya reveals she met her husband at one of his restaurants in New York City, and the couple walked down the aisle seven months later. She also shares that she didn’t invite anyone to her wedding and decided to elope. (Later in the show, Kenya apologizes to her dad for not inviting him and admits she regrets it.) Kenya also discloses that she and her new husband are looking for a new house particularly considering the “ghosts” of her past (i.e. her ex-boyfriend Matt Jordan) at Moore Manor. Surprisingly, Kenya doesn’t reveal her husband’s name and refers to him as “Baby” instead.
In another scene, NeNe shows off her new Atlanta clothing store, Swagg Boutique, and Sheree Whitfield drops by. Like NeNe, Sheree also hasn’t met Kenya’s husband, and NeNe also mentions that fellow RHOA cast member Porsha Williams isn’t speaking her.
Porsha now has her own podcast Porsha 4 Real, and during a taping, she tells one listener how she doesn’t suggest working with friends. She later tells her sister Lauren Williams and cousin Tiffany Ford that she’s kept new friends at a distance ever since the Lesbiangate incident in which Phaedra lied about Kandi wanting to drug and rape Porsha. Although Porsha no longer speaks with Phaedra, she mentioned Phaedra texted her for her birthday. Apparently Phaedra also reached out a few times to try to rekindle their friendship, but Porsha wasn’t interested.
The main event of the episode was Cynthia’s 50th birthday party. Before the party, Cynthia discloses that she invited Peter Thomas and that the two of them are still good friends and talk all the time. After giving Peter a call, Cynthia finds out he’s unable to make it and gets a bit sad after realizing it’ll be her first birthday celebration without her ex-husband.
At the party, all of the ladies slay their looks as different versions of Cynthia, but of course the shade comes out once all of the ladies are in the same room. Although Kandi is now on good terms with NeNe, she admits doesn’t want to pretend things are OK between her and Porsha. However Kandi isn’t the only one who isn’t vibing with Porsha as there’s also a huge rift between NeNe and Porsha. (Porsha even admits that Sheree is the only housewife who’s reached out after season nine’s big scandal.)
NeNe says their problems started two years ago when Porsha didn’t want to accept her advice about being non-violent, but Porsha says NeNe has been dragging her in interviews. Porsha’s also upset at NeNe for suggesting she should be fired from the Bravo franchise because of the altercations she got in with cast members. After a confrontation, NeNe ends up leaving Cynthia’s party and things go unresolved with Porsha. Let the Season 10 drama begin!
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs on Bravo on Sunday nights at 8pm ET.