Kandi Burruss is hitting pause on The Real Housewives of Atlanta after more than a decade.
“I’m not really keeping up right now. I’m not keeping up. I already said it, so I’ll tell you. I decided I’m not coming back this year,” Burruss, 47, revealed to Variety while on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 4.
Burruss said she is focused on other projects at the moment, adding, “It’s been 14 seasons, and they allowed us to sit around for a little too long, but during that time I had started working on a lot of other things, and I got some nice big projects coming soon, so I’m super excited about those things.”
After reexamining her time on the show, Burruss decided she was ready for a break.
“But it’s not just that. It’s just like, you know, after you really have time to think, and a friend of mine was like, ‘Why do you keep doing it?’ And I was like, ‘Well I think because I’ve just been doing it so long, feels weird to think not to do it?’” she continued. “So I was just like, You know what? I’m going to take a break, I’m going to take a moment … I’m not coming back this year.’”
Burruss has been a cast member on RHOA since 2009. After making her debut in season 2, she went on to become the longest-running Housewife with no break between seasons. She also landed spinoffs The Kandi Factory, Kandi’s Wedding, Kandi’s Ski Trip, Xscape: Still Kickin’ It and Kandi & the Gang.
Before announcing her departure, Burruss also weighed in on a potential cast shakeup for RHOA as there’s reports that the show could take a cue from The Real Housewives of New York City and reboot the group.
“I guess there could be [a shakeup], but every time they decide they want to change people, it’s like, sometimes I’m sad when the people leave that they switched out,” she told Us Weekly in November 2023 at BravoCon. “Sometimes they’ll get someone new and I’m like, ‘OK, well …’ I try to stay open-minded. I could have kept the same crew as when I first started.”
While it’s possible Burruss could return to Atlanta in the future, she’s already ruled out spinoff The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip.
“At this point, I don’t see it happening” she exclusively told Us in August 2022. “Because, like, anybody that I would’ve possibly wanted to — or felt comfortable being in a house with — they’ve already done it.”
Burruss explained that she’s “not really good around a lot of” new people.
“I can’t be there with a whole bunch of different Housewives for some cattiness,” she shared. “I’m, like, I deal with enough doing RHOA and then I’m doing this, this other show with my group Xscape … [I’m] like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m done with all these different females in one place.’”
Bravo has yet to announce a cast for season 16 of RHOA. Season 15 also starred Shereé Whitfield, Kenya Moore, Drew Sidora, Marlo Hampton and Sanya Richards-Ross.
