Once a peach, always a peach! The Real Housewives of Atlanta has said goodbye to a few cast members since its Bravo debut in 2008 — but there’s always a chance they could return.
For instance, original RHOA star NeNe Leakes left the show in season 7 before rejoining the cast in 2018. “It’s been a long process but we’ve finally reached an agreement! All hail the Queen for season 10 of #RHOA @bravotv #thethreatisback,” she announced via Twitter one year earlier.
After two seasons, the New Normal alum went on to leave the show again in 2019, telling fans in a YouTube video that “it was not an easy decision [but] I do know that the decision I have made was the right decision for me at this time in my life.“
In the clip, NeNe explained that she had “been on an extremely, extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional negotiation. There has been a lot of emotion flying on both sides,” she said. “I’m just so happy that I can say that I was a part of a genre that opened doors for Black ensemble reality shows.”
Despite all of the drama over the years, NeNe has hinted that she’s open to coming back to the hit reality series in the future. Perhaps, the third time’s the charm? “I’m OK with returning to the show as long as we can work through a few things,” she told The Real in November 2021.
Meanwhile, there are other cast members who have decided that one season was enough for them — including Kim Fields.
After joining the Bravo series in 2015 for season 8, the former child star decided it was best to not overstay her welcome. “At the beginning of the season, what did my mama say? ‘Get in and get out,’” she said during a 2016 episode of The Rickey Smiley Morning Show. “Listen to your mama.”
Still, Kim doesn’t regret her decision to appear on the show. “It was for the experience,” she told radio host Rickey Smiley. “It was to be able to do a genre that I’d been asked to do before and finding a way to do it that made sense for my team and for the family.”
Phaedra Parks’ exit from RHOA in 2017 after three seasons was a bit more controversial than Kim’s — but she looks back fondly on those times as well.
“I’m always happy for those years I spent [on the show],” she told Us in 2020. “But everybody has to grow.”
Keep scrolling to find out where the former stars of the Real Housewives of Atlanta are now:
