Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio
What a difference a big network check makes.
In the caption for the Instagram post announcing her long-awaited (for some fans anyway) return to “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Phaedra Parks wrote, “You called, I answered.”
Parks was not interested in returning to the show that made her famous this time two years ago, though.
When asked about it then, she told ET: “No, I don’t want to pick up a peach. If I wanted a peach, I would have a peach pie, but that’s not… no, as I’ve made it very clear, that’s not what I want to do. No. I will be yachting. Let them continue to sail away on the Titanic, OK?”
The show needed all the help it could get even back then, but I imagine the price for a reality franchise rescue mission is even higher right now.
No wonder Phaedra wants to drive the boat as the show’s touted reboot suffers from the loss of Kenya Moore, who excited RHOA last month for allegedly unveiling explicit pictures of new cast member Brittany Eady at the grand opening of her new Kenya Moore Hair Spa.
From the looks of it online, Phaedra is already at work and has joined the cast on its international trip.
Phaedra’s Southern Belle meets Morticia Addams brand of humor might be an acquired taste, but to me, she is good television, and of the available options, one of the best people for the fledgling franchise to call on.
I miss NeNe, too, but she’s gone, y’all.
It’s looking like Kenya Moore Hair Spa is gone with her.
They may call Sheree because they always can, but for the record, they should not call Kim Zolciak. Let her stay in the chaos she caused in 2016.
Phaedra is the right move for the show and for her as she has been squandered on other shows since leaving RHOA.
When Phaedra first made her post-RHOA appearance, it was on WeTV’s “Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition” in 2020.
Phaedra was not married to rapper and actor Medina Islam when she joined the show, and the relationship felt rooted in contractual obligations rather than anything else.
The same goes for Phaedra’s most recent role on “Married to Medicine,” where we never saw whatever doctor she used to date, thus making her addition a bit harder to buy. She’s fine on the show and good for her to get two Bravo show checks in this economy, but after this upcoming season of M2M, it’s time to take the peaches out of the medicinal mess.
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Although Phaedra’s return to RHOA may have always felt inevitable, it seemed impossible for years.
Phaedra left the show after she admitted in the season nine reunion that she spread a rumor that Kandi and her husband, Todd Tucker, allegedly planned to drug Porsha Williams and Shamea Morton Mwangiin to take advantage of them sexually.
Kandi has now voluntarily left the show and has thus far dismissed plans of returning so Phaedra will not have to face her.
That’s probably for the best, but does that mean she should ignore the reason she left upon her return?
I hope not.
Phaedra has sort of broached the subject in recent years.
She appeared on Peacock’s “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Ex-Wives Club” in June 2022. Fellow cast member Vicki Gunvalson tried to get her to revisit the incident, but Phaedra said she wasn’t “doing that” so all we got was her calling her exit from the show “B.S.” and insisting “there are two sides to every story.”
In that same June 2022 interview with ET, however, Phaedra claimed more was shared.
“Well, actually we had spoke about it earlier and so they chose not to air it,” Phaedra explained. “However, that was — and just to be very honest — that was, what now five and a half, six years ago? And there’s two sides to that story. You only heard one and obviously, they chose not to play the other side. And so it is what it is, but I’m living in the present. And I think people realize … the people that know, know, and most of the people knew and they still know.”
She went on to add: “I’ll say like this: It is what it is I mean, people are going to like you and they’re going to believe whatever side they want to believe. And I think my record speaks for itself and not one day is going to obviously be my legacy. And that was some B.S. as I said then, and it’s still some B.S. and obviously I’m back in the Bravo family, so that speaks volumes, shall we say. If obviously there was this whole issue with me and they didn’t want to be bothered with me, you wouldn’t see me popping up at every event. Because I didn’t invite myself, baby.”
No, she didn’t invite herself back to Bravo, and yes, the incident was several years ago.
Still, while I feel Phaedra will breathe new life into the show, I hope she will consider revisiting the reasons behind her exit. If not to shut up some of the fanbase, at the very least, square how Kenya was kicked out for one reason and Phaedra was welcomed back in spite of past history.
Many of us did make that call for Phaedra’s return for our amusement, but that doesn’t mean we have amnesia.
Michael Arceneaux is the New York Times bestselling author of “I Can’t Date Jesus, I Don’t Want To Die Poor,” and his latest essay collection, “I Finally Bought Some Jordans.”
