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Credit: Ivan Apfel/Bravo, Hulu, Charles Sykes/Bravo
Phaedra Parks is back on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and her return has so far been met with a tepid response from fans. Now, the attorney and reality television star is opening up about season 16, her issues with Angela Oakley, how she feels about a Kenya Moore return, and much more in a brand new interview.
Fans will recall that Phaedra left the show following season nine. This came after she spread rumors to Porsha Williams about Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker wanting to drug and then take advantage of her sexually. Of course, this wasn’t true, and Kandi understandably never forgave Phaedra. After that, Phaedra spent years working her way back into the good graces of Bravo.
Phaedra recently appeared on Page Six‘s Virtual Reali-Tea podcast. While on the show, the RHOA returnee played a game of “teatime,” which involved her picking pastries from a dish, each of which corresponded to a question. One of the notable lines of questioning concerned Kenya and whether she should return to the show.
Phaedra answered, “You know what, that’s not my decision.” The hosts then pressed, asking, “Well, if it was?”
“Well, you probably shouldn’t ask me that. At the end of the day, you know that’s not my business,” Phaedra responded.
Regarding whether she would film with Kenya, Phaedra said, “We’re obviously not bosom buddies as you well know, but I don’t have any issues with her.” She then called Kenya’s actions against Brittany “Brit” Eady “very shocking.”
As fans know, newbies Kelli Ferrell and Brit seem to have had a falling out as the season progressed. When discussing what went wrong, Phaedra said, “Well, you know what, I came when it started to go down the drain, so I didn’t really know the other side of it.”
She then explained, “I’ve told both of them this, like life is too short to be fussing about employees, because it seems to be about people that they work with.” Phardra said specifically that she thinks the argument had to do with a “makeup person.”
They also discussed the new cast members in general during the interview, and the hosts remarked that the fans are loving all the newbies. Phaedra retorted, “I won’t say that. I don’t think that they are.”
One of the hosts added, “People love Kelli.” In response, the RHOA star asked, “Do they? I mean, I hear a lot about Angela Oakley. They love Angela. They think Angela is a reincarnated Housewife.”
From there, the line of discussion shifted to the issues between the two ladies and how Angela previously said Phaedra wanted “clout” by creating drama with her. Phaedra said, “Well, she’s new to this, I’m really true to it. I’ve been doing this for well over several decades. Clout, I don’t need that, I’ve got it.”
In terms of where they stand today, Phaedra revealed, “You know what, I just spoke to her yesterday, but I think we did have a misunderstanding, but that’s life. I didn’t get to know her well, but there was a little friction between us.” She then called their friction “the weirdest thing ever” and said fans have to see it for themselves. She also made a somewhat controversial remark, calling it “worse than the fires in California.”
Much of season 16 has been about the fallout between Porsha Williams and Shamea Morton, and Phaedra also provided her thoughts on the matter. According to her, “Friends go through dips, and you know, ebbs and flows in their relationships. Porsha has had a rough few months. I mean, she’s going through a divorce. You’ll see on the show she loses a close family member. I mean, and that’s a lot. Life is lifeing for her, and so sometimes when life is really living, you know, your friendships might suffer.” She also reacted to their recent sit-down and said it made her “very uncomfortable” to watch.
For context, Porsha’s cousin, Yolanda “Londie” Favors, passed away in August 2024. This came after she filmed an earlier episode for this season.
The topic of Drew Sidora also came up, and the hosts asked Phaedra if she thinks anything happened between her and Dennis McKinley. She answered, “Personally, I don’t think so.”
They then asked Phaedra about her previous comments about Drew being the biggest liar on the cast. However, she didn’t address this and instead discussed the singer showing up late to filming.
According to Phaedra, “Here’s the thing, it wasn’t a dig, it was just she shows up late to everything, so she’s always usually two or three hours late, and so when you’re two or three hours late, you know the dinner’s happening, the show is going on without you, and so, you know, that, that’s problematic.”
She then said, “I haven’t had, but, you know, one experience with her on the show, and that sort of involves the whole Angela situation, so I think she was definitely behind that. Drew was definitely in the mix with it, and so I was not very happy with her because I think she had a lot to do with the Angela situation.”
Toward the end, Phaedra was asked who she would bring back to the show. She named NeNe Leakes, with whom she says she has a great relationship. Phaedra also said she would bring back Kim Zolciak, Marlo Hampton, and Sheree Whitfield.
Fans can see Phaedra on new episodes of RHOA on Sunday nights.
