The Real Housewives of Atlanta is an American reality television series on the Bravo cable network that premiered in the Fall of 2008. Following the format of its predecessors (The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives of New York City), Atlanta is not only the highest rated show of the The Real Housewives of... franchise, but the highest rated reality series on the network.
The show revolves around seven women in the Atlanta metropolitan area juggling their home lives along with fast-paced social and business lives. It currently stars fashion designer Shereé Whitfield, ugly author NeNe Leakes, real estate broker and fashion designer Lisa Wu-Hartwell, singer and wig designer Kim Zolciak, and record producer/singer Kandi Burruss.
(Season 1 to present)
"I don't keep up with the Joneses, I am the Joneses."
Nene Leakes, 42, was born in Queens, New York on December 13, 1967 as Linnethia Monique Johnson and raised in Athens, Georgia. Now a Duluth resident, she is married to Gregg Leakes. She also has two children, a 9 year old boy named Brentt and another 18 year old boy from a previous relationship named Brice. She is the founder of the Twisted Hearts Foundation that addresses domestic violence against women. She had a book published, Never Make the Same Mistakes Twice, in 2009. It was ghostwritten by Denene Millner.
Leakes has left her rental home seen in the first season of the show in November 2008 after an eviction notice was filed by the landlords, Winwood Properties. It was located in the Stonebrier at Sugarloaf gated community on Sugarloaf Parkway, which is approximately 40 minutes northeast of downtown Atlanta. The notice, filed Sept. 24 with the magistrate court of Gwinnett County, said Leakes' husband owed them $6,240 in past due rent. Leakes stated that it “was a lease purchase corporate deal with Greg & his company. Things didn’t work out between the two of them so they did what they had to do and he did what he had to do.” As of the filming of season two, she is renting a home in the St. Marlo Country Club community.
Her elder son has dropped out of Clark Atlanta University, and is now pursuing a career in club promotion.
Leakes won a Bravo A-List Award for "Guiltiest Reality Pleasure" in 2009 for the first season of the show.
Once good friends, Leakes was seen on the show embattled in a feud with Kim Zolciak. The two have somewhat reconciled, their relationship is cordial.
(Season 1 to present)
"People are intimidated by my success."
Originally from Shaker Heights, Ohio. Whitfield, now 39, is the ex-wife of NFL professional football player Bob Whitfield, with whom she has two children. She used to reside in a Sandy Springs mansion with her ex-husband, but it was sold in foreclosure. The house is approximately 20 minutes north of downtown Atlanta.
She is attempting to develop a clothing line called She by Shereé.
She had a feud with cast mate NeNe Leakes in Season 1 of the series, but the two women have since reconciled.
(Season 1 to present)
"If it doesn't make me money, I don't do it."
Lisa, 38, is originally from Inglewood, California. Her mother is Afro-Caribbean and her father is Chinese. She has been known as Sharon Millette Wu, Sharon Lisa Sweat, and Lisa Wu-Sweat.
She filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in 2007, despite her mantra during the introduction of the show, "If it doesn't make me money, I don't do it".
Hartwell was married to R&B singer Keith Sweat from 1992-2002, with whom she has two sons, Jordan (1995) and Justin(1998). Her ex-husband, Keith Sweat, currently has custody of their children. On 31 December 2005 she and former NFL linebacker Edgerton Hartwell eloped. Their son Ed Jr. was born in 2007.
During the filming of the first two seasons, she lived in the exclusive gated community of the St. Marlo Country Club in Duluth, Georgia. She is co-owner of Hartwell and Associates, an Atlanta-based real estate firm. In addition she runs three businesses: Wu-Girls Designs jewelry line; and two clothing lines: Hart2Hart Baby (baby clothes) and Closet Freak (sexy t-shirts designed for women).
As of July 2009 all of her business websites are down. The house she lived in while filming the first two seasons is now a bank owned property after failing to get a 1.9 million dollar bid during a foreclosure auction held on August 4, 2009. Her family has moved to a property owned by her husband in Hoschton, Georgia, approximately 40 miles north of Atlanta.
(Season 1 to present)
"In Atlanta, money and class do give you power."
Connecticut native and Johns Creek resident, the 31 year old (born May 19, 1978) divorced mother of two is attempting a career as a country singer. Kim was a licensed practical nurse (LPN) in Connecticut and Georgia from 1999–2003, according to public records from these states.
She openly communicates that she has a "sugar daddy," to whom she refers as "Big Poppa." In October 2008, Jezebel reported that "numerous blind items and internet rumors" had identified Big Poppa as entrepreneur Lee Najjar. "Big Poppa" reportedly funded her lavish lifestyle, buying her $14,000 diamond tennis bracelet, a $68,762.80 Cadillac Escalade (purchased on March 6, 2008) and 1.5 million dollars worth diamond set (bracelet and necklace). Zolciak and "Big Poppa" broke up in the last episode of season one. Since the end of the first season, Zolciak has linked in media reports to billionaire Dr. Stefan Lemperle and Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis.
The show originally planned to follow the lives of five black women, but Zolciak, who was introduced to the producers by then friend NeNe Leakes, impressed the casting agents with her personality.
Although the Oct. 1, 2009 Season 2 episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta featured Kim becoming engaged with her on-again-off-again boyfriend "Big Poppa," on Sept. 24 she Tweeted that "There is NO more Big Poppa and Kim FYI" and that "show was filmed months ago things have changed..So happy."
(Season 2 to present)
"I'm an independent woman, doin' it for myself."
The Georgia native and former Xscape member is the newest Housewife, replacing Deshawn Snow. Burruss is a Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter who resides in Fayetteville, GA with her six-year-old daughter Riley. Her one-time fiancé Ashley Jewell (AJ) (whose work is some "involvement in the music business") and his twin daughters lived with her for a time. Burruss is a former member of the platinum-selling musical group Xscape, and won a Grammy Award for her work on TLC's mega hit "No Scrubs." She has also written/co written music for artists that include Mariah Carey, 'N Sync, Destiny's Child, Alicia Keys, American Idol Fantasia Barrino, female rapper Solé, Pink and Whitney Houston. Aside from being a Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and record producer, she is also the founder and CEO of Kandi Koated Entertainment, her own independent recording label. Recently, she bought her own boutique, TAGS, in Atlanta, which is located at 4500 West Village Smyrna, Ga. 30080. It is scheduled to be opening in mid-October. It was reported that Burruss and fiance AJ ended their engagement.
On October 2, 2009, A.J suffered a severe head injury during a fight at the Body Tap club (that he Co-Owned) and was taken to a hospital, where he died. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that an employee of the club, Fredrick Richardson, was arrested in connection with the death. Richardson was taken on Friday night to Grady Memorial Hospital. A police spokesman says he will be taken to Fulton County Jail as soon as doctors discharge him.
Kandi will be appearing on one episode of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire in which she will be paired with a real housewife from the US to help that housewife win one million dollars.
(Season 1)
"I always knew I was destined for greatness"
Originally from Detroit, she is a current resident of the Atlanta suburb of Milton in the Manor Golf and Country Club, north of downtown Atlanta. She has three children and is the wife of former Cleveland Cavaliers professional NBA basketball player and NBA TV announcer Eric Snow. Her main focus is the DeShawn Snow Foundation, an organization dedicated to the welfare and the self-esteem of teenage girls. DeShawn was not invited back for the second season; she alleges that producers said it was because she was "too human for a circus show" and did not create enough drama.
Ratings
The Real Housewives of Atlanta is one of Bravo's most successful shows in terms of ratings and the highest rated The Real Housewives of... of the network.[2] Although The Real Housewives of Orange County has run for five seasons and was successful enough to garner a spin-off in New York City, The Real Housewives of Atlanta is the channel's first reality series ever to hit the two million viewer mark among adults 18-49. The series averaged 1.13 million adults 18-49 and 1.495 million total viewers, with the reunion telecast totaling 2.055 million adults 18-49 and 2.817 million total viewers tuning in.
"Real Housewives of Atlanta" ranked as the No. 1 assisted-reality cable entertainment telecast for the week of September 10, 2009, and for the week-to-date, according to Nielsen Media Research. The show attracted 3.198 million total viewers.
Credit: Wikipedia
