New details have emerged about the casting for the upcoming new season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
According to new sources, former original cast members may return to the series while some of the Georgia peaches were not asked to come back for Season 16.
Tamara Tattles reported the following: “Bravo has ordered 18 regular episodes and requested Truly Original to trim back the talent budget. Here are a few big posts of scalding hot RHOA Casting Tea.
Porsha, Kenya, Kandi, Marlo, and Drew were all invited to return. Sheree Whitfield has her second come back. Latoya Ali and Cynthia Bailey are officially out. Lisa Wu, Deshawn Snow and Shamari DeVoe were all contacted for friend roles.
It is believed if Cynthia Bailey’s reps give any push back she will be offered a few episodes at a very low friend rate to check-in. She is no longer friends with Kenya after they had a blow out fight on Housewives Mash-up for Peacock where Kenya was plotting against her with the other ladies and said she is boring and far from an “all star”. She also fell out with Porsha after telling people that she and Simon are low rent. Her only friend would be Kandi. Truly Original wants her gone completely but a couple Bravo suits love her.
Porsha Williams is asking for a substantial increase in pay, which would get her very close to the $100k mark. She is eligible for this increase and may get thanks to Cynthia Bailey’s full-time departure freeing up about $75,000 per episode. Porsha’s attorney and new big four reps at UTA are playing hard ball on a complete renegotiation for her. Porsha is playing hard ball and pretending she is going to walk away from RHOA if she isn’t paid top dollar because she knows Kenya/Sheree are going to stir the pot on her relationship with with Simon.
She either wants the huge salary or more episodes for her special series, “Pursuit of Porsha” which will air this fall. It is currently slated to be three, but as of today they have enough footage to make more than that. Her reps have counter offered as many as ten episodes, meaning that realistically the actual episode order will be amended to some place in the middle. Porsha is serving as executive producer on Pursuit of Porsha and will return to Bravo Chat Room as co-host and executive producer this fall as well.
Kenya Moore is invited back and has leveraged her husband Marc now that they are on good terms for the moment. Kenya needs Marc’s approval to have Brooklyn appear in the series going forward. Last season, Marc retained a family law attorney which sent Bravo Media and Truly Original a cease and desist demanding Brooklyn’s physical likeness to either be blurred or cut from all episodes because he never signed off on an appearance release for her. Part of Kenya’s renegotiation for season 14, Marc is agreeing to finally sign a release and Brooklyn will appear on the show again, going forward. Kenya is set to get an astronomical raise because she was one of the few who brought it on the lack luster season 13.
Kandi Burruss will return and she is presently the highest paid housewife. Bravo is giving her their standard season increase but is also adding the most favored nations clause to her deal for RHOA due to the departure of Nene Leakes. She also has her 8 episode spin-off series OLG Project currently in production in which she will film scenes for both this summer/fall. Kandi and Todd will serve as executive producers on the spin-off with Truly Original.
Marlo Hampton is returning and getting a salary boost as well. This will most likely be the season that Marlo Hampton becomes a full-time housewife. For me this is the most shocking news because I’ve always been told that would never happen. Bravo and Truly Original told Marlo that she is key ingredient to the success of RHOA and her attorney is presently working on a deal that reflects her new found position in the current line up of ladies. Bravo has expressed the terms and conditions for her to become a full-time housewife. The two sides are negotiating the fine details to hopefully get a deal done by next week. Everyone at Truly Original expects Marlo to be holding a peach this fall. I think she deserves it.
Drew Sidora was invited to return but Bravo has not given any specifics on her role. They were pleased with her performance and love that she is actually married and has a family dynamic to share. Bravo executives feel that Drew’s husband Ralph is very attractive and personable. Ralph was a key component in offering Drew a second season. She would receive her pre-negotiated salary bump and most likely an adjustment. But there would be set terms to bring the heat, be more personable, and be a team player. These talks are in the early stages and on-going. I’m a bit confused about whether or not she is keeping her peach. But, it seems likely.
Sheree Whitfield will return as a full-time housewife and is willing to share anything the producers want. She has agreed to spice it up and be a wildcard. Bravo is planning to film her dating life, new interior design business and her infamous clothing line, She by Sheree come to fruition. Will Summer/Spring/September ever come?
Bravo is looking for three new ladies to fill out the remaining housewife/friend roles. Casting is still under way and is a huge bust. The criteria is rich and married. Bravo wants women that audience can aspire to be. So, they have even considered casting women from different cities and flying them in and getting them housing to shoot for the show. RHOA casting is typically a shit show but this season is horrible. There is only one viable candidate (the one name I am not allowed to share with you, sorry. She doesn’t know she is the frontrunner) and a slew of maybes.
Expect NINE cast members total this season. Bravo is hoping for seven housewives and two friends. That is way too many people in my opinion. We shall see. RHOA season 14 is expected to premiere in December after RHOP regular episodes wrap.”
The news comes after it was reported in May that RHOA was getting a cast shake-up for Season 14 in response to the show’s drop in ratings.
“The ratings weren’t the best this past season, so they need to do something to help get more viewers,” a source told The Jasmine Brand at that time.
The outlet also reported the following: “Additionally, our source claims that some changes within the cast are to be expected. While contracts have not yet been signed, we’re told that at least one seasoned cast member may receive a reduced role next season (i.e. become a “friend of the housewives”). Our source also alleged that more than one returning housewife may be reduced to a “friend of,” but one thing is clear: fans can allegedly expect to see a couple fresh faces on season 14 of RHOA.”
Photo Credit: Bravo Media/NBCUniversal