OG cast member of The Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA), NeNe Leakes, has been in the news a lot recently following her lawsuit against NBCU, Bravo, and Andy Cohen for a hostile and racist work environment.
The lawsuit names as defendants NBCUniversal, Bravo, production companies True Entertainment and Truly Original, executives from the companies, and Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen. “NBC, Bravo, and True foster a corporate and workplace culture in which racially insensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated — if not, encouraged,” the suit says.
Leakes is one of the most recognized RHOA cast members joining in the first season and later exiting the show in season 7 before returning for season 10 in 2018. Two years later, NeNe once again announced that she would be leaving the show. “I have made the hard and very difficult decision to not be a part of Real Housewives of Atlanta season 13,” she said on her YouTube channel in September 2020. “It wasn’t an easy decision for me.”
Leakes is certainly not the only star to leave the show over the years. Ever wondered what some of your favorite Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA) stars got up to after their departure?
Here’s what 5 RHOA fan favorites are up to now.
Kim Fields
Kim Fields is best known for her roles as Dorothy “Tootie” Ramsey on the NBC sitcom The Facts of Life, and as Regine Hunter on the Fox sitcom Living Single. Fields was only on The Real Housewives of Atlanta for one season, season 8, in 2015.
Not long after leaving The Real Housewives of Atlanta Fields competed on season 22 of Dancing With the Stars with dance partner Sasha Farber. She was sent home during a double elimination and finished in eighth place. She released a book titled Bless Life: My Surprising Journey of Joy, Tears and Tales from Harlem to Hollywood in 2017. Kim also starred in the TV movie Wrapped Up in Christmas and is currently one of the stars in the Netflix series The Upshaws.
Lisa Wu
Lisa Wu was a full-time cast member on The Real Housewives of Atlanta for the first two seasons from 2008 to 2009 and also made additional cameos in seasons 3, 9, and 10. Since leaving the cast Lisa ventured onto another reality TV series, Hollywood Divas for three seasons from 2014 to 2016.
Besides reality TV, the former dancer has also parlayed back into acting, landing roles in TV shows like Meet the Browns and Templeton Pride. She’s also landed roles in films such as The Internship, London Mitchell’s Christmas, and Pinch. Wu is also slated to be in a film about human trafficking titled, The Next 24.
Since leaving the show, Wu’s marital life has changed, as she filed for divorce from her husband of five years, Ed Hartwell, with whom she shares a son, in August 2011.
Phaedra Parks
Phaedra Parks appeared on RHOA for six seasons, from its third season to its ninth. Parks exited the show in 2017 after a shocking reveal at the season 9 reunion show. Since her departure, Parks has kept a fairly low profile, spending time with her family. But recently Parks has busted back into headlines with the announcement that she’ll be returning to The Real Housewives franchise as one of the stars of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip season 2!
The season, titled The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip Ex-Wives Club, is set to premiere on Peacock on June 23 with a three-episode premiere. The season brings eight of the franchise’s biggest former stars together as they visit Dorinda Medley’s Massachusetts estate, Blue Stone Manor, for a “week of fun… and feuding.”
Claudia Jordan
Claudia Jordan joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta for its seventh season in 2014. While she did not return as a series regular, she did make a guest appearance for season 8.
Since she left the show, Jordan has been in various TV series and TV movies. Claudia starred in TV One’s reality series The Next: 15, which followed former reality TV stars. She also appeared in multiple TV movies, including Sharknado 5: Global Swarming, along with the 2020 documentary, Trump vs. Hollywood. Since 2019, she has hosted her own talk show, Out Loud With Claudia Jordan, for the Fox Soul streaming network. Jordan also currently has several projects in pre-production including, a film titled 10 Reasons Why Men Cheat, and another one titled The Regiment.
DeShawn Snow
DeShawn Snow is a Real Housewives of Atlanta OG, starring in the first season of the show in 2008. She left RHOA after just one season. Two years after leaving the show she divorced her husband, Eric Snow, in 2010 and the divorce inspired her to write a children’s book series, Lil Shawnee in 2012.
After RHOA, Snow worked as a real estate agent. In 2019, Snow was hit with a civil lawsuit accusing her of fraud surpassing $157,000 for allegedly trying to broker a dubious commission with Thrivest — a company that “offers cash advances for not-yet-completed real estate commissions.”
