‘RHOA’: Cynthia Bailey Returning as ‘Friend of Show’ Amid Divorce From Mike Hill
After one year off from filming The Real Housewives of Atlanta, longtime cast member Cynthia Bailey is back. Her return comes on the heels of her divorce from Mike Hill being finalized. Bailey previously admitted one of the reasons she opted to leave the show after 11 seasons was to focus on cultivating her marriage to Hill off-camera.
She previously revealed she left the show to protect her marriage to Mike Hill
Bailey’s marital turmoil with her first husband, Peter Thomas, played out from the moment she joined the show in Season 3. Having experienced such, she wanted something different for her marriage to Hill. “After going through my divorce with my ex [Peter Thomas], I’m very protective of my second marriage because, you know, I really want it to work, and I want to do everything that I can to protect it and to protect Mike,” the former supermodel told Page Six.
She says that she learned in her first marriage that reality television is not “the most positive atmosphere” for a marriage. Bailey says the show isn’t responsible for her and Thomas’ divorce, but she says having constant opinions about her marriage had a negative impact.
“Honestly, whether we were on the show or not, I don’t think it would have worked out now,” she explained. “Now, let me be very clear, I don’t think being on the show helps your relationship. But if your relationship is not solid or there’s issues you guys are dealing with, those issues are going to play out, whether you [are on] the show or not. So that’s just what it is.”
While Bailey says Hill never asked her to leave the show, there was some form of relief that their marriage wouldn’t be on full display. “Mike is supportive either way,” she confirmed. “But I think he is very excited for me to be in on television in other ways, something a little less drama based.”
Cynthia Bailey says she is excited to return to ‘RHOA’ in friend role
Despite her efforts to have more privacy with her second marriage, Bailey and Hill didn’t last. They split months before celebrating their two-year wedding anniversary and confirmed the news publicly just a few days after social media users noticed they didn’t post tributes to one another.
In recent weeks, Bailey has been seen filming at events with her former co-stars. She confirmed in a recent interview that fans will see her on the show after her one-year hiatus.
“I can say that I am going to play with the girls a little bit this season, maybe some future seasons,” she told Jay’s Reality Blog. “But only as a friend,” she added. Bailey says now that she’s back in Atlanta full-time at her home Lake Bailey, it makes more sense for her to be on the show.
“It’s looking that way [that I’ll be a friend to the show],” she added. She noted that she has “a few more weeks of filming” left, and that “I keep getting invited to some of their events.”
Why she says her marriage to Mike Hill didn’t last forever
As for why she and Hill decided to divorce, Bailey explained that most of their relationship was a long-distance one, and once they were in the same place, they came across some compatibility issues. She also says their friendship began to fall apart.
