‘RHOA’: Jeannie Mai Reportedly to Replace Longterm Cast Member
Rumors has it that Jeannie Mai may be joining The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Mai is currently on maternity leave from The Real since giving birth to her daughter. If Mai does join the cast, she will allegedly be replacing fan favorite, Kandi Burruss.
Why Jeannie Mai will reportedly replace Kandi Burruss
Mai may be going from daytime talk show host on The Real host to a peacholder. The fashionista is newly married to rapper Jeezy and lives in Atlanta full time where they are raising their newborn daughter. Though filming for Season 14 has already reportedly wrapped and set to air later this year, word on the street is that Burruss had a lackluster season and producers are ready to switch it up if there’s a season 15.
“Kandi was boring this season, and she’s the highest-paid housewife. She’s gone after this season,” a source told The Ricky Smiley Morning Show. “This new season is expected to be one of the best in YEARS. Sheree and Marlo are the stars of this season. Drew brought the drama, and so did Kenya. But Sanya and Kandi are on the chopping block.”
Burruss has been on the show since season 2. She’s been the only cast member from her franchise to have multiple spinoff specials. Her latest spinoff Kandi & the Gang focuses on her Atlanta family soul food restaurant and is scheduled to premiere March 2022. If the rumors are true that she’ll no longer be on RHOA, she will remain within the Bravo family.
The Xscape member has been open about considering leaving the show
Burruss has previously spoken publicly about considering leaving the show. Despite the platform the show provides for her to expand her business profile, filming is extremely time consuming and takes up nearly 10 months of her year.
“It’s a constant change of cast,” she told Access Hollywood in a 2020 interview. “It’s a constant change of where people are in their lives. I don’t know is really my answer. I’m always contemplating when is my time to make a move. It’s a mutual choice. It’s the choice of the person if you want to stay but also it’s the choice of the network if they want you to stay.”
She threatened to leave the show after a fallout with a co-star
At one point, Burruss was going to leave the show over her fallout with Phaedra Parks. During the season 9 reunion, it was revealed that Parks was the mastermind behind a rumor that Burruss wanted to drug and sexually assault Porsha Williams.
In an interview with The Breakfast Club, Burruss admitted to telling the network that she wouldn’t return to the show if Parks was asked back. “Well, technically, yeah,” she said about the rtime. “At the end of the day, they said I called Bravo and said that. No, I did not call Bravo and tell them that. Did I say that to anybody? Yes, I did.”
She also told People Magazine similar sentiments in a 2019 interview when rumors of Parks returning resurfaced. “You know, for me it’s like if that’s what they wanna do I’m fine, I’m cool but I just won’t be a part of that,” she said at the time.
Burruss has thriving businesses in the adult toy industry, retail, cosmetics, entertainment, and she’s now acting with a recurring role on The Chi. Her plate is rather full, with or without the show.
