‘RHOA’: Peter Thomas Had to Convince Cynthia Bailey to Do the Show
The Real Housewives of Atlanta is considered to be the best of the Bravo franchise due to its magnetic cast. Just as entertaining as the women on the show are, the men in their lives are equally as good. None can be more true than in the case of exes Cynthia Bailey and Peter Thomas. But Thomas says Bailey nearly missed out on her chance to be part of the show.
He says he felt the show would be a good next phase for Cynthia Bailey’s career but she had to be convinced
The former couple joined the show in season 3. Producers of the show were interested in the couple because they brought a level of celebrity to the franchise. Obviously, Bailey was a respected supermodel, and Thomas was a music industry and nightclub promoter/force. Thomas learned of the casting through an employee of one of his businesses and thought it would be a good idea. But Bailey was not initially on board.
“To me at that point, Cynthia was declining as a print model. The business was changing. She had just moved to Atlanta to be with me and when I looked at the show, she was scared. Those were not her typical friends and she didn’t want to do it, she was terrified,” Thomas said during an interview on Carlos King’s Reality With the King podcast. “One of the executive producers at the time, they knew who Cynthia was, they were fans. They said, ‘You should talk about who you are. You’ve seen more of the world than most of these people [on the show].’ They found out she used to date Russell Simmons, she had a kid with Leon the actor. So it was so deep and she was dating me at the time. I’m the one who created the How Can I Be Down Music Conference. I executive produced The Source Awards, I’ve done some stuff, I’ve worked at Def Jam for years as a consultant…so they thought it would be a great dynamic.”
Cynthia Bailey was not impressive to producers
Despite the star quality both Thomas and Bailey brought to the cast, during Bailey’s first screen test, producers were not sold. “The first time they taped her, she wasn’t really impressive. I sat her down and I told her, ‘Yo, you have to show these people who the f–k you are. Stop playing.’ And she went in. She talked about her trips to Monaco and meeting Prince and all of that and it came together really quick for her after that,” Thomas said.
King agreed. “Peter is right. We tape tons of footage to really make sure you’re worthy of holding that coveted peach. Cynthia wasn’t amazing when she first came on. It took her a minute. No shade, we all loved Peter and we knew that Peter Thomas was a star. I remember being around you and Cynthia in those earlier tapings and you definitely were like the uncredited producer,” King added.
Thomas said he constantly coached Bailey in her first few seasons on the show. It was difficult to break her out of her shell. In total, he spent 10 seasons on the show, even appearing after she and Bailey split.
They remain friendly post-divorce
The two split in 2017 against Thomas’ wishes. Thomas says he and Bailey remain on good terms, despite some ups and downs. He admits he was upset over her suing him for a loan on a property they purchased for one of his businesses. The lawsuit has since been settled. Thomas says he reaches out to Bailey often just to make sure she’s OK.
