By Solé Scott
Editor-in-Chief
The Real Housewives of Atlanta is the greatest and most iconic show in the Housewives franchise.
The show premiered on October 27, 2008 and has become a pop culture phenomenon. Nene Leakes, Sherreé Whitfield, Kim Zolciak, Lisa Wu and DeShawn Snow were the founders of this franchise that took place in the cultural hub of Atlanta, Georgia.
I have been watching this show since season one and fell in love with the larger-than-life personality Nene Leakes who reminded me of my beautiful Sagittarius mother who does not play.
Leakes at the time did not have a job but was a popular socialite around Atlanta.
We were also introduced to Kim Zolciak who had two daughters and lived lavishly off of an anonymous married man called “Big Poppa.”
Shereé Whitfield was a mother of three who was recently divorced from former professional football player Bob Whitfield and was focusing on launching her fashion line, which is still kind of not a thing as of 2025. This a whole other story that I will not dive into but do me a favor a google She by Shereé and you will go through a rabbit hole.
Lisa Wu was a multi-faceted woman who had her hands full with real estate, fashion designing, acting, producing and screenwriting. She was married to professional football player Ed Hartwell and shared a son with him. She previously was married to R&B singer Keith Sweat and they share a son.
DeShawn Snow and her professional basketball player husband Eric Snow had the most luxurious lifestyle at this time due to her humungous mansion that had a house manager, personal chef, bowling alley, seven bedrooms and seven and half bathrooms. However, their marriage deteriorated quickly.
In season 2, DeShawn Snow was long gone and multi-faceted artist Kandi Burruss and her daughter Riley joined the cast.
In season 3, Lisa Wu was just a friend. Attorney Phaedra Parks, who represented singer Bobby Brown and model Cynthia Bailey were cast. By season 5, Kim Zolciak left for her own show and our wish was granted, when we were gifted Kenya Moore and Porsha Williams.
Kenya Moore was the former Miss USA of 1993, model and actress. Porsha Williams was married to former professional football player Kordell Stewart.
Nene, Kenya, Porsha, Kandi, Cynthia and Phaedra were by far the most iconic cast of throughout the housewive’s universe to this day.
What I enjoy about this show is the shady banter that happens and the rawness these ladies have shown.
Until season 9 when Phaedra spread a disgusting false rumor that Kandi had a sex dungeon in her basement and that she and her husband Todd wanted to drug Porsha.
Phaedra was subsequently fired from the show after the reunion, but the damaging implication will always be there.
I admire the realness and honesty that Nene has shown countless times when she was getting divorced from her husband Greg or when she had to give a stern talk to her eldest son for being lazy and inconsiderate while still living at home for free. Also, what she did with the platform by appearing on Celebrity Apprentice, Glee, The New Normal and Broadway.
I admire and respect Shereé for sharing the abuse she suffered at the hands of her ex-husband Bob. She welcomed us into her personal life even though it was difficult.
What I learned from these 16 seasons is that no matter your status in life, we all suffer privately from various issues. Yet, we can also be fabulous at the same time and “twirl” like Kenya Moore would say.
