Fall TV Blog

The well documented love-hate relationship of The Real Housewives of Atlanta stars NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak is in a state of bliss — for now. But don’t expect it to last.

“We’re trying to be peaceful with each other,” Leakes told PEOPLE Thursday at Tao Las Vegas. “Kim and I have an up-and-down relationship. Don’t be surprised if we have a falling out again. That’s just how we are.”

Having just finished the second season of their show, the stars have fought over an alleged choking incident, singing on Kim’s song and her engagement to Big Papa.

For now the two remain civil — they even had dinner in Los Angeles recently — though Leakes stopped short of complimenting Kim’s performance of “Tardy For The Party” at the show’s reunion.

“She was alright,” Leakes said.

Despite their history of having fun together over a glass (or two) of wine, Leakes says being civil is about as much as anyone can expect. “We’re not friends and we will probably never be friends,” Leakes said, “but we’re just trying to be respectful.” –Mark Gray

Denise Truscello/WireImage

The pants nearly came off during part two of The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s reunion (Dwight has a what implant?!) but disappointingly, the gloves stayed on. We learned that Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are obsessed with the show. That NeNe is mulling scripts and chatting up Gayle King. That Kim has no memory of making out with Michael Lohan’s business associate. And perhaps most shockingly, that her pink prairie dress was by Dolce & Gabbana. But as Dwight pointed out, the Georgia peaches were frustratingly low-key when it came to rehashing old battles. For the last time this season, let’s separate the real moments from the “unbeweaveable.” (more…)

Grab your earplugs!

The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Kim Zolciak is about to perform her controversial single “Tardy for the Party” for the first time ever on part two of the show’s reunion, airing tonight (9 p.m. EST) on Bravo.

Complete with balloon-wielding backup dancers, Kim blows a kiss and takes the stage at Atlanta’s Opera Nightclub and sings for her costars NeNe Leakes, Sheree Whitfield, Lisa Wu-Hartwell and reunion host Andy Cohen. Kim’s producer for the song, Kandi Burruss, takes the stage with her at one point to sing backup.

When the song ends, Kim hugs Burruss and says, “Kandi made my dreams come true!”

The rest of the hour includes highlights from the season, including the cast’s best one-liners, questions from viewers and at least one tiff between Lisa and Dwight Eubanks. –Aaron Parsley

Tell us: What do you think of Kim’s performance? What are your favorite lyrics from the song?

Poor Andy Cohen. Though he tried mightily, the Bravo exec could not coax much realness out Atlanta’s Housewives on Thursday night’s reunion show.

When we last saw NeNe and Kim, they literally had each other in a chokehold over — it was revealed at the reunion — rumors started by the axis of Housewives evil: Bethenny Frankel, Ramona Singer and the OC’s Tamra Barney at April’s A-List Awards. Suddenly, the frenemies had mended fences. One can only imagine they hatched a mutually lucrative scheme to release “Tardy for the Party: The Remix” (on which NeNe finally gets autotuned) or consumed enough Patron to induce amnesia over their barnyard epithets. (more…)

This season on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, fans witnessed a married man’s engagement, a wig pull, the search for a biological father, a D-list celebrity cameo, two fashion shows, the creation of an improbable dance hit, endless shopping trips, 11 a.m. chardonnay-swilling, cross-dressing hairdressers, an irate event planner and the untimely death of a cast member. It’s as if Celebrity Rehab, Project Runway, Making the Band and the Ultimate Fighting Championship all morphed into one reality juggernaut. But based on Thursday night’s explosive season finale, there’s even more drama on the horizon. Here’s what demands to be revealed on next week’s Reunion Special (Part 1): (more…)

Alliances continued to switch Thursday night for the peaches of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Kim and Sheree were suddenly cozy, swilling chardonnay at the very restaurant where just months (weeks? days?) earlier they had engaged in an epic street fight and wig-yanking session refereed by Michael Lohan.

Meanwhile, NeNe’s quest to find her biological father took her back to hometown, Athens, where a look at her personal history turned surprisingly serious. When she saw how much her likely father Alan looked like her son Bryson, the revelation packed an emotional punch this series has yet to deliver.

The only segment more powerful was watching Kandi, her mother and AJ attempt to settle their differences in counseling, while the shadow of his imminent death hung over every exchange. When Kandi’s mom said, “Sometimes mothers can look at their daughters and see a mistake coming at them like a truck, and want to push them out of the way,” her foresight seemed eerie. Even more so? AJ’s choice of the word “time” when the trio was playing word association — as viewers now know his was limited. (more…)

Thursday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta took a dark turn. Following the news of the death of Anthony “AJ” Jewel outside his Atlanta strip club last week, viewers watched his then-fiancée, Housewife Kandi Burruss, waver about the future of their relationship — awkwardly unaware, as the cameras rolled, that the relationship had no future.

Viewers were left in the strange position of confronting reality while “reality” played out onscreen.

Even Thursday night’s light moments, like Dwight leaping gazelle-like through NeNe’s house in a catsuit and stiletto booties, did little to temper the episode’s undercurrent of sadness. After all, Dwight’s fabulous get-up was worn in a charity race initiated by Lisa and NeNe’s brave exposure of their own experiences with domestic violence.

Kim practically shouting “Damn, I’m good looking!” (again) as she got her wig trimmed seemed woefully out of place among Ed Hartwell’s futile efforts to save his football career, Lisa’s negative pregnancy test and NeNe’s conflict over finding her biological father.

Thank goodness Dwight and Sheree’s battle for control over her fashion show produced the funniest line of the night: “It’s not He by Dwight. It’s She by Sheree.” Forget “Tardy for the Party” — we were beginning to think the party was over. –Suzanne Zuckerman

Tell us: What did you think of last night’s episode? Do you prefer your Housewives serious or snarky?

Quantrell Colbert/Bravo

Thursday night’s episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta dangled a multitude of burning questions, but left us with few answers. Why did Kim fail to show up at Kandi’s club gig? Is she really the “dirty low-down monkey with a wig on” freshly minted nemesis NeNe makes her out to be? And was Kandi too forgiving of this slight, considering her new BFF (yes, the one every single other Housewife warned her about) may have already moved on, having extracted publicity juggernaut “Tardy for the Party” from her, only to disappear in a cloud of cigarette smoke?

The fact that Kim lured Kandi’s sweet mama into friendship makes this potential betrayal all the more alarming. Of course it’s hard to tell what’s really going on here, considering the Atlanta Housewives switch alliances faster than they do spiked heels: Witness
Kim’s warm hug for venomous wig-puller Sheree at her and Kandi’s joint birthday party.

Speaking of bygones, is the still-marred Big Papa’s marriage proposal for real? Or should we question its authenticity like we did Kim’s melons in her birthday dress? And while we’re on the topic of fashion, can Dwight save Sheree’s show from being the dreadful display we’ve come to expect from certain housewives (cough: Lisa)? Or will he nix Miss Independent’s Evite and ponytails, saving She by Sheree from disaster?

Furthermore, if it does bomb as some critics predict, will docile New York seamstress Casey feel the wrath of Sheree? ‘Uh oh’ indeed! More importantly, will Kandi have a second shot at stardom, or are her singles “Fly Above” and “Trade You In” no match for the ear worm potential of “Tardy for the Party?” And after NeNe’s blow-up over being booted off the single, is Kandi replacing her as viewers’ favorite housewife?

With only four episodes to go until the season finale, the biggest question of all is, when everything is said and done, will any of the Housewives be able to sit in the same room with each other? Buckle up for the reunion special, Andy Cohen. – Suzanne Zuckerman

Tell us: Should Kandi forgive Kim for missing her gig? Do you still have love for NeNe?

Wilford Harewood/Bravo

Has fame finally gone to NeNe’s head? The fan favorite and self-proclaimed HBIC appeared to let the green-eyed monster get the better of her on Thursday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta — and in the middle of Sheree’s independence party of all places.

Faced with Sheree’s flattering if gargantuan portrait, the news that Kim had banned her from singing on Kandi’s reinterpretation of “Tardy for the Party,” and (assuming word got around) her BFF Dwight’s rave reviews of Kandi’s performance in The Pocketbook Diaries, NeNe revealed an insecure side never before seen. The evidence? After telling Kim, “You can’t sell the song without me,” she turned her ire toward the usually unflappable Kandi, stealing Sheree’s shine in the process. Atlanta’s usual voice of reason only calmed down when reminded by a friend: “You are writing a book!” (more…)

Kim brought some blood, sweat and tears to Thursday’s Real Housewives of Atlanta. The blonde was literally at the center of the drama as she triumphantly conquered her fear of singing in public and stepped back into the studio to record Kandi’s revamped version of “Tardy for the Party” only to take a bloody tumble later at a black-tie party in honor of the ladies’ alter-ego photo shoot.

Kim thought she was heading to Kandi’s house to hang out, but Kandi had other plans: She wanted Kim to record vocals on “Tardy for the Party,” which the singer had refashioned into a club-friendly track. After a slow start — and plenty of tears — Kim jumped in the booth and belted out the hook. Impressed with her efforts, Kandi and her team of producers applauded Kim, who grew so confident by her performance, she decided to scrap her duet partner, NeNe. “It’s my moment, and I want it to be my moment,” she said.

As for NeNe, she eagerly awaited the results of the alter-ego photo shoot that she directed. She brought along Lisa to crash in on photographer Derek Blanks at his studio and get a sneak peek. Blanks, though, wasn’t having it: Instead, he preferred to reveal the photographs at a black-tie event. (more…)