Real Housewives of Atlanta
From LoveToKnow Reality-TV
Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta is another spin-off of the network’s hugely popular Real Housewives of Orange County series. The program will follows the same format as the original series about women living in upscale communities, letting viewers in on what it is like to live “behind the gates.”
Real Housewives of Atlanta – Meet The Cast
The so-called housewives on the Real Housewives of Atlanta aren’t all housewives. In fact, they’re not all even wives! Here’s a rundown of the season one cast:
- NeNe Leakes – Leakes is married to a real estate broker and lives in the exclusive Atlanta area of Sugarloaf. She is the mother to two sons: one an 18 year old and the other a 9 year old. She is very active in community causes and runs her own group, The Twisted Heart Foundation, which raises money to increase awareness of domestic abuse. She is also breaking into the hotel business, with plans to open a boutique hotel in Atlanta.
- Kim Zolciak – Zolciak is a divorced mother of two daughters: an 11 year old and a 6 year old. She is focused on breaking into the country music business and works with professionals like Grammy-winning producer Dallas Austin in hopes of doing just that. She is in a relationship with a man who will not be shown on camera.
- DeShawn Snow – Snow is the wife of Eric Snow, who is the captain of the Cleveland Cavaliers. She has three kids and is a devout Baptist. Religion plays a major role in her family life. She runs the DeShawn Snow Foundation, which works with teenage girls to improve self esteem. She is also serves on the board of several other Atlanta area charities.
- Lisa Wu Hartwell – Hartwell is a jack of all trades. She has her own real estate company, jewelry line, baby clothing line and is active as an actress, model and singer. She is married to football player Ed Hartwell and is also a mother.
- Sheree Whitfield – Whitfield is a single mother to three children. She lives in the posh Sandy Springs part of Atlanta. She formerly ran a successful clothing boutique but has shut the business down in hopes of launching herself as a fashion designer with her own line.
Real Housewives of Atlanta – The Buzz
Even though the Real Housewives model is proving to be a tried and true one for Bravo, with the Orange County Housewives being a mega hit and the New York City Housewives scoring with viewers as well, there is a particular buzz about the Atlanta version of the show for a few different reasons:
- Much has been made in the past of the fact that the casts of the other Housewives shows have been all white. In the Atlanta series, all except one cast member is African American.
- Some in the African American community have expressed dismay at the show because two of the wealthy African American women are married to athletes, saying that this perpetuates the stereotype that all successful black men are entertainers or sports figures.
- Kim, the only white woman profiled in the series, drew a lot of attention when Bravo aired their preview special of the show in July, 2008. She has a boyfriend she refers to as “Big Poppa,” who prefers to remain anonymous – even some of her friends don’t know who he is. Kim decided she wanted to go out and purchase a Cadillac Escalade fully loaded one day, so she called her boyfriend, went to the car lot and walked away with her new car within hours of deciding she had to have it.
More Housewives
If you can’t get enough of Housewives, you’re in luck. Atlanta isn’t the only spin off. Bravo also has The Real Housewives of New Jersey slated to premier in late 2008.
As an interesting side note, although all of the Real Housewives series seem to follow a similar format, they are actually filmed and produced by independent production companies.
Learn More
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