With a new season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta starting, that means new peach holders. On Season 11, Shamari Devoe has been added to the cast and despite her high profile marriage, RHOA fans are still getting to know her.
It turns out that Shamari has a lot in common with Kandi Burruss as far as the music business. She was a part of it and her husband Ronnie is a household name.
With Shamari joining the RHOA cast, we’ve put together five interesting facts about the newest peach holder to help viewers get more acquainted as the season begins.
Shamari is connected to the R&B scene
Shamari is married to Ronnie Devoe of New Edition and Bell Biv Devoe fame. While her husband is the bigger star (for now) Shamari is famous in her own right. She was part of the R&B girl group Blaque whose reign ran from 1999-2004 after they were signed by Left Eye Productions, a company owned by Lisa Lopes of TLC.
Ronnie and Shamari have twin sons
Shamari and Ronnie have been married since March 2006. The couple just welcomed their first children in 2017 when Shamari gave birth to twin sons. The boys names are Ronnie III and Roman and she often shows them off on social media.
From the big screen to reality TV
Shamari Devoe is a triple threat. She can sing, she can act and apparently, she can be herself too. In addition to her R&B success, Shamari had a role in Bring It On in 2000. She has also appeared as herself in the 2003 film Honey starring Jessica Alba as well as the TV series V.I.P. in 2003.
Ronnie didn’t want to do RHOA
When Shamari initially asked Ronnie Devoe about filming for Season 11 of Real Housewives of Atlanta, he was totally against it. She told Essence that it took some time and a few conversations before the Bell Biv Devoe singer agreed to do the Bravo series.
She was able to change his mind when she pitched RHOA as a way to promote themselves as “marriage ambassadors.” Shamari and Ronnie have been doing a lot to promote marriage and their own longtime union is a testament to their commitment to each other.
There will be new music
While there won’t be a Blaque reunion after the death of Natina Reed in a car accident in 2012, but there will be new music from the group. Shamari revealed to The Grio that she was able to secure the masters to the unreleased Torch album which she and Brandi Williams are planning to release soon.
Shamari even explained that when performing the songs live, they have hired a DJ to fill in Natina’s part because she didn’t want anyone else singing her longtime friend’s parts.
That’s not the only new music Shamari has to share. She’s also working on a collaboration with Ronnie Devoe called Me and Mari. The couple already has one single out called Love Comes Through.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs on Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo.