With Kandi Burruss out of there, the cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 16 is starting to take shape.
After months of uncertainty surrounding whether the series would pull a Real Housewives of New York and fire its entire cast, details about who will be back are starting to spill out.
Talk arose this week that Kenya Moore and Porsha Williams will be part of The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Season 16 cast.
Bravo famously doesn’t respond to casting rumors, but something tells us that they will give updates when contracts are signed.
It’s been months since the previous season aired, so there will be concern from network execs that people think the series is over.
There have also been countless rumors that the show will be rebooted after the lackluster RHOA Season 15.
Kenya Moore is an asset to RHOA
Kenya Moore’s return was a no-brainer, as she’s one of the longest-serving cast members and somehow still manages to be a part of all the on-screen action.
Simply put, the 53-year-old is an asset to the show, and producers know it. Losing her at the same time as Burruss would cause irreparable damage to the show.
Burruss’ self-imposed exile from the show isn’t surprising because fans have long grown tired of the lack of storylines for the original star.
Taking a leave of absence is probably good, but it’s hard not to believe that a hiatus will become more permanent if the show manages to stage a comeback.
It’s challenging to bring a show back from death’s door, especially when the fans have long since tired of the drama.
That could explain why producers have also approached Porsha Williams about a return, and if the report is to be believed, it’s a done deal.
Porsha Williams has a lot of fans
Porsha Williams joined the show for RHOA Season 5 and spent eight seasons as a full-fledged cast member.
The only concern we have about Williams rejoining the cast is if the show delves back into her feud with Moore.
That would feel like several steps back because what the show needs is rejuvenated, and keeping the same drama wouldn’t sit well with the people who have watched for years.
While Williams has been gone from RHOA since 2021, she has remained in the Bravo family with spinoffs Porsha’s Family Matters and The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.
While some cast members leave on bad terms with the network — I’m looking at you, NeNe Leakes — it seems that Williams will always be welcomed as a part of the Bravo family.
Big cast changes are on the way for RHOA
As we dive into the next season, there will probably be even more cast changes.
Sheree Whitfield could return, but newer additions Drew Sidora, Marlo Hampton, and Sanya Richards-Ross are considered long shots at this stage.
RHOA Season 15 lacked the pizazz of the previous seasons, with many taking issue with the storylines that went nowhere and several developments being removed after being promoted to hell by Bravo.
The editing is a broader issue across the entire Real Housewives franchise, but surely, the network will want to get things right after so many fans bailed on the most recent season.
At one point, it seemed like the show would be paused entirely. Filming typically gets back underway in the weeks following the reunion, but the season ended five months ago, and nothing has been said about filming.
Now that the cast is beginning to trickle out, we should get more updates on the show in the coming weeks, including how many new housewives to expect.
Can a revamp save RHOA?
It’s a shame the other shows in the franchise — like The Real Housewives of New Jersey — aren’t as interested in freshening things up.
To keep these shows fresh, risks have to be taken.
Whether the latest wave of risks for RHOA will have any semblance of being worthwhile, we’ll have to wait and see.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta is currently on hiatus at Bravo. New episodes are expected to return in late 2024 or early 2025.