Kandi Burruss Taking A ‘Break’ From Real Housewives Of Atlanta

While on the red carpet at the 2024 Grammy Awards Sunday night, Burruss revealed that she’s not returning to The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

“I’m not really keeping up right now,” the RHOA OG said when asked about the show. “I’m not keeping up. I already said it, so I’ll tell you. I decided I’m not coming back this year.”

Citing the show’s extended hiatus prior to the its 16th season, Burruss said extra time to think contributed to her decision to take a step back.

She continued, “It’s been 14 seasons, and they allowed us to sit around for a little too long, but during that time I had started working on a lot of other things, and I got some nice big projects coming soon, so I’m super excited about those things.”

The musician and actress also said that during the break, she began questioning her role on the long-running series before ultimately deciding not to come back

“But it’s not just that,” Burruss added. “It’s just like, after you really have time to think, and a friend of mine was like, ‘Why do you keep doing it?’ And I was like, ‘Well, I think because I’ve just been doing it for so long, it feels weird to think not to do it?’ So I was just like, ‘You know what? I’m going to take a break, I’m going to take a moment… I’m not coming back this year.'”

While the news come as a surprise to many RHOA fans, it follows a season that fell largely flat, with Bravo announcing after the show’s 15th season that it would retool the franchise, similarly to what the network did with The Real Housewives of New York City before its 14th season.

Per Variety, Bravo is reportedly close to announcing the show’s new cast, and while it won’t be a full reboot, only a few key cast members will return.

Bravo exec, Andy Cohen reacted to the news Monday morning, taking to Instagram to share a series of photos alongside Burruss over the years with the caption, “What can I say about @kandi !? One of the greats! A superstar! What a run! #Worldwide #RHOA.”

Burruss, a founding member of R&B group Xscape and a celebrated songwriter known for co-writing hits like TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills” joined RHOA during its second season and is the longest-serving cast Housewife of all any franchise.