Like a fine wine, Cynthia Bailey keeps getting better with age. This year, the newly christened #50Cynt kicks off the new season of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” as newly single, dating, and navigating the waters of friendship with both new and returning cast members. I sat down to chat with Ms. Bailey about what we can expect on the new season, what it’s like having the new and returning ladies on the scene, and how this former model has kept it classy for all these seasons.
Your cast had a bit of a shift this year, with Phaedra Parks departing the show, Nene Leakes rejoining the cast, and Kim Zolciak and Eva Marcille appearing frequently. How does it feel to have a bit of cast shakeup? It feels great, I can’t believe it’s season ten! It’s a big season for me actually, lots of new beginnings. I almost feel like I am having a Cynthia rebirth. I’ve divorced, I am newly single, I have a new home with Lake Bailey, and I am turning fifty which is everything. Season Ten is a big milestone for me as well. it’s kind of great that it all lined up for my #50Cynt rebirth year! I kind of borrowed 50 Cent’s name, I hope he doesn’t mind (laughs). It really represents Cynthia at fifty; we’re spelling it different, but I’m really running with it all season.
With Phaedra Parks departing this season, does it feel different for you? You joined the show with Phaedra during Season Three, so there must have been somewhat of a kinship with her. You know what, it does feel different. We did start on the show together and while we were not the closest of friends, I always felt this little bond with her because we started this journey together. It is different without her being around.
You have a fellow model joining the mix with Eva Marcille joining the mix. How is it having a fellow model joining you and the ladies? You know it’s interesting because we have a lot of friends in common through modeling and things like that. I have an eyewear line, now she has an eyewear line. She is also a fashion girl and that was all I did before I joined the show. She is one of the younger girls on the show, and I think that’s great. She brings a whole different demographic to the show and her point of view is her own. I love when we get some new blood. I look at the show like this; it’s always a good soup, but sometimes you have to add extra potatoes, extra onions, and sometimes you may have to take some of the meat out, put some back in. You really have to keep changing the recipe up, or you just have plain soup! You have to always reinvent. Even with Nene coming back, she was part of the show for so long, and now she is back, which is great. You always have to keep mixing it up.
What kind of #50Cynt are we going to see this season? Is this a reinvention of sorts? This is the number one show on the network. I mean, we have a good time, but we have definitely grown. I am not the same woman that I was during Season One. This is my eighth season and the tenth season of the show. This will be the first season you will see me on the show without Peter (Thomas) on the show as my husband-officially; I will be dating other people. When I turned fifty, my goal was to be me and not apologize for being me. It was to get back to being Cynthia and get back to having fun. Going through a divorce is not fun, and leading up to it is not fun. I want to have fun. I have no regrets. A lot of good things came out of my marriage, but I am moving forward and I don’t want to overthink anything. I don’t think I have to validate myself or validate my reasons for doing anything. I am fifty years old and there is a certain privilege that comes with being fifty. I am here, just let me live my life.
Sometimes the show can get dark in tone and content, with what happened between yourself and Porsha (Williams) several season ago, and last year’s issues between Kandi and Phaedra. You are not one of the ladies who likes to get into the mud though. Is it hard keeping yourself out of the fray and rising above it? You know it is hard. I am not a dark person and I really don’t like a lot of drama, especially when it turns super negative. I am an energy person, I like a lot of positivity, I like supporting the other ladies and I love when they support me. I love fun shade though, even when it’s directed at me, I just don’t take myself that seriously and can laugh at myself. (laughs). When it goes to a place where lawyers have to get involved or it gets really dark on Instagram, then no. I have done everything I have done to stay out of that kind of a place because darkness never wins. Being in the light is always better than being in the darkness. It takes everyone to a place where they really don’t want to be even if they drove themselves to that place, and then once they are there they say to themselves ‘how did I get here”?. I consider myself love and light on the show. I am far from perfect though, I’m not saying I don't make my share of mistakes. At the end of the day though, I am big enough to apologize for my mistakes, to try to find resolution and to try to start over.
What is it like having original Housewife Kim Zolciak back, even in a limited role? There is heavy reporting that her daughter Brielle has gotten into some drama with the ladies. You know, I think as parents we are very protective of our kids, both on the show and in real life. I signed up for this show, My daughter Noelle did not sign up for the show. I always have felt and always will feel that kids are off limits- point blank period. However as parents, you also have to make sure your kids understand that and be sure that they are not antagonizing the people that are respectfully trying to respect them. I can tell you this-Noelle is never going to be going back and forth with any of the cast for any reason. That’s because I won’t allow it, and that’s not how I raised her and not how I parent her. If I am not speaking to Nene for example, and she and I are not friends, and Noelle runs into her, no one is going to say hello and she will keep it moving. Noelle would never be disrespectful to anyone that I work with in any form or fashion. I think that as a parent, that is how it should be. These are grown women on our show, and our children are our children no matter how old they may be. Noelle can be thirty years old and she is still going to be my child and I am still going to feel protective of her. I would never allow her to be in a situation where she is ever going back and forth with anyone on this cast or any of my other grown friends; it’s simply not her place. Any one that I have an issue with has nothing to do with my daughter; it’s none of their business and it’s my battle to fight.
The show is called “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” and you have gone through a marriage, a divorce, and raising your daughter, all during your tenure on the show. You have been arguably one of the realest ladies on the show. What would the Cynthia Bailey of today tell the Cynthia Bailey that walked onto that set on her first day of shooting? Well, Cynthia Bailey now, #50Cynt, would tell the then #40Cynt” (laughs) is that I would not change a thing. As hard as it was, as confused as I was, as disappointed as I was, everything I went through when I started this journey has been a lesson. It has made me become the person that I am today. Everything I have done has been a lesson. I do not live my life with regrets and I could not have done it any other way. It was the way it was supposed to be. I had to put myself in those boxes and make myself uncomfortable and be open to different things; that’s life. When I look back on my first season, I am horrified at myself. I was so sensitive. Look at me now though; I have so much more of a thick skin. I don’t think I have ever lost the essence of who I am though; my kindness, my class, and just grace. I always wanted to be the grace on the show. It’s been life lessons, and that is what life is all about. I am very fortunate to be a part of this journey; I learn something every day trust me.
“The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs Sunday on Bravo, premiering November 5th, 8/7c
Photos 1 & 3 courtesy of Bravo
Photo 2 courtesy of Cynthia Bailey Instagram