Cynthia Bailey Teases Phaedra Parks Quickly Earned Her Peach After RHOA Return

When Bravo announced that Phaedra Parks would be returning for Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 16, many of us felt cautiously optimistic. Obviously, she didn’t leave the show on the best of terms, but she’s been inching her way back into our hearts with her appearances on a million other reality shows. Now, her Season 16 performance just got a major cosign from none other than Cynthia Bailey.

According to Cynthia, it took no time at all for Phaedra to get back into the groove of things on Housewives. She said she quickly earned her peach when she got back in front of the cameras. Cynthia wouldn’t lie to us, would she?

Phaedra Parks’ last-minute peach

Photo Credit: Derek White/Bravo

It’s still a little unclear just how Season 16 will shake out. Kenya Moore exited the show in the middle of filming the season, which is what prompted Phaedra to rejoin the group. However, we don’t know just how much of the last-minute cast shakeup will make its way into the storyline. What we do know is that Phaedra came into the mix with only two weeks left of filming. Still, she had plenty of time to “show out” according to Cynthia.

Cynthia, who is returning for Season 16 as a “friend,” spoke to Us Weekly about RHOA’s long-awaited return. She teased how Phaedra is making Housewives history with her unexpected comeback.

“It’s been a long time coming. No. 1, she’s been away from the show for a while now, and I have to say she literally came in within, like, two and a half weeks left of filming and did something that’s never been done before the history of Housewives,” Cynthia revealed.

The rest of the Season 16 cast includes a handful of newbies, and of course, the long-awaited return of Porsha Williams. However, Cynthia predicted that all eyes would be on Phaedra, even with her limited time in front of the cameras.

“I guess you had a lot of time to prepare because when I tell you, she came in and she came in hot,” Cynthia teased. “All of her fans are gonna be very, very excited to have her back.”

Everyone clocked in for Season 16

Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo

As for Cynthia’s role in the upcoming season, she said that fans should expect to see more of her than what we saw in Season 15. She’s an “official friend,” which means she actually got paid to be there. She didn’t just show up to stand in the background for free.

“I returned as an official friend, and you guys saw me kind of pop in a little bit last season, but as an official friend, I actually go on the trips and I’m actually with the ladies a lot more,” Cynthia explained.

She continued, “I’m a little more in the mix this time. And for me, it’s the perfect situation for me because I miss the girls. I still am connected to so many of the ladies on the show, but my focus still is my acting career, which is going great by the way, but it’s so much fun to stay connected to the show and to the fans.”

There’s still no word on when Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 16 will hit Bravo. Theoretically, it should be sometime in 2025.

TELL US – ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING PHAEDRA AND CYNTHIA BACK ON RHOA? ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT PHAEDRA ONLY FILMED FOR TWO WEEKS?