The Real Housewives of Atlanta has had a hard couple of seasons thanks to cast shake-ups, but it looks like Bravo has finally found a group of women that click with each other (and the viewers), including a former Housewife who’s coming back to the series: Phaedra Parks.
Phaedra Parks had a long run on RHOA until leaving the series for new beginnings. Years after leaving the franchise, she popped up on another popular Bravo show, Married to Medicine. Now, it looks like Phaedra is coming home to the series that gave her her reality TV start, joining mid-way through Season 16 of RHOA.
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Phaedra Parks Shocked Everyone By Coming Back To RHOA
Phaedra Parks was an iconic member of The Real Housewives of Atlanta for six seasons. In 2024, it was announced that Phaedra was getting her peach back and joining the series, but when?
Reality Tea shared that a description for Season 16, episode 12 (May 25, 2025), is a dead giveaway that everyone’s favorite Southern Belle is back on RHOA.
The episode titled “The Frack is Back” is a clear indication that Phaedra’s back on RHOA because she and Porsha Williams used to call themselves “Frick and Frack.” The episode’s official description reads, “Brit [Eady) throws an event to soft launch her next venture, Bare and Naked; the women are left confused not only by the name but the event; Phaedra Parks and her alter ego, Frack, are back and she leaves no peach unturned.”
Why Did Phaedra Leave RHOA?
In Season 9, Phaedra Parks was feuding with Kandi Burruss for most of the season, and Porsha Williams was in the middle of it. Things took a dark turn when Phaedra shared an alleged rumor that Kandi and her husband tried to drug and assault Porsha. Kandi denied the allegations with vigor and explained how damaging a rumor like that could be, especially when it’s not true.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta Cast Member | Seasons |
Phaedra Parks | 3-9 |
At the reunion, Phaedra was pressed on where she heard the rumor. Stories got jumbled, memories were foggy, and eventually Phaedra admitted she made it up. Porsha, Kandi, and the rest of the cast were devastated by the betrayal and the lengths Phaedra went to for a good storyline. She was gone by the next season.
Executive Producer and host Andy Cohen admitted to E! Online that none of the Housewives wanted to film with her after Season 9. “The question that we look at now with Phaedra is, when the reunion ended, none of the other women wanted to have anything to do with her. So that’s what you have to look at,” he told the outlet.
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In 2024, Porsha told Bravo that despite their fallout, the two slowly formed a friendship again off-screen. “I definitely have texted from time to time,” she said. “You know, she’s very, very busy… I’m really busy. I have a lot going on in my life, she has a lot going on. But the friendship — some friendships, you don’t got to talk to somebody every day. Literally, I talked to her the other day on the phone, and you would’ve thought we talked the day before. You literally would think that.”
She added, “And those are the types of friendships you need to cherish. The type of people you can call and catch up with… ‘Let’s get into the kiki. Let’s get into enjoying the relationship.”
Because of the severity of the lie, Kandi and Phaedra are still not friends.
Now, Porsha and Phaedra are happily united for Season 16.
What Has Phaedra Parks Been Doing Since Leaving RHOA?
Outside of being a reality TV sensation, Phaedra Parks is a mother of two boys, a former lawyer, and a mortician.
Since leaving RHOA, Phaedra has been on a handful of entertaining reality TV shows.
- Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip
- Married to Medicine
- Dancing With the Stars
- Appeared on The Real Housewives of Dubai
- The Traitors
Phaedra’s return to Bravo was long-awaited. She appeared on Married to Medicine for two seasons when she started dating Dr. O. Sadly. However, they split, and Phaedra switched gears and is now on RHOA.
According to Bravo, the mother of two shared that filming again felt like “home” to her.
“I felt like I was back home.”
“When Frick and Frack is back, honey, it’s gonna be some fun,” she laughed. “It’s definitely going to be very spicy, but it’s going to be some fun, too.”
She continued, “The new ladies are absolutely amazing, so it’s gonna be fun. It’s going back to basics of what made us the flagship show, so we’re coming back. We’re coming back for the real peach.”
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More impressively, Phaedra appeared on an Emmy-award-winning season of Peacock’s The Traitors. She didn’t win Season 2, but her amazing one-liners and catchphrases as a traitor launched a wider audience outside of Bravo.
Now that Phaedra has her peach back, RHOA seems complete. For many fans, the only thing that would make the new RHOA better is by bringing back old favorites to join Phaedra, like NeNe Leakes.
Catch up on Season 16 of RHOA by streaming it on Peacock.
