Kandi Burruss Breaks Silence on Real Housewives of Atlanta's Major Cast Shakeup

Kandi Burruss is feeling just peachy about The Real Housewives of Atlanta's brand new cast.

In fact, after recently exiting the Bravo series earlier this year after an impressive 14 years on TV, the former Xscape singer is revealing what she really thinks about the newly revamped season 16 cast.

"I'm excited," Kandi exclusively told E! News May 17 at the 90th Annual Drama League Awards celebrating Broadway's latest theater season. "I'm excited for Shamea [Morton Mwangi], who is our friend. I'm glad it's announced so I don't have to keep secrets anymore. I'm gonna be watching because my friends are still on the show." (Watch E! News tonight, May 20, at 11 p.m. for more exclusive celebrity interviews from the Drama League Awards.)

In addition to Shamea being promoted to a full-time castmember, Kandi is also thrilled over alum Porsha Williams' return to the show after taking a two-season break.

"I already knew she was going back before she announced it," the 48-year-old revealed. "We both had talked about our decisions, what we were thinking about doing. I was telling her I didn't know if I was going to go back. She was telling me how she was thinking she might go back. So we knew. I am excited for her."

Joining Shamea and Porsha for season 16 are newbies Brittany Eady, Kelli Ferrell and Angela Oakley, plus returning RHOA Housewives Kenya Moore, Drew Sidora and alum Cynthia Bailey, who will be a friend-of.

Of course, that means Marlo Hampton, Sanya Richards-Ross and Shereé Whitfield will not be back next year.

Kandi even teased some behind-the-scenes season 16 drama which she recently heard about through the grapevine.

"I'm not necessarily gonna miss that stress," she admitted. "They started filming this week. I was talking to one of them—I can't say who it was—but she was like, 'Girl, it's just a lot.' I was like, 'Yeah, I don't know if I missed that part.' I forgot about that first stress of getting the ball rolling when you're meeting new people."

As for what Kandi will miss about being part of the cast?

"You don't necessarily miss the stress or the work, but you miss the camaraderie part," she added, "and knowing that you are part of something great. Because at the end of the day, no matter how much drama it was, my 14 seasons on that franchise a lot of great things came from it."

Hear more from Kandi tonight on E! News at 11 p.m. And keep reading to see where she lands on E!'s official ranking of every Real Housewife ever.

Bravo's ill-fated attempt at highlighting our nation's capital brought together four women so forgettable you'd be forgiven for erasing them from your memory—though their names are Mary Amons, Lynda Erkiletian, Cat Ommanney and Stacie Scott Turner—and one so desperate for fame that she gate-crashed a party at the White House. More on her later.

Who?

Vaguely familiar, but...

Once upon a time, DeShawn starred on the same TV show as NeNe Leakes. Surprising, we know.

This one-season Housewife brought nothing to the Orange County table.

Utah's newest season two Housewife went out with a bang (and not in a good way). In January 2022, Jennie was fired after "offensive" and racially insensitive old Facebook posts resurfaced online. Jennie later apologized but the damage was done.

Her defining trait was "cougar."

The Orange County doctor was never a source of drama during season 16 and her brief marriage troubles with eternally shirtless husband Ryne (or Ryan?) were less than riveting. However, we will never forget Dr. Jen getting absolutely wasted on wine during the Dubrows' insanely awkward—yet wildly entertaining—dinner party.

The nurse anesthetist's flop first season can be summed up in one cringe-worthy word we hope we never hear again: Esophagus-gate. 

Katie loved to talk about her charity work, but...didn't do much else on screen. She was one and done, only to come back and not contribute much as a friend. Leaving the cast trip early? A Housewives no-no.

Her marriage problems were on full display the two seasons she was a full-time Housewife...that and her champagne room are the two memorable things about Charrisse.

A one-and-done Housewife, Shamari was at least fun?

While it was nice to see some diversity in the lily-white O.C., Peggy ultimately proved to be a frustrating presence in season 12. The fights she chose to pick were bizarre, and often involving someone using a word she simply didn't understand, and her decision to simply hide out in her room for an entire day during the trip to Iceland proved that she wasn't really cut out for this Real Housewives life.

Instead of bonding with fellow Nigerian costar Wendy Osefo during season eight, Nneka's first season storyline centered entirely around her allegedly accusing Wendy's mom of being a witch (yes, seriously). We wish we could have seen the two bond over their shared culture rather than fighting with no resolve.

Noella spun through season 16 like a tornado of frantic energy. While her personal struggles were somewhat compelling (her husband James up and left the country and asked for a divorce right before filming started), it was her constant drama with queen bee Heather Dubrow that helped her not land completely at the bottom of the list. Maybe with more time and another season, we'll warm up to Mrs. Bergener.

From peacekeeper in her first season to unrelenting complaints about a thrown cake and unfounded claims of anti-Semitism in her second (and last) season, we're not sure we've ever seen a quicker Real Housewives fall from grace than this one.

The America's Next Top Model veteran picked up a peach for seasons 11 and 12, but never really made an impression in the world of RHOA, aside from being pregnant for what felt like her entire tenure. Points for that epic read of Marlo Hampton while in Tokyo, though.

All we remember about Karent is that she was a dentist and none of her co-stars seemed to like her at all. Next!

This was a real person with a show on Bravo. We promise.

As one of RHONY's more recent one-and-dones, Jules' tenure was too brief to rank any higher. However, she sure did deliver her fair share of drama. 

So unnecessary they couldn't even get individual taglines.

Everything Amber and her husband Jim did seemed to reek of desperation. Plus, he was involved in more of the drama than she was. Not a good look.

Much like co-star Sara Al Madani, Nina exemplified a multidimensional, successful Arab woman who is blending modern life with centuries-old cultural traditions. She avoided most of the season one drama and was sometimes overshadowed by her co-stars' bigger, louder personalities.

Sara's positive, enlightened outlook on life was certainly pleasant, but didn't provide for much drama (besides that one time she offered co-star Caroline Brooks some not-so-well received parenting advice). However, the tech entrepreneur shattered stereotypes of what it means to be a modern Muslim woman in the Middle East and for that we applaud her. 

RHONJ's season 13 newbies certainly fit the mold of your typical Garden State Housewife and quickly found themselves in a season-long fight over literally nothing that Andy Cohen deemed pointless at the reunion. We'd love to see both return for season 14 for a chance to move up even higher on the list after an entertaining first go-around.

Larsa didn't make a big impression on season one before leaving the series. When Peacock revived RHOM for season four in 2021, her whole storyline was about being the ex-BFF of Kim Kardashian. (and selling sexy feet pics on OnlyFans...)

Ana followed up her one season as a Bravolebrity by competing on season 12 of Next Food Network Star in 2016. She didn't make it there, either.

Unfortunately, she was nothing more than a punching bag for Brandi Glanville. Plus, her tagline celebrating the icky notion that you can never be too skinny was gross.

Cindy was supposed to be the new Bethenny Frankel. Cindy was no Bethenny Frankel.

Brooks' gift to season one of RHODubai was a cameo from Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Phaedra Parks, who popped up on one episode to get all the tea on the co-stars' drama. However, Brooks did cause a lot of unnecessary drama during season one (much of which occurred while she was a little too tipsy).

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family)

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