Characters / The Real Housewives of Atlanta: Original Cast

The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Cast Index | The OGs | Season 2-5 Additions | Post-Season 5 Additions | Friends Of The Housewives | The Husbands

The inaugural cast of The Real Housewives of Atlanta
L-R: Lisa, DeShawn, Kim, NeNe, and Shereé

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As a whole

• Happily Married: Not quite...
  • Zig-Zagged by both NeNe and Kim. NeNe and her husband Gregg ended up divorcing during the fourth season though they later remarry in time for the sixth. On the other hand, Kim and her husband Kroy portrayed this for a long time until he filed for divorce in 2023. As of July 2023, the two called off the divorce.
  • Completely averted for Shereé unfortunately...
  • Both DeShawn and Lisa seemed to be happily married while on the show but ended up divorced after their tenures ended.
• A House Divided: NeNe stood in direct opposition to Kim and Shereé. Lisa and DeShawn were caught in the middle until the reunion where hostilities between Lisa and Kim rise. Poor DeShawn just wanted to keep the peace amongst the ladies but alas was fired for not bringing enough drama.

NeNe Leakes

Linnethia “NeNe” Leakes

NeNe (Season 12, 2019-2020)

Full-time: Season 1-7; 10-12

Guest: Season 8

"I SAID WHAT I SAID!"

—To Kandi. Season 6, Reunion.

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NeNe's tropes:

• Alliterative Name: Linnethia Leakes.
• Alpha Bitch: NeNe has become by the end of Season 7. During their meeting with Dr. Jeff, NeNe becomes angry when almost everyone expresses that they have had an issue with her, making NeNe feel the girls are coming at her in order to become to top dog.
  • She becomes this again in Seasons 11 and 12.
• Big Fun: While NeNe has never been huge, her size has been poked at by quite a few of her castmates (namely Claudia and Kandi). However, she is still regarded as being a very fun and entertaining personality to be around. She is up and away the most hilarious person on the entire cast.
• Big Sister Instinct: To Marlo and Porsha.
• Breakout Character: NeNe was able to use her reality tv platform to land herself in roles on primetime TV. Most notably, Glee and The New Normal. She has also appeared on Broadaway starring in Cinderella as The Wicked Stepmother. NeNe by far is one of the most famous Housewives personalities of the entire franchise, if not the most famous.
• Divorce Is Temporary: NeNe and Gregg split in 2011 during Season 4. They later remarried in 2013 and remained married until his passing in September of 2021.
• Foil: To Shereé.
• Fountain of Memes: NeNe has spawned MANY memes via her one-liners, facial expressions, and mannerisms. There is quite honestly a NeNe Leakes meme for everything.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: In Season 12. All of the cast has an issue with her and she is iced out until Porsha makes up with her (to the other ladies' surprise). The reunion is rough for poor NeNe.
• The Ghost: NeNe is noticeably absent during Shereé's OG dinner scene in Episode 9 of Season 15.
  • In the original airing of the sixth episode of Season 15, NeNe is omitted from the image of the Season 4 peach-holders which appears before a flashback from that time period.
• Honorary Aunt: Kim says NeNe is this to her daughters in Season 1.
• Ironic Echo: NeNe told Porsha in Season 10 that THE DOOR IS CLOSED in regards to their friendship. Since the end of Season 12, Bravo has told NeNe the same thing, and she has not been on the show since.
• Last of Her Kind: She is the last remaining OG Housewife at the start of Season 6.
• Missing Mom: NeNe's mother left her to be raised by her sister in Georgia. This is a recurring theme of her arc on the show. In the first season, she mentions that her mother had already been deceased for eighteen years.
• Only Known By Her Nickname: "NeNe" is short for her full first name, Linnethia. Rarely does anyone ever call her that though.
  • At the Season 7 reunion, Andy calls by her full first name and she comments on it in surprise.
• Not on the List: At Shereé's birthday party on the very first episode.
• Parental Substitute: NeNe was raised by her aunt. The viewers meet her in the first season of the show.
• Put on a Bus: She leaves the show after the conclusion of Season 7.
  • The Bus Came Back: NeNe returns as a guest during Season 8. She gets an invite to the reunion where she resumes her old spot directly to Andy's left, forcing Porsha, Phaedra, and Kim Fields to move down for her.
  • She returns in a full-time capacity in Season 10. She leaves again after the conclusion of Season 12.
• Spin-Off: ''I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding" (2013). Here, NeNe remarries her ex-husband, Gregg, following their divorce in Season 4 of the show.
• This Is My Chair: NeNe had a seat next to Andy at every reunion. Specifically, the seat directly to his left (the viewer's right) which she held every season she was on except for Season 3—where she sat directly to his right. She even reclaims her seat at the Season 8 reunion despite being just a guest that year.
  • She is one of the few housewives to have always sat next to Andy at every reunion since she was cast.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Kim. The constant back and flow of their friendship and rivalry is what helped put RHOA on the map.

DeShawn Snow

DeShawn Snow

DeShawn (Season 1, 2008)

Full-time: Season 1

Guest: Season 14-15

I always knew I was destined for greatness!

—Season 1 tagline

DeShawn was married to Eric Snow, a professional basketball player who, at the time of the show, played for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

DeShawn was very passionate

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DeShawn's tropes

• The Artifact: DeShawn is the primary example of this in RHOA. She is a main cast member only in the first season and many fans don't even remember her being on the show. She along with Kim and Lisa becomes part of Shereé's OG shtick in Season 15.
• Big Fancy House: In the very first scene of the show, we see DeShawn moving into her newly built mansion.
• The Cameo: At the She by Shereé fashion show in Season 14. DeShawn can also be seen at Shereé's sip and see party for her granddaughter in Season 15.
• College Sweethearts: DeShawn and Eric met each other in college!
• Put on a Bus: DeShawn did not return when the second season premiered. She revealed that she was fired because the producers thought she was too "boring" for the show.
  • The Bus Came Back: DeShawn finally returns in Season 14 at the She by Shereé fashion show. She returns again in Season 15 at a dinner with her fellow OGs.
• Self-Applied Nickname: She begins to refer to herself as "Shawnie" to the other ladies near the end of the season.
• Spoiled Sweet: DeShawn is certainly spoiled by her husband (at the time) but she is also by far the sweetest memeber of the cast.
• Team Switzerland: She was this in the feud between NeNe (and later Lisa) against Kim & Shereé. This is pretty much why she didn't get a second season...
• Token Religious Teammate: She was this prior to Phaedra's arrival. We see her attending Bishop Eddie Long's church. She even writes a fat check in tithes, believing that what God gives must be given back accordingly.
• The Voiceless: Downplayed. She hardly says a word amidst the chaos of the first reunion—not even when Andy probes her to comment on the drama in front of her.

Shereé Whitfield

Shereé Whitfield

Shereé (Season 15, 2023).

Full-time: Season 1-4; 9-10; 14-present

Friend of the Housewives: Season 8

Guest: Season 13

"Who gon' check me, boo?"

—To the party planner. "New Attitude, Same ATL" (Season 2, Episode 1).

Shereé is introduced to the show as a well-known socialite in Atlanta. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she is the ex-wife of former Atlanta Falcon, Bob Whitfield with whom she was divorcing during the first season of the show. She and Bob had two children, Kairo and Kaleigh. She also has another daughter, Tierra, whom she gave birth to as a teenager. She can

Shereé can be seen beginning her infamous fashion line, She By Shereé.

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Shereé's tropes:

• Amicable Exes: Subverted with Bob. Bob has frequently appeared on the show with Shereé. There are several unpleasant moments between the two of them: arguing over unpaid child support, the court battle with Phaedra, the uncomfortable car ride. Despite this, Shereé brought him to the Season 9 cast trip and reunion. Bob even asks Shereé if he could stay with her on-camera.
• Awful Wedded Life: With ex-husband, Bob, unfortunately. Their divorced life wasn't peachy keen either.
• Beta Bitch: Shereé often ends up playing this role. She was this for Kim (albeit on and off) during the first four seasons and even in Season 10 when Kim was just a Friend. This ends up costing her relationships with her other castmates during her second run.
  • She later becomes this to Marlo in Seasons 14 and 15. Some things never change...
• Big Fancy House: Chateau Shereé. It was still under construction at the end of her first run in Season 4 and was still unfinished by Season 8.
• The Bus Came Back: Twice. Shereé left the series after the Season 4 reunion. She returns in Season 9 and leaves again at the end of the following season. As of Season 14, she's back again. Shereé is the first Housewife in the entire franchise to achieve this feat.
• Catchphrase: See the quote above.
  • Shereé's catchphrase has even been referenced in a few episode titles in later seasons.
    • "Who's Gonna Check My New Boo?" (Season 15, Episode 1).
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Similar to Kim. In the first season, Shereé betrays and ices NeNe out along with Kim. In Season 4, she lies on Kandi to Kim, saying that Kandi commented that she couldn't see her [Kim] in Africa holding Black babies. In Seasons 15, Shereé sets her sights on Kandi for commenting on her business acumen despite the fact that Kandi offered to assist Shereé.
• Convenient Character Replacement: For Kim Fields in Season 9. Again for Cynthia in Season 14.
• Cutting Corners: Kenya alleges that this is how she managed to finally have Chateau Shereé completed.
• Demoted to Extra: Averted. Shereé was offered a Friend Of contract for Season 11 but declined since she had already served as a Friend in Season 8 prior. She instead departed from the show once again.
• Domestic Abuse: Shereé mentions that her relationship with Bob was plagued with this. During a car ride with Kenya and Phaedra in Season 9, Shereé and Bob recount Bob's abusive behaviors making the other two women visibly uncomfortable. Bob insists that he never hit Shereé but she disagrees. Bob tells her that he's sorry and that he maybe didn't choke her hard enough. Kenya intervenes to comfort Shereé and chastise Bob for his disgusting comment.
• Embarrassing Nickname: NeNe refers to the then-unfinished Chateau Shereé as "Neverland" during the Season 4 reunion.
  • Following the long-awaited release of She by Shereé fashions, Kandi "accidentally" refers to the line as "She by Shein."
• Establishing Character Moment: During the first season, Shereé can be seen shopping, buying expensive clothes.
  "I'm fashion, I'm style. If they can't keep up, that's they problem."
• Friend of the Housewives: In Season 8.
• Foil: To NeNe. In the second episode of Season 1, Shereé provides the audience this quote: "I’m a little classier than NeNe. I’m a lot classier than NeNe." While NeNe managed to become the Alpha and breakout star of the show, Shereé ended up playing second fiddle to Kim and was later fired after the end of Season 4. This is the inverse of their relationship prior to the show where Shereé was the one with the clout.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Kim.
• Promoted to Opening Credits: In Season 9, following her season as a Friend Of.
• The Rival: Let Shereé tell it, she is this to Lisa.
  • To Kenya in the war between Chateau Shereé and Moore Manor.
• The Scrooge: Shereé is infamous for her reputation of being dodgy when it comes to paying for things. Kenya alleges this is why Chateau Shereé took so long to be completed. She and Drew get into it because she refused to pay her share in throwing a party for Kenya and Marlo. Kandi alleges that her designs for her She by Shereé line didn't make the website because she hadn't paid the designer. Even Andy makes a jab at her at the Season 15 reunion for her "interesting relationship with bills."
• Slow and Steady Wins the Race: It took many years, but by NeNe's Season 10 return, Chateau Shereé is finally finished. As she promised at the Season 4 reunion, NeNe finally refers to her home with its proper title.
• So Proud of You: Towards her son, Kairo, who recently became a father by the start of Season 15. While many folks may not see what's so great about it, Shereé is happy to see her son stepping up as a father when her ex-husband failed to serve as a good example during his childhood. While rarely emotional, Shereé tears up at this.
• This Is My Chair: Zig-Zagged. Shereé normally sat at the end of the couch at each reunion she attended. The exceptions were Season 4 where she sat between Kim and Phaedra; and Season 14 where—to her, her castmates, and the viewers' surprise—she sat directly to Andy's left (the viewers' right). Andy even makes a comment about it being the first time they had ever sat next to each other in the show's fourteen seasons.
  • She is placed next to Andy again at the Season 15 reunion and she is noticeably more boisterous than she was during the previous year's reunion.
• Undying Loyalty: To Kim. She is called out by the cast—Cynthia and Porsha in particular—for this during the Season 10 reunion.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the very first episode, she purposefully leaves NeNe’s name off of her guest list so she could be denied entry. This eventually leads to NeNe’s fallout with Kim, beginning the first big feud of the show.

Lisa Wu

Lisa Wu (formerly Wu-Hartwell)

Lisa (Season 2, 2009)

Full-time: Season 1-2

Guest: Season 3; 9-10; 14-15

"If it doesn't make me money, I don't do it."

—Lisa's Season 1 & 2 tagline

Lisa was first married to Keith Sweat from 1992 to 2002. They had two sons together.

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Lisa's tropes:

• Beware the Nice Ones: Lisa is one of the easier-to-get-along-with cast members but she gives Kim a warning against trying her at the first reunion:
  "''I will flip you over the couch, Kim... Really. I am the wrong one."
• Put on a Bus: Zig-Zagged. Lisa departs the show as a full-time cast member after Season 2 but she continues to make appearances on the show whenever Shereé is still on.
• The Rival: According to Shereé, Lisa is this to her.
  • Kenya is a better example with the war between Chateau Shereé and Moore Manor.
• Satellite Character: Since her departure from the show, Lisa does not appear unless fellow OG Shereé is there.

Kim Zolciak

Kim Zolciak (formerly Zolciak-Biermann)

Kim (Season 10, 2017-2018)

Full-time: Season 1-5

Friend of the Housewives: Season 10

Guest:Season 9; 15

"I'm a Black girl trapped in a White woman's body."

—Season 1, Episode 1

Kim came on to the show a divorced mother of two daughters, Brielle and Ariana. She and NeNe were very good friends. She was the alleged mistress of the mysterious "Big Papa," who funded her lavish lifestyle.

From the beginning, Kim wanted to embark upon a career in music. She begins trying as a country singer before Kandi's introduction in Season 2. With Kandi's help she becomes a mini-pop star due to the success of her song, "Don't Be Tardy." Drama soon followed when Kandi was left uncompensated by Kim for her contribution to the song, and this leads to the two's friendship fracturing in a major way.

Kim later met her husband, Kroy Biermann, while attending a dance competition in support of Shereé. Majorly impressed with his butt, Kim and Kroy hit it off and married in 2011 and became the parents of four children. Kroy even adopted Brielle and Ariana. As time went on, Kim began to become more disconnected from the show and the ladies who were growing frustrated with her constant flaking. Kim eventually departs from the show as full-time Housewife in Season 5 following a big argument with the ladies about her flaking on their trip to Anguilla.

Kim has since continued to appear on the show every now and again, particularly as a tagalong for Shereé. She becomes a Friend Of in Season 10. She continues to be a pest for the ladies, leading to a big blowup at the reunion. Kim infamously makes a comment about racism not being real, and this along with rumors about her husband being racist has left Kim with a rather negative reputation amongst the mostly Black fans of the show.

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Kim's tropes:

• Babies Ever After: Kim has four more children with husband Kroy. Along with her oldest two daughters, this gives her a total of six children.
• Befriending the Enemy: Kim does this with Shereé, leaving NeNe hanging.
• Best Friend: With NeNe originally. Then more infamously to Shereé.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: She forsakes NeNe in Season 1 for Shereé. She later used Kandi to record her single "Don't Be Tardy for the Party", and refused to pay her the money owed for the song's production. She had even fallen out Shereé between Seasons 1 and 2 after talking about her behind her back.
• Conspicuous Consumption: Kim describes herself as materialistic in the first season and is shown shopping a considerable amount of time during the first episode of the series.
• The Dividual: She becomes this with her husband, Kroy. Kroy begins to appear everywhere with Kim. The cameras even cut to him standing on the set during the Season 5 reunion. In the episode where Kim officially quits as a Housewife, Kroy is outside the restaurant where the group met. He assaults a cameraman due to wanting him to stop filming Kim.
• Establishing Character Moment: In the first episode of the series, Kim can be seen buying a brand new Rolls-Royce and driving it straight off the lot after. She tells the viewers that she will die in Dior. This establishes Kim's love of money and luxury.
• Friend of the Housewives: Via Shereé in Season 10.
• The Ghost: Her unknown and wealthy (and married) boyfriend, Big Papa, is this to her. The viewers never meet him but NeNe and Shereé have.
  • Unfortunately no longer the case in 2023 as the couple are now divorcing.
• Lady Swears-a-Lot: Kim has the worst potty mouth of the entire cast.
• Leitmotif: "Tardy for the Party." Thanks, Kandi!
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Shereé.
• Put on a Bus: She leaves after the first seven episodes of Season 5.
  • The Bus Came Back: She makes an appearance during the reunion at the end of the season. She even takes her old seat to Andy's right, replacing Kenya at the head of the couch.
• Second Love: Kroy is this to her on the show, following Big Papa. He is also her second husband.
• Spin-Off: Don't Be Tardy.
• This Is My Chair: Kim always had a seat next to Andy at every reunion she attended. She was always seated opposite NeNe, directly to Andy's right.
  • Even after quitting in the middle of Season 5 and appearing just as a Friend Of in Season 10, when Kim returns to the reunion, she gets that first seat. Kenya (5) and Porsha (10) have to move down for Kim to sit.
• Token White: Kim remains the only White woman to have ever served on the cast of RHOA in any capacity.
  • NeNe revealed at the Season 4 reunion that the Season 1 casting producers were originally planning for RHOA to have an all-Black cast. NeNe suggested that they cast Kim in order to appeal to a wider audience.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With NeNe. Their friendship constantly ebbed and flowed during their time on the show. Their dynamic is what helped the show blow up.
• We Used to Be Friends: With NeNe and Kandi. Briefly with Shereé in Season 2.