RHOA’s Shamea Morton on How Phaedra Almost Ruined Her Engagement, Status With Porsha Williams, Why She Turned Down Full-Time Role, and Regret Over Drama Between Kenya and Brittany

The Real Housewives of Atlanta recently returned for its 16th season on Bravo after a rather lengthy pause. Naturally, fans have commented on several aspects of the show, but Shamea Morton’s $9 million home has been one of the most talked about. Now, the first-time peachholder is opening up about the show, the drama between Kenya Moore and Brittany Eady, and more in a new interview. 

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Longtime fans of RHOA will recall that Shamea first appeared on the show as a guest in season 5 and then a friend of for multiple seasons after. She has said that she was previously offered a peach but that her husband Gerald Mwangi was uninterested in appearing on the show. 

Shamea recently appeared on the Way Up With Angela Yee podcast to discuss what fans can expect from season 16 of RHOA. One of the juiciest topics came when Angela asked her about the rumors from several seasons prior that Phaedra Parks helped spread rumors about her and Kandi Burruss being more than just friends. 

She first spoke about her friendship with Kandi by saying, “Kandi’s amazing. She’s really a good friend so it would have been incredible to have both of us on there [the show] at the same time.”

Regarding Phaedra’s rumors, the RHOA star said, “I honestly hated that. That was a very nasty rumor, but it goes to show that what the devil means for bad, God means for good. Nobody can take away what’s in his plan and his will for you.”

She continued, “At that time, I was engaged to my husband and if he wasn’t as secure and just strong as he is and if our unit had not been strong that could have destroyed us.”

Shamea added, “And then it was like you saw it on camera, on the show, them in a circle at the table talking about it. That really hurt because I was like, ‘Why? That’s such a nasty, ugly thing to say.'”

Her demeanor changes slightly, and she becomes more lighthearted while joking, “Now, I ain’t gon’ lie. My husband knows he didn’t marry a virgin, but like… I ain’t got there yet.” 

Next, the conversation moved to Shamea joining the show in a full-time capacity and what took so long. The new peach holder explained, “I always got offered[a peach], but my husband wouldn’t do it. He was like, ‘I’m not interested,’ but he was always supportive of me.”

She continued, “He was always like, ‘Babe, you do it. You do it with Shia[their daughter]’, then Shilo came along. ‘ Film in the house. Then when the cameras come, I’ll leave.'”

She then said, “They wouldn’t allow me to have a peach without him. They were like, ‘It’s all or nothing.'” Shamea then went on to tell the story of when production came to do a screen test for this season, and her husband was so nervous about the cameras that he left. She said, “Baby, he was like a runaway bride. The cameras pulled up in the yard, and he was pulling out the side gate. 

They then discuss Shamea’s friendship with Porsha Williams. As fans know, they have been friends since childhood. However, there have been rumblings that their friendship may be strained, to which the trailer for RHOA season 16 alludes. Many viewers also called Porsha out for how she showed up late to Shamea’s party in the season opener. 

Angela begins by bringing up some rumors about where they stand and even names some of the times Porsha hasn’t always been the best of friends. According to Shamea, “That’s just how it plays out on the show. Just like they ask questions about her and her relationship, they ask questions about my friendship with her and if I felt like it was one-sided.”

She went on, “And I just told them I can only focus on me. I try to be the best friend that I can be to my friends and hope that it’s reciprocated, and when it’s not, I ain’t got nothing to do with it. I mean, I can’t. There’s only so much I can do about it. I just want to continue to show up and be the person that I know how to be, how my parents raised me to be a loyal friend. One that is going to ride for their friend.”

She continued, “Sometimes that’s like a fault of mine.” Regarding her cast mates discussing their friendship, she says, “Since these ladies are new, they don’t know our friendship, so they don’t know that I’ve had conversations about the disappointment or the hurt in the past. That’s old tea.”

Lastly, the topic of Kenya comes up and how she’s hardly on the show this season due to her actions against Brit. When asked her thoughts about the drama, Shamea said, “We don’t really know how they’re going to edit it yet, but I was there when the whole thing went down, and it was nasty work.”

She also said, “When it happened, I told Kenya, I was like, ‘Hey, you’re going too far.’ She turned, and she lit me up, so then I stepped back, and I got quiet. So, then we talked about it, and she apologized. She was in the heat of the moment, and that’s just what it was, but now, looking back, after all is said and done, I wish I had just kept quiet about all of it because Brittany surprises you.”