Quit, fired – semantics, right? Every retired Housewife tells the same old tale of woe that the show was too much drama, the fighting too intense, it wasn't the image they wanted people to have of them. Kim Zolciak is no exception. The woman who made wigs a household name (sorry Raquel Welch!), is spilling the details about why she left Real Housewives of Atlanta mid-filming.
In an exclusive with In Touch Weekly (do they have Andy Cohen's girls on retainer?), Kim tells the magazine that her pregnancy had a lot to do with why she left.
"I was eight months pregnant and there was so much drama, I just had to walk," Kim insists. Apparently the stress of her own life, a new marriage, three children, and one on the way coupled with the nonsense of the show pushed her over the edge. "I've taken on so much in the past five years, but this was the final straw. My priority was the child inside me."
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"I was so tense and stressed. I can handle my own stuff. But an unborn child? I had to get away from it all."
Kim's final episode is December 2nd. And she decided enough was enough over a cast trip to Anguilla where Cynthia Bailey was renewing her vows with Peter Thomas (and who would want to miss that?!). At the time Kim was 36 weeks pregnant and announced she couldn't go on the trip with the rest of the cast. Her co-workers reportedly became furious.
"They couldn't understand why I couldn't go," Kim says. "My doctor thought I was insane to even consider it. I wasn't going to risk my baby's health to get on a plane." I agree – there is no way a 9 months pregnant woman should be getting on a plane, going anywhere!
Kim decided family came before Housewives and didn't expect the reaction she got from her co-stars. "Fighting is what we're known for, but I never disagreed with a pregnant woman," Kim says. "I decided to take care of myself. If they thought being pregnant was an excuse, that's too bad. I had Kash three weeks early! It was the right decision."
Kim says this whole season was difficult for her aside from personal dramas and pregnancy. "I felt a lot of negativity from them," she says of the other women. "I love being home with my family."
NeNe Leakes shared that Kim was excuses all season – and last! “She’s going to come up with every excuse she can possibly come up with,” NeNe says. “My blood pressure was going up. My hair was shedding. My nails were comin' loose. I couldn't walk.”
However Kim promises it was her own decision to leave. "Nobody ran me out," she maintains. "You can't run me anywhere!"
She does have mixed feelings about leaving the show, however. Afterall she was able to meet the man who took her from a mistress to a legit Housewife through the series. "I can't say it was easy to end that chapter," Kim shares.
Luckily we'll still be able to get our wig-fix – the famewhore didn't leave reality TV forever. Kim's spinoff is a permanent fixture on the Bravo scene, at least for now. "Would you rather film with a bunch of women or your own family?"
"I love being home with my family," Kim explains. "And who doesn't want their own show?" Apparently NeNe didn't! She eschewed a spinoff in favor of a network sitcom.
Kim's new show will be all about Kim. I mean, what isn't? "It's going to be a fun, light-hearted show about our crazy everyday life." Gee – I hope that includes tons and tons of gross sex talk. Promise?!
It will chronicle Kim and hubby Kroy Biermann raising four kids and being themselves. Oh joy. "My amazing husband is doing awesome in the NFL, we're building a home, we have a teenager, a tween, and two babies." Apparently this is supposed to reel us in?
Anyway Kim says she's happy she left because, "I'm in a different place in my life. I'm a real housewife now, not a TV housewife." At least until the money runs out, right?
Still playing coy, Kim shared on twitter today that she may not be done with RHOA forever – just for this season.
Kim's last episode of RHOA is Dec. 2nd. Her spin-off premieres in April.
TELL US – DO YOU BELIEVE KIM LEFT ON HER OWN ACCORD? DID SHE HAVE A VALID REASON TO LEAVE THE SHOW? WILL YOU BE WATCHING HER SPIN-OFF?
