It’s that time of the week! The latest episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta just dropped, and these ladies are navigating some very real problems. Suddenly, we can all forget about our own.
When we last left off, Phaedra and Shamea were rallying around Kelli, who is going through a financial crisis. The group also showered Angela with love on the first anniversary of her mother’s death.
But in The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 17 Episode 12 “The Glow Up Cost,” we learned that they aren’t the only two going through some difficult times, and the weight of it all could be slowly crushing this friend group.
What happened in The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 17 Episode 12?
After moving into her new townhouse and retaining Phaedra as her attorney, Kelli continued carving a path towards her next era—budget cuts and all. Meanwhile, Shamea’s behavior continued to create friction across the group, and no one held back on putting her feet to the fire. With a cast trip to Scotland on the horizon and zero progress toward peace, Shamea began questioning whether she even belongs in this friend group anymore.
Angela got a check-in from Cynthia
The last several episodes of RHOA have kicked off with Cynthia working overtime to solve the group’s problems, and this week, it was Angela’s turn for a sit-down with Cynthia and her cheekbones.
Cynthia wanted to get to the bottom of the drama between Angela and Shamea. When Shamea visited Lake Bailey, she told her that Angela had been attacking her marriage. And of course, Angela sure as hell has been running around claiming that Shamea has been sleeping her way across multiple professional sports leagues.
Although Cynthia isn’t a miracle worker, she is rational, and she told Angela that there might be more going on with Shamea beneath the surface. Her surrogacy struggles, combined with some newly revealed health concerns about her mom, might be causing her to act out more than usual. Cynthia suggested therapy.
That was all something Angela could understand firsthand — she just lost her own mom a year ago. With that in mind, a slight softening toward Shamea seemed possible. Maybe.
The timing turned out to matter because Cynthia and Angela announced that they’re teaming up to host a new version of the Bailey Bowl in honor of Angela’s mom. Surely there wouldn’t be any drama at a memorial event, right? Wrong.
Angela broke down in tears over her relationship with her daughter
In the midst of all of the friend group drama, Angela is also navigating a painful situation with her 25-year-old daughter, Ahmauri. As we learned in Season 16, Ahmauri eloped with her partner without telling Angela, and in Season 17, that wound is still very much open.
Angela’s younger kids don’t know about Ahmauri’s marriage or her same-sex relationship, and Angela wants to change that. Her therapist, Dr. Wendy (not the one from Potomac), advised her not to out Ahmauri, since it’s her story to tell. But when they sat down to discuss it, things quickly got tense.
“I want them to know because I don’t want them to be blindsided,” Angela told Ahmauri.
In her confessional, Ahmauri admitted she’d probably be more open about her relationship if it were a heteronormative one, but for now, she wants to wait a couple more years before looping in her siblings. That was not the outcome Angela was hoping to hear, and the argument that ensued revealed that this is less about the siblings and more about Angela.
Angela admitted that she’s still sour over Ahmauri not including her in one of the biggest moments of her life. What got lost in the argument was any real effort to understand why Ahmauri might have felt like that was her only option. Instead, she called her “entitled” and “spoiled.”
Later in the episode, they sat down with the therapist to work through some of their boundaries. Ahmauri admitted that her grandma used to be the bridge between them, and losing her has made everything more complicated. They’ve got some hard work ahead of them to make things right, but at least they’re doing it.
Are Porsha and Drew RHOA’s new dynamic duo?
In Season 16, Porsha spent practically every episode furious at Drew, even going so far as to film a scene with Drew’s estranged husband, Ralph. In Season 17? Day and night.
This week, Drew popped over to Porsha’s house for a chicken wing lunch. This was all happening right around the time Porsha’s ex, Simon, went online claiming he was having her Nigerian citizenship revoked.
Although Simon has been a thorn in Porsha’s side, she told Drew she was laughing all the way to the bank. Every time Simon went online and dragged her, she said her company, GoNaked Hair, saw a tremendous boost in sales.
With that in mind, Porsha wanted to spread some of the love. She told Drew she’s launching a new wig line and wants her, along with Cynthia, to have their own collections under the brand.
Porsha explained that she wanted to “empower” Drew as she navigated her nasty divorce from Ralph, and as we have seen in the headlines, she definitely needed it. Either way, Porsha said she wanted to keep moving the needle in her friendship with Drew, and helping her cash in on GoNaked seemed like the best way to do it.
“I’m looking forward to being on a different path with her as a friend,” Porsha explained in a confessional. “I really hate what we went through before.”
Drew was understandably a little skeptical, given how sideways things went with GoNaked the last time around. But the wigs are already live on the website, so we know they worked something out.
Angela confronted Shamea at the Bailey Bowl
The final stretch of Episode 12 took place at the Bailey Bowl: Maggie Madness Edition, and all things considered, it looked like a genuinely fun event. Things started with good energy, even as Angela dropped some light shade via the team names.
Kelli’s squad was Team Minion. Shamea got Team Sasquatch. K. Michelle was dubbed Team Blind Opposition, a nod to her still-unproven conspiracy theory. Angela’s team, the Fangies, won, which surprised absolutely no one given who she’s married to.
But once the game ended, Angela decided that her late mother’s memorial basketball tournament would be the perfect time to confront Shamea. Apparently, she forgot that Cynthia had just talked to her about what her mom was going through.
Angela revealed that she felt upset that Shamea told people she attacked her marriage, conveniently ignoring the fact that she had just accused her of sleeping with both NBA and NFL players. However, in Angela’s mind, Shamea has been attacking her marriage ever since Season 16’s Nashville trip.
Shamea then reminded Angela about the rumors that she’s been spreading about her. She also hit her with a line that left the entire room gasping.
“You became relevant off your last name because you f*cked an NBA player,” Shamea retorted.
It’s Shamea versus everyone in RHOA Season 17
In the midst of Angela and Shamea’s argument, Drew chimed in with an “amen,” which sent Shamea into a spiral. Pinky then piled on by trying to bring up what K. Michelle said Shamea told her at the club. It was all eyes on Shamea, and K. Michelle, seeing the dog pile forming in real time, declined to engage.
The episode ended with Shamea in a confessional interview, reflecting on her place in the friend group and coming to terms with the fact that she’s very much at the center of all the drama. Her only issue is that she doesn’t understand why she’s there — or how to get out of it.
“Why is it that when you address a problem with one person, now everybody wants to attach themselves to that problem and attack that person?” Shamea asked in a tearful confessional. “I don’t even know what I did wrong.”
She continued, “I get it, you don’t want me to be a part of the friend group. I get it, and It’s hurtful, and it makes me not want to be a part of the friend group.”
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs on Sundays at 8/7c, and you can stream it the following day on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA SEASON 17 EPISODE 12? WERE YOU MOVED BY ANGELA AND AHMAURI’S CONVERSATIONS? DO YOU THINK SHAMEA CAN GET HERSELF OUT OF THIS HOLE?
