Cynthia Bailey Talks Return to ‘RHOA,’ Happiness After Divorce, Dating, Acting, and Seagrams Escapes Partnership (Exclusive)

Cynthia “high cheek-boned” Bailey is back on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Fresh off her divorce from Mike Hill, and after a full-season hiatus, Bailey returns as a friend of the show and jumped right into the mix for Season 15. Though we haven’t seen her on the show for two years, she hasn’t been missing in action. The 56-year-old has been busy curating her acting career with projects on Lifetime, BET, OWN, and ALLBLK. She’s still booking gigs but figured her former co-stars could use a little shakeup. 

The entrepreneur has worked alongside Seagram’s Escapes for the past few years to bring forth great cocktails that are affordable and offer healthier options. This Mother’s Day, they have created the perfect specialty cocktail to toast the moms and women in your life. Seagram’s Escapes Tropical Sangria is easy to make by the glass or pitcher, and is a great way to celebrate Mom! And as a mom herself, she understands the necessity to unwind. Seagrams Escapes gives plenty of choices to do so. 

PopCulture.com spoke with the former supermodel on why Seagrams Escapes continues to be one of her favorite brands to work with. She also dished on her return to the Bravo franchise, why she chooses happiness over everything else, scaling back on her various entrepreneurial endeavors to focus on acting, health and wellness, dating, and even her celebrity crushes. Season 15 of RHOA premieres May 19.

PC: You’ve been with Seagrams Escapes for a while now. What makes this partnership so special for you?

CB: Well, I love that it’s just such a collaborative effort. I’m super involved on all fronts creatively as a brand, and I love that we do tons of women empowerment initiatives together. Also promoting Black-owned businesses initiatives as well.

PC: Now with Mother’s Day approaching, you guys have a specialty drink that’s being released.

CB: We do.

PC: It’s also obviously good for the nice weather, so tell us about this. It’s Sangria correct?

CB: Yes, it is our Mother’s Day, Tropical Sangria, and I love a good sangria. Whether it’s a red sangria or a white sangria. Ours kind of depends on how much liquor you put in it, more reddish or white. Depends on how much white wine you put in there. Which is again, all of our Seagram’s Escaped recipes are totally customizable, but it’s super easy. I’m going to walk you through it really quickly. It takes like five minutes to make and it looks beautiful.

It’s basically our Jamaican Me Happy, 7.5 ounce can, or you can just measure it out if you have it in the bottle. That’s the start. So you can’t do it without that twist on it. It’s a half a cup of wine, a half a cup of spiced rum, and whatever fruit you desire. We recommend strawberries, blackberries or blueberries, orange wedges, lemon, or whatever you want. Again, you can just totally have fun with the fruit that you want to put in it. It’s whatever level you want to go with it. If you want more spice rum in it, you put more. If you want less, you put less, so the great thing is you can really make it your own and drink it however you prefer to drink it.

PC: As someone who owns a wine cellar, The Bailey Wine Cellar, what is your go-to drink? We’ve seen you on Housewives. Sometimes you drink a cute little wine, or we’ve seen you shot it up too. 

CB: I have closed the wine cellar, so that’s no longer a thing. But as a previous owner of a wine cellar, my go-to drink, honestly, I like to get to the point. I can be a bit of a tequila girl. Just go ahead and give a shot, and let me just knock it out. I find, especially with my new wellness and fitness journey, I only drink socially, so I don’t drink a whole lot of alcohol these days. When I do, it’s something super light. Like any of my Seagram’s Escaped flavors, or if I’m out and about and I can’t get that, then I’ll just do a shot with a lemon wedge or a lime wedge, whatever. Less calories.

PC: What do you hope to do next with your partnership with Seagram’s? Because you mentioned that you love that they support Black-owned businesses, and there are a lot of women empowerment initiatives. How are you looking to expand the partnership moving forward?

CB: My first flavor was the Peach Bellini, I curated with them. I helped with everything from the actual formulation of the drink, all the way to actually going to the factory where everything is made, and meeting the workers and all that stuff. That flavor, the Peach Bellini is hugely successful, so I’m looking forward to my second flavor. A little birdie told me that my new flavor is coming this year, so look out for that. And just to continue to use the relationship to empower women, inspire women, and motivate women with our panels that we do.

Before COVID, we were doing a women’s empowerment tour where we would go to different cities and just have four or five women on our panel, and not just hear my story, what drives me, and how I got to where I got to in my life. But talk to five or six different women from each city that we go to. That was really great for us, and hopefully, we’ll be able to start that up again. Then of course, I’m always trying to support other Black-owned businesses, so we put together a marketplace where you could go to and actually find some of the businesses. That was a while ago, so I don’t know how updated it is, but those are things that I want to continue to use the relationship to build.

PC: Now let’s get into Real Housewives of Atlanta. I personally missed you. I’m team Cynthia Denise over here.

CB: Thank you. Come on government name.

PC: You’ve said it on the show, and I’ve watched the show forever. So I know the name. You took a season off after getting married, and now you’re back on the show. You’ve been open recently about some of what we saw on Ultimate Girls Trip, and your tension with Kenya [Moore] being more about personal things that you were going through at the time of when you were married at that time versus actually being over…

CB: Not even so much being married, it really wasn’t so much about my marital issues, to be honest. Because at that time that really wasn’t that big of an issue. It was really more of things that I was going through. Just transitioning into acting, starting a career over, menopause, all those things were happening in my life. Those were the biggest factors that kind of made me a bit moody, or just a little off balance. My hormones and all that stuff. Which again, going back to the whole health and wellness part of my life, I’ve had all those things adjusted and checked out.

PC: Well your fans don’t mind when [your alter ego] 50 Cynt comes out because I feel like sometimes it’s necessary. I didn’t really have a problem with you going off in the way that you went off, but once you started explaining more…

CB: Well I have to explain 50 Cynt sometimes because sometimes she just comes out. It’s like, wait a minute. People are always like, wait. I know a lot of people live for it, but at the same time, I come in peace. I think that’s pretty clear, but there’s always a little 50 Cynt inside of me just waiting to come out if she feels like popping out. I don’t make too many excuses for her because I think everybody needs a little 50 Cynt moment every now and then when it calls for it.

PC: You are now divorced, and we don’t need to talk about that because I feel like you’ve talked about that enough. But one of the things that we love about you is that you really show your fans, and especially women, that you don’t need to stay in a relationship where you are not happy. I think that’s a good lesson to have. Have you always been that way? If not, when did that develop, and why do you think that is such an important lesson for women to abide by?

CB: I’m a Pisces woman, so I am forever going to be a lover of love. I’m always on a quest for peace, and for love; however, I do think sometimes, be it a boyfriend, a husband, or whatever the situation is, some people honestly just come into your life for a reason and for a season. I feel like when that season is over, then I think it’s okay to move on if that’s how you feel in your heart, you know what I mean? I don’t want to ever feel stuck, or feel like I have to stay in something if it’s no longer serving myself or the person that I’m in the relationship with.

It’s not easy. It’s not easy to leave a relationship or a marriage. It actually is quite hard, and it’s painful. It’s a lot because this is someone that you went into the marriage to spend the rest of your life with them, but I will say that I think it’s easier to stay than to go. Back to your point, I think you just have to follow your heart, and let God move your steps. The reality of the situation is sometimes people just have their season, and people just have their time together. Being a part of your journey for the time that they are a part of your journey, and it’s okay to move on when it’s done.

PC: Now returning as a friend of the show, what factors went into it? Bravo pays well, so of course that. But I can also imagine that it was probably a relief because you had been on the show for so long to not have to live in front of the camera. I’m sure that break was much appreciated, but what have you noticed that has been the difference in being a full-time cast member versus a part-time cast member as well?

CB: Girl, less stress. You have to realize, I was on the show for 11 years, and for the most part, I was in a good place with most of the women on the show. I worked a lot, I sound a lot. I went to everybody’s events. I was like a full-time housewife. With that said, between doing that, and juggling being a mom, being a wife, and my other businesses, it just was a lot. I felt like I had just reached a point in my life where I just needed a break because I’d never had a break. I’ve never was like, “Oh, I did three years, and I was off two years.” I just did it consistently for many years, and I needed a break. I also really am very serious about my acting career, and I didn’t want to.

But I didn’t want to embark on my acting career unless I had time to be serious about it and focus on it. A lot of those things played into it, and I did consider coming on as a friend. As a matter of fact, I was asked to come back as a friend. We had those conversations, and I thought about it. Then I thought, “You know what? I actually just need the break for right now.” I had my break and it’s been amazing. It’s been great.

I just still enjoyed being a part of the Bravo family. I still have some great organic friendships with pretty much most of the cast old and new that’s on the show. They always invite me to different things that they have going on. I love supporting them, but if we’re going to be filming then it just makes sense for me to pop in as a friend at that point. Not an official friend, just to pop in and out, and that’s been working for me. I’ve been having a good time doing that. As a matter of fact, I just did it recently on Beverly Hills as well, which is kind of cool. I’m ready to pop in and out. I’m ready to go to Dubai, and hang out with Chanel too and pop in out with her too.

PC: Were you welcomed back with open arms by the cast, and how has your interaction been with the newbies?

CB: Oh my God. Such open arms. I don’t know if it’s because I’m not a housewife that this is no stress or pressure for anyone to come for me or whatever. I don’t know what the deal is. But when I tell you I had so much fun filming with the ladies and they have all been so sweet and so welcoming and I actually have just had so much fun every time. It’s a lot more fun getting into everybody else’s business than talking about your own. I can tell you that right now. I get to come, eat and drink, and be like, “So what’s going on with you? How’s everything going?”

PC: Yeah, your famous line: “So what else is going?”

CB: So what else is going on? I get to have a lot of “So what else is going on” moments, and that’s fun for me because I’ve really, again, at this point in my life, it ain’t about me. I’m rebuilding, I’m recreating, I’m energizing myself. I’m a work in progress over here right now. It’s fun to talk to the other ladies, and find out what they have going on.

PC: Would you ever consider your own spinoff, and if so, what do you think the focus would be?

CB: I wouldn’t be closed to it. Of course, I’m open to it. It would just happen to be the right thing. I could see me doing something maybe with my daughter, Noelle. We have a great relationship, and she’s 23 now. You guys got a chance to get to know her on the show since she was eight years old, and a lot of people are still very interested in what she has going on and what our relationship is like. I would love to maybe do something with Noel.

I love the home decor space where I go in and give home decor tips or just rebuilding, fixer-upper type stuff. I love anything in that home space, that’s fun for me. I also love cooking. You guys don’t get to see me do that a lot. I brag about my potato salad a lot because I think I make the best potato salad in the world pretty much. I would love to maybe do something in the cooking space as well. I’ve been doing a lot of cooking for myself here at Lake Bailey. Now that I’m again, on my health and wellness journey, instead of ordering out or eating out a lot, I cook and make my own food for the most part. So I can just keep control of what’s in the food and the calories and all that stuff.

PC: Since you’ve become Cynthia Bailey, the actress, you’ve continued to book roles. Now that you’ve had some time in the industry as an actress, what type of roles are you looking forward to in terms of challenging yourself?

CB: Oh my goodness. I am looking forward to doing more comedy, which I actually get a lot of callbacks for. They say comedy is the hardest, but I love comedy. I got a chance to do an episode of Single Drunk Female, and that was so much fun. I just kind of fell in love with that space. I was like, “I love that type of acting.” Then on the flip side, as an ex-housewife, I do like a little drama as well. That’s easy. That’s right in my wheelhouse to go in that direction, and then I also, as some of the characters I would play, I want to play something that you completely forget that it’s me. Like some of the darker roles, I don’t know, a serial killer. I don’t know, a prostitute. I don’t know, something, a drug dealer, anything. Anything that’s super far out of my wheelhouse.

I want to peel back the layers and get a little bit deep. I have the most fun when I’m auditioning. As soon as I’m reading the breakdown, if it goes, “Really attractive woman in her fifties or in her forties.” I’m like, “Ah, I got to be pretty, dang.”

But they say if I’m reading for something and it’s like a police officer and it has nothing to do with my looks, I get more excited about those kinds of roles because I know that it’s all about my acting at that point. I mean, the pretty roles are too, but I just feel like I can just dig a lot deeper when I just have to just show up as a different character that is completely out of my wheelhouse.

PC: We spoke a little bit about Real Housewives of Atlanta, but on the show we also watched you build your entrepreneurial empire. So you mentioned that you closed the Bailey Cellar…

CB: The wine cellar, yes.

PC: What current projects are you working on?

CB: Okay, well let me talk about the wine cellar. Again, I’m at a point in my life where I’m trying to simplify my life, and as a new actress I had to let go of a lot of things that were commanding my attention. And I’m just older now. I just want a more simple life, and focus on maybe three or four things that I have going on, as opposed to 20 things going on all the time. That was interfering with my peace, and it was very stressful. As an entrepreneur, one tip I will say to anyone that is juggling several businesses is, if it’s taking your peace, if it’s causing you a lot of stress, or if it’s interfering with you focusing on something else bigger that you want to focus on, it’s okay to let it come to an end and start new adventures.

So I’ll just say that and button that up. In terms of my other projects. Okay, so my acting is first and foremost. That just trumps everything that I have going on, and I do have some projects coming up in May. I have a movie that I’ll be filming in May that I’m excited about. As a matter of fact, Noelle is in the movie as well, so this will be the first time we act together. I can’t tell you too much about it right now, but she is in the movie as well. I don’t think we work together on-screen, but she has a role in it as well. So that’s going to be fun to actually do a movie that we’re in together. 

I just worked on a STARZ series, which I can’t really talk about right now that I’m super excited about because I’m such a fan of the show that I’ll be on as well. I think that’s going to be coming out this year. So acting is number one.

My Seagram’s Escapes partnership is definitely right up there with my acting. That’s something that I want to continue, that’s a relationship I want to continue to build and grow because I think we can do so many other things with this partnership. So that’s something that I definitely make sure I make time to focus on. The other thing is I actually, well my CB Vior Line, that is my bag line that I’m pushing, and just excited about because everyone loves the bags. I love the bags. You guys can be rocking them all the time, and we’ve just done really well with the company. CB Vior, and I also have another bag line that I have a partnership with Nila Bags. Those bags are just incredible, and we’re building that company up together with the Bailey Bags. I have the minis, and then I have the larger bags. 

Most recently, I just partnered with a CBD company, going back to health and wellness. I’m coming up with a line of CBD products to help people just relax, and decompress; especially people that suffer from anxiety. My daughter suffers from anxiety. I have a little bit of anxiety because I usually have so much going on all the time. Even as an actress, sometimes I get really like, “Oh my god, super anxious.” So I am coming out with a beautiful line with Susan’s Own Products as an extension of that brand to do my own CBD line, which I’m very excited about.

Last, but not least, I’m in the process of putting together a women’s health and wellness retreat this year. I’m trying desperately to make it happen this year, and that was just inspired by me actually pouring my energy into myself as I start out again as a single woman, rebuilding, and this new chapter in my life with acting, and my personal life. I just am pouring everything into myself. A lot of the things that I do to take care of myself have motivated me, just from me working out, and committing to that three days a week, and have inspired a lot of my fans, and a lot of my female friends. I just thought I would love to share all the things that I’ve been doing, from even getting my hormones checked and making sure everything is at the right level, and talking about all the different things that we as women go through.

I’ve always been very vocal about fibroids. I’m still the ambassador for USA Fibroid Center. I want to talk about menopause because that’s a part of my life. I want to talk about everything that is health and wellness for women. 

The Cynthia Bailey Health and Wellness retreat is where I can invite women to come to – wherever I decide to go, what island of my choice that we decide to have the retreat at and hang out for three days. I will have all these professional experts come down, and tell us about the different things that we need to know about to just feel good and take care of ourselves.

I think women, especially businesswomen, I think we tend to put our health on the back burner. For me, I know personally I only really go to the doctor, for the most part, I go for my checkups. I’m a lot better about that, but unless I get sick, I pretty much just work most of the time. I don’t take a lot of time to check on things unless my doctor tells me, “Oh, you should check this.” What I found is talking to my girlfriends, they may have an issue, and they may share it with me and I’m like, “Oh, you know what? I’ve been feeling this way. Let me go have that checked.” I’ve never known to even get my testosterone checked, or I never knew I should have this test done. I want to create that platform, so women can just not only be great, but feel great

PC:  You mentioned one of the things that you’re, I wouldn’t say turned off by, but you don’t want to do acting roles in which it’s like the byline is an attractive woman in her 50’s. We know that you come from the modeling world, and the world has really expanded to allow the icons to continue to work even in their later years. How is your modeling career currently going?

CB: You know what, it’s not really going right now. I haven’t put a lot of focus into that, but to your point, I do love that women of all ages are working a lot more, especially older women. I’ll see on Instagram some women that are in their 70’s that just look incredible, that are able to work as models. I just think that that is such a smart and inspiring, amazing way for the business to transition because everybody has to be represented. 

I just turned 56, and I actually think I look better than ever just in terms of how I’ve aged. I feel like I can represent brands beautifully to be honest, and I love when I see women that are older than myself that look amazing, that are able to do that. I love that, and honestly, that’s something that I actually might focus on. With the right company, I would love to get back in that a little bit as well.

PC: Now, do you plan to fully reopen The Bailey Agency as a full-service agency? Especially because of what we just talked about as far as the industry expanding to women of all ages, and then obviously there’s this new section of modeling with social media influencers.

CB: I’m not closed to it right now. It’s not a focus of mine, but I still have it available to revisit whenever I’m ready to. Right now it’s just not a focus of mine, but that’s something I can go to later.

PC: In terms of what’s next, everyone’s always asking you about your dating life. You did mention that you started to date again in an interview that I saw recently of yours. What type of partner are you looking for, if you’re looking for a partner?

CB: I’m excited about dating. I am looking. Well, let me rephrase that. I’m not looking, but I’m definitely open and excited to date. I’m not in a hurry, but at the same time, I’m not trying to have my first hot girl summer at 60. I am 56, I got to get this thing going here, and I feel like I don’t want to put myself in a box where I’m like, “Oh, I’m just going to wait a year, whatever.” I can meet somebody tomorrow, and I don’t want to rule the right person out because of the fact that it hasn’t been a year since I’ve been divorced. I don’t feel like putting a time on that works because it’s all up to how God works, and how he moves people in and out of your life. If I meet my person, I meet my person. If I meet them tomorrow, great. If I meet him in the next two years, great. I’m not really focused on the when, but I think mentally, physically, and emotionally, I have to be open to receiving them whenever God sends them my way.

PC: I have some suggestions for you in terms of people who you could possibly date if they’re single.

CB: Oh, well please list them out. Who?

PC: One is in Atlanta. I don’t know if he’s single or not, but Andre 3000.

CB: Home court… Andre’s, oh my god, he’s single? He’s pretty cool. Well, he’s an artist. I do love that he’s an artist, and he looks like he would be very interesting. Just a really interesting person to hang out and talk to.

PC: I don’t know if this guy is single. I don’t think he’s single, but the person he’s with now is way younger. But, Lenny Kravitz.

CB:  God, I can’t believe you said that. He is like totally my celebrity crush.

PC: I think that could work.

CB: I know, but he’s with a younger woman so I think I’ve aged out in terms of his interest, but I don’t look my age. I may have a shot, but Lenny Kravitz has been my celebrity crush for a while. And he lives in Paris, I heard. I love Paris.

PC: International, an artist. You love artists, and whenever he breaks up with this little young girl, there you go. Then I have one more.

CB: Lenny can slide in my DM’s, definitely after he breaks up with the young. I have to say, we also have in common that, I feel like he’s aged very well as well. I feel like he even looks better now than he did when he was younger. He just gets finer and finer.

PC: So he’s good, and then I have one more. He’s a little bit older, so don’t rule him out.

CB: Okay, I like older. I like older and I like younger.

PC: He’s successful and he’s recently divorced, but he’s been in the game for a long time. Forest Whitaker, I think that could work too.

CB:  Oh my god. See I’ve never met him before, and he seems like a really nice guy.

PC: Very smart.

CB: Yeah, interesting. He seems like a really nice man. If God sends him my way, then I will definitely consider having a drink with him to discuss whatever needs to be discussed. I’m open to it.