‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Newcomer Explains Her Past Connections With Her New Co-Stars (Exclusive)

One thing fans of any Real Housewives franchise say they want to see between the cast members is genuine friendships. There have been several newcomers who have join the shows without organic ties to the group, and it comes across to the audience.

Luckily for Season 17 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the two newbies, entrepreneur Pinky Cole and singer K. Michelle, they are well known in Atlanta social circles. Cole spoke with PopCulture ahead of the premiere and spoke about who she was already friends with prior to joining the cast.

“Shamea [Morton Mwangi and I are friends], and I was actually just [with] Shamea just now, but Shamea’s been my girl for a long time. It’s funny how I met her,” she tells us. “She used to be on the radio and she used to interview me all the time, so we built a rapport there, and she is just a ball of energy as you, everybody knows.”

“Cynthia [Bailey], we’ve been cool for the last couple of years. Obviously, we run in the same spaces, so we have mutual friends,” she continued. K. Michelle and I, we actually had mutual friends, and she’s my sorority sister. So my investor is actually her line sister, which is like a cool lemon squeeze, but we connected from the onset and that’s my girl. Kelli [Ferrell] and I, we also have run in the same spaces, she has Nana’s Chicken and Waffles and I have Slutty Vegan, so I’ve seen her at several restaurant conferences, speaking engagements, and just knowing the successful restaurateurs in the city, so, we’ve always had a rapport as well.”

As for the others in the group, she says they had to get to know one another while filming. “I did not know Angela and Drew prior to getting in this girl group. So now I’ve gotten the opportunity to get to know them myself, and just navigate what that friendship looks like,” she explained.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs every Sunday on Bravo at 8:00 PM.