It seems like it was only yesterday that Andy Cohen muted NeNe Leakes on the chaotic Real Housewives of Atlanta Zoom reunion, but season 13 of the beloved Bravo series is almost upon us. Leakes won't be returning for this next chapter, and she's been replaced by a Housewife that fans are probably very familiar with: Drew Sidora.
RHOA OGs Kandi Burruss, Cynthia Bailey, Porsha Williams, and Kenya Moore returned for the thirteenth season, and loyal viewers of the franchise know that this is a big mix of personalities that can be very explosive at times, even without Leakes in the picture. But Sidora isn't a rookie when it comes to being in the spotlight because she's worked in Hollywood for years as an actress. The reality star has appeared in projects like Girlfriends, That's So Raven, Step Up, and VH1's 2013 TLC biopic CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story.
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Remember the popular CW original series The Game? The Mara Brock-Akil series — a spinoff to Girlfriends — followed a tight knit group of athletes and their significant others, starring people like Tia Mowry (as Melanie Barnett), Wendy Raquel Robinson (Tasha Mack), and Pooch Hall (Derwin Davis). Real fans of the show will also immediately recognize Sidora as the thirsty up-and-coming singer with eyes on Derwin. Playing a version of herself on the show, Sidora's character caused the main couple Melanie and Derwin to break up during the show's first season. (Five years after the series finale of The Game, fans low-key still haven't forgiven her.)
When she isn't on TV, Sidora spends her time managing her bustling family. She's married to business strategist Ralph Pittman, and the couple is raising two sons and a baby girl together. Their relationship will reportedly take center stage during Sidora's debut season as they struggle to make their marriage work amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
"Unfortunately right before we started filming, my husband and I had just gone through one of those moments in marriage, a disagreement, and on top of that being quarantined," the actress told E!. "Before cameras came into our home, we had had pretty much a blow-up. I think we were both at our breaking point and he left. He left for three days, I didn't know where he was."
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Fortunately for the newbie, all the drama taking place in her marriage will not eclipse the chaos that has been teased this season. There's a lot going on with the RHOA Housewives right now. A few people are working through messy breakups, someone got married again, and production might have caught some of the cast having sex with a stripper on camera — all during a global pandemic.
But that's Housewives for you. Welcome to Atlanta, Drew!
Season 13 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta premieres on Sunday December 6, only on Bravo.