Although she didn’t appear on season 1, Kandi Burruss has long been a staple of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.” The Atlanta-based singer-songwriter has managed to parlay her role on the reality show into other business success, but it appears she owes her Xscape group member Tiny Harris a thank you for getting on the show in the first place.
Harris discussed how she influenced Bravo to hire Burruss for the series a decade ago with HollywoodLife.com recently. She even divulged that she was offered a spot as a peach holder at first. But ensemble reality TV wasn’t for her.
“Back in the day they asked me about doing the Housewives of Atlanta and I actually told them that they should call Kandi [Burruss],” Harris disclosed to the website Saturday, May 4. “I gave them Kandi’s number because I was in the middle of my own show; I had the ‘Tiny & Toya’ show at that time, I was an executive producer. It was just me and Toya, and I just had more creative control. My name was in the credits in the headline of the show, and I didn’t want to go and be a cast member. I liked where I was.”
And while the star was doing fine on her own BET reality series, which came before VH1 offered her and husband T.I. their own family venture, she wants Burruss to give credit where credit is due.
“I would like for her to acknowledge that [I helped her get on the show], because she’s giving the credit to the wrong person,” she told the website.
Burruss entered the long-running third version of the Bravo “Real Housewives” franchise in 2009 when season 2 aired. During her tenure on the show, she’s dealt with the ups and downs of life — from losing her first fiancé A.J. to resurrecting her singing career. She’s also spawned lots of successful brands and endeavors from the show, including her popular eatery Old Lady Gang. Plus Kandi has managed to turn a potentially devastating rumor into a successful show that led to a national tour called “Welcome to the Dungeon.”
The show bowed last week in Chicago and will continue through the month of May as it hits locations in Washington and Ohio and wraps up in Houston on May 26.
