Speaker 1: This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the most dramatic podcast ever. I am Chris Harrison,
Speaker 1: coming to you from the home office in Austin, Texas.
Speaker 1: And I always get excited when I have a great
Speaker 1: guest on, but it's safe to say I have never
Speaker 1: been this excited because this woman is someone who came
Speaker 1: into my life a couple of years ago, a few
Speaker 1: years ago, and it was just that aha, that light
Speaker 1: bulb moment that I just knew she was special. I
Speaker 1: knew she came into my life for a reason, and
Speaker 1: she just has this energy in this light that well,
Speaker 1: you guys, you'll be able to tell. It's Cynthia Bailey
Speaker 1: from Real Housewives of Atlanta and joining me from her house.
Speaker 1: Well where else would she be Atlanta, of course, the
Speaker 1: home of Cynthia Bailey. Cynthia joins us now here on
Speaker 1: the most dramatic podcast ever. Cynthia, it is so good
Speaker 1: to see you again.
Speaker 2: It's amazing to see you, Chris. We had such a
Speaker 2: great time. I'm the one and only time we ever
Speaker 2: hung out.
Speaker 1: We did. We hung out. We both had a ided
Speaker 1: you still do. Probably we had to deal with seagrums.
Speaker 1: The drink maker you had yours. Yours was the Georgia
Speaker 1: Peach or something Peach Bellini, and I was yes, and
Speaker 1: I was doing this tropical rose. So you and I
Speaker 1: went to this huge sales meeting. Were we in Philly?
Speaker 2: I think we were in Philly? Where were we?
Speaker 1: I think we were in phil But anyway, so I
Speaker 1: met you and was instantly taken by just what a
Speaker 1: beautiful human being you are. And we ended up having
Speaker 1: dinner that night and just talked and talked and talked,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, this woman is so brilliant, She's got
Speaker 1: a thousand side hustles, she's so confident. You just have
Speaker 1: this energy about you, and I will just I just
Speaker 1: want to say this publicly. If you think Cynthia Bailey's beautiful,
Speaker 1: you have no idea until you're in the same room
Speaker 1: with her.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you so much. It's so fun. From that night,
Speaker 2: I remember you sharing your story about how you ended
Speaker 2: up your journey to Hollywood, and it was so amazing.
Speaker 2: It was It was just really really great just to
Speaker 2: hear you know how it happened, because a lot of times,
Speaker 2: you know, people don't know how it happened. I think
Speaker 2: we just like turned up and right lay and it
Speaker 2: just worked out for us. But it's always a story
Speaker 2: and it's always a process.
Speaker 1: People see the top, you know, ten percent of the iceberg, right.
Speaker 1: They see it when you hit the Bachelor Bachelorette and
Speaker 1: you're on national TV. You're like, oh, look he's here,
Speaker 1: same thing with you. It's like they didn't see this
Speaker 1: eighteen year old Taco Bell And did you work at
Speaker 1: Taco Bell?
Speaker 2: I did? That was my first job?
Speaker 1: Was it really?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: What did you do at Taco Bell? I?
Speaker 2: Was? I worked the register? Yeah? I worked the register
Speaker 2: and I moved up. I was like there for maybe
Speaker 2: like almost three months, and I think I remember moving
Speaker 2: up pretty quickly.
Speaker 1: You know, I bet you did. I'm just guessing the
Speaker 1: line of customers. When Cynthia Bailey was behind the register,
Speaker 1: they were.
Speaker 2: Happy, excited for me to ring them up.
Speaker 1: Let's just say some manager was like, damn, they liked
Speaker 1: these tacos.
Speaker 2: Why didn't you come back again?
Speaker 1: It's your fifth burrito today, man. But it's true. People
Speaker 1: don't see that. People don't see you hustling at Taco Bell.
Speaker 1: People didn't see you at eighteen years old taking the
Speaker 1: leap that you did, leaving Alabama and going to New
Speaker 1: York to be a model. Yes, how scary was that?
Speaker 2: It was very scary Chris. It was honestly super scary.
Speaker 2: And looking back on my life, I asked myself, like,
Speaker 2: what what was I thinking? What made me just jump
Speaker 2: on a plane for the first time in my life,
Speaker 2: moved to New York City from small town Alabama and
Speaker 2: just go for it, pursue my modeling career. And what's
Speaker 2: so amazing about that decision, that very fearless decision. Well, no,
Speaker 2: not fearless. That fearful decision was that that one choice
Speaker 2: in my life totally changed the whole course of my
Speaker 2: complete life. Like I honestly don't think had I not
Speaker 2: got on the plane to pursue my modeling career in
Speaker 2: New York City, I would be sitting in front of
Speaker 2: the Great Chris today, Like honestly, like everything happened after that,
Speaker 2: it was no turning back. But you never It's like
Speaker 2: literally like going into the unknown. You're like, Okay, I
Speaker 2: have nothing to lose, so let me just try. And
Speaker 2: you know, I've it's changed my whole life.
Speaker 1: But you're eighteen years old and then you get signed
Speaker 1: by I think Wilhelmina, right, and then the next thing
Speaker 1: you know, you're off to Milan in Paris and you're
Speaker 1: an international supermodel and you're not even twenty years old yet.
Speaker 1: Oh no, do you think do you think you could
Speaker 1: do that now?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 1: And look, I know women probably do, but it's got
Speaker 1: to be a different world. Like was there enough innocence
Speaker 1: or ability to do it back then that maybe you
Speaker 1: just couldn't do it in this modern day?
Speaker 2: You know what? Back then that was kind of the
Speaker 2: only way it really happened for most of us was
Speaker 2: to just get on the plane and just go to
Speaker 2: where wherever they sent us to. I mean back then
Speaker 2: we hadn't seen movies like Taken. Yeah, like you're headed
Speaker 2: to Paris and you end up in Tilets.
Speaker 1: Thank god Liam Mason is still around with a particular
Speaker 1: set of skills that could still save Cynthia Bailey.
Speaker 2: But and I don't even think I even had a
Speaker 2: cell phone.
Speaker 1: No, I'm sure you didn't back then eighty seven. No,
Speaker 1: there were no cell phones.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Speaker 1: We had the big suitcases, right, you had the big suitcase,
Speaker 1: they had a phone on it.
Speaker 2: And I couldn't afford one back then because that was
Speaker 2: at the beginning, like this was all the whole struggling,
Speaker 2: modeling part of my life.
Speaker 1: So I mean it was like, I'm I'm thinking of
Speaker 1: your life. Give me a timeframe from you're working the
Speaker 1: cash register at Taco Bell to walking the runways of Paris.
Speaker 1: Is that like a year a year and a half difference?
Speaker 2: I want to say maybe about two years.
Speaker 1: Two years from Taco Bell in Alabama to never being
Speaker 1: on an airplane. Now you're walking the runways of Paris. Yes,
Speaker 1: it must have felt like you were shot out of
Speaker 1: a cannon.
Speaker 2: It really did in a lot of ways. But you know,
Speaker 2: I was like shell shocked, if anything, because the whole
Speaker 2: time it was happening, I just kind of couldn't believe
Speaker 2: it was happening. It was like, Okay, I'm in New
Speaker 2: York City. I have to figure out New York City.
Speaker 2: Because that was a whole culture shock for me. I
Speaker 2: had never seen anything coming from my hometown. I was
Speaker 2: like just blown away by New York. And then probably
Speaker 2: about six months after being in New York, I got
Speaker 2: a call from my agency saying, oh, you have an
Speaker 2: agency in Paris. Now they want you to come. I
Speaker 2: was like Okay, great, well, let me talk to my
Speaker 2: mom about it. And they were like, no, you're leaving
Speaker 2: in the morning. And I was like, wait, I just
Speaker 2: got to New York. I just figured out how to work,
Speaker 2: how to you know, rather the sub way, Like I
Speaker 2: cannot go to another country right now. But they made
Speaker 2: it seem like it was just so normal at that time.
Speaker 2: You know, I had, you know, a couple of girlfriends
Speaker 2: I had met in the model's apartment and they were
Speaker 2: always coming from Germany or Australia. Was just like they
Speaker 2: were always on the go. So I was like, okay,
Speaker 2: so this is if they can do it, I guess
Speaker 2: I can do it. They're not freaking out about it.
Speaker 2: I bought my mom for allowing me to first of all,
Speaker 2: moved to New York at like nineteen years old, and
Speaker 2: then allowing me to go to Paris, because now that
Speaker 2: I am a mother, as Mother's Day is approaching, yes,
Speaker 2: and I have a twenty three year old I cannot
Speaker 2: imagine no like just letting Noel go to a different
Speaker 2: country and live by ourselves.
Speaker 1: Well that's what maybe that's why it's it's so triggering
Speaker 1: for me. I have a nineteen year old daughter, she's
Speaker 1: in freshman in college. And while she is a brilliant, beautiful,
Speaker 1: strong woman, you know, I'm excited for her some day
Speaker 1: to maybe learn overseas, and you know, do do a
Speaker 1: semester overseas. But that's different than you were a professional
Speaker 1: woman living alone and working in a very sexualized business
Speaker 1: and it's a lot. So it's very different than hey,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna study abroad too. I'm a supermodel in Milan,
Speaker 1: right and.
Speaker 2: I'm hanging out going to parties. And I didn't really
Speaker 2: party that much in Alabama, but I'm like, okay. It
Speaker 2: was just everything was just a whole new level, like
Speaker 2: just eating different foods and like learning French, you know,
Speaker 2: just learning how to understand French, making friends because you
Speaker 2: know what people don't realize is, you know, modeling, especially
Speaker 2: the way we did it back then. It was very lonely.
Speaker 2: Like all we did was travel to all these different
Speaker 2: places alone. So I read books all the time. I
Speaker 2: was never in first class back then, so I couldn't
Speaker 2: watch movies or anything. I was always in coach, like
Speaker 2: the worst seat ever, so I would just have like
Speaker 2: my little walkman, I remember walk. Oh yeah, of course,
Speaker 2: my books and you know I would always bring food
Speaker 2: with me, like you just had to like find for
Speaker 2: yourself and just be you know, prepared for whatever. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean I kind of went into the whole thing honestly,
Speaker 2: like I cannot feel like this, I cannot get in trouble.
Speaker 2: My mom was like, don't get on drugs, don't do
Speaker 2: anything crazy, because if you do, you're coming back home.
Speaker 2: So I was like a good girl model. I was like,
Speaker 2: I follow the rooms. I showed up to everything twenty
Speaker 2: minutes early.
Speaker 1: All my castings, they must have been like, who is
Speaker 1: this girl? Who's how is she already here on time?
Speaker 1: And speaking of by the way, with Mother's Day approaching,
Speaker 1: and I know you're an amazing mother, let's let's just
Speaker 1: continue to give your mom a shout out because clearly
Speaker 1: she raised an amazing woman that was able to do this.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you so much. Yeah, shout out to
Speaker 2: my mom. Thank you for allowing me to follow my dreams,
Speaker 2: to just go for it and just walk into the known,
Speaker 2: not really understanding even what I was doing. I appreciate you.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you so much for just trusting me to
Speaker 2: to just take that leap of faith.
Speaker 1: Well, you mentioned your daughter, and now you know you
Speaker 1: are the mom. Obviously she's a little older and not
Speaker 1: taking those huge steps you did at eighteen. But were
Speaker 1: you able to impart that same wisdom and that same
Speaker 1: strength into your daughter?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well to some degree. I mean honestly, I mean
Speaker 2: I don't even want to know all to go to
Speaker 2: Costco bar something time, like even when she goes to
Speaker 2: the gas station, because you know, it all goes down
Speaker 2: at these gas stations. Yeah, there's a lot craziness. I'm like,
Speaker 2: text me, would you, you know, get your gas and
Speaker 2: make sure I know that you actually are okay? And
Speaker 2: to be completely transparent, I should track her on her
Speaker 2: on her car to make sure I know where she is.
Speaker 2: And that's just not it's just for peace of mind.
Speaker 2: It's like, I'm not I'm really super concerned with where
Speaker 2: she's going or who she's going with per se. But
Speaker 2: it's just like just so I can sleep at night
Speaker 2: to know if she's out when she gets home, you know,
Speaker 2: the tracker says that Noel's home.
Speaker 1: Hey, you know, if.
Speaker 2: Anything happens, I have some idea where she is. You
Speaker 2: have to realize although I'm still you know, by coastal,
Speaker 2: I spent a lot of time in Atlanta now and
Speaker 2: she's in LA all the time. So you know, it's
Speaker 2: peace of mind, piece of.
Speaker 1: You're preaching at the choir. Both my kids are on
Speaker 1: Life three sixty. I still track them, and I tell
Speaker 1: them as long as I'm paying the bills, as long
Speaker 1: as I'm paying for your phone. And look, I don't
Speaker 1: really care where they are on the college campus. I
Speaker 1: don't really care what they're up to. They're good kids
Speaker 1: and they're smart kids. I'm like you, it's safety. I
Speaker 1: want to know that everybody's okay.
Speaker 2: You just want to know that they are okay, because
Speaker 2: you know, anything can happen at any time, especially with drive.
Speaker 2: And I think I know learning how to drive was
Speaker 2: the worst day of my life. The day can roll
Speaker 2: out of the driveway and went to where.
Speaker 1: She was going back right into the trash cans, like.
Speaker 2: I will never have peace again. This girl, this child
Speaker 2: knows how to drive now. So now it's like I
Speaker 2: don't even know. But anyway, yeah, yeah, so I'm not
Speaker 2: the kind of mom. I can't say that I would
Speaker 2: let her go do what my mom actually somehow let me.
Speaker 1: I know, I think of that, But that world is different.
Speaker 1: I mean I used to you know, not being the
Speaker 1: old guy that's get off my lawn. But you know,
Speaker 1: I used to leave my house in the morning and
Speaker 1: just wouldn't come back until late at night. And that's
Speaker 1: when I was five, six seven years old. And everyone
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood knewest though back then, right, so.
Speaker 2: The house back then, they were like get out of
Speaker 2: this house, like now go outside and play like we did.
Speaker 2: We were just I would go and you know, would
Speaker 2: gather at my cousins and we would just like walk
Speaker 2: the streets of my town like like you know, like
Speaker 2: we would actually be on like there was a train
Speaker 2: behind that was in my town, so we would like
Speaker 2: walk the rail. I wonder we didn't. We would like
Speaker 2: the train would be coming, would be like, let's just
Speaker 2: like wait until it gets really close and jump off
Speaker 2: the tracks like who does that? Like we were like
Speaker 2: country kids. We did all of that stuff. So I'm
Speaker 2: very I said all that to say that I'm very
Speaker 2: lucky to be a lot, to be honest, because we
Speaker 2: did all kinds of stuff that like.
Speaker 1: You know, no I never experienced, no I look back,
Speaker 1: and that's why it's like you don't tell your kids
Speaker 1: the whole truth and nothing about the truth, because we're
Speaker 1: not going to tell our kids everything we did. Just
Speaker 1: by the way, I don't want to hear everything my
Speaker 1: kids are doing, because it is it's a miracle any
Speaker 1: of us are alive. Speaking of Okay, how are you doing?
Speaker 1: Are you okay? Are you feeling good? Is life good
Speaker 1: for you right now?
Speaker 2: Wow? Thank you for asking. That's such a nice thing
Speaker 2: to ask. Am I okay, I'm okay. I am walking
Speaker 2: into the season of me. This is my season. I'm
Speaker 2: all the energy that I usually pour pour everywhere else
Speaker 2: into Cynthia Bailey. And one of the things that I'm
Speaker 2: really proud of is the fact that I actually have
Speaker 2: started working out and I love it and I've been consistent.
Speaker 2: I started in January. I do it three days a week,
Speaker 2: seven thirty in the morning for forty five minutes and mentally, spiritually, emotionally,
Speaker 2: it had just it has completely made me better in
Speaker 2: so many ways, stronger.
Speaker 1: I was going to ask you about this because you've
Speaker 1: been posting a little bit on social media these workouts.
Speaker 1: First of all, these workouts are no joke.
Speaker 2: Yes they're not.
Speaker 1: And you can look at the guns the start.
Speaker 2: I mean I was like nothing. I was like the
Speaker 2: worst person to even think about walking into a gym.
Speaker 2: I could. I was so weak, I couldn't do anything.
Speaker 2: And now I actually have almost mastered doing a proper
Speaker 2: push up, which is no easy feat. Trust me.
Speaker 1: Well, if you don't mind, I know you celebrated your
Speaker 1: fifty sixth birthday back in February, so you're fifty six
Speaker 1: years old, and damn you look good and I loved
Speaker 1: your posts. So you I went back and looked at
Speaker 1: your birthday post and it was you and a bunch
Speaker 1: of kind of screw I might screw up the fashion phrase.
Speaker 1: There were onesies?
Speaker 2: What were they were? Catsuits?
Speaker 1: Cat suits? Sorry, I'm an idiot. Yeah, you can tell
Speaker 1: who the fashion expert is and who is it. But anyway,
Speaker 1: the long story short is you look spectacular in all
Speaker 1: of them. They were all these very bright colored cat suits.
Speaker 1: And that's how you celebrated fifty six by showing it off.
Speaker 1: And I love that.
Speaker 2: I did you know what I'm like going back to
Speaker 2: being being in the season of me, I always say, now,
Speaker 2: I just want to live my life in color, like
Speaker 2: I'm fifty six years old. The rest is like this,
Speaker 2: I have to enjoyed this now, like I don't want
Speaker 2: to just work all the time. Now, I really want
Speaker 2: to truly live my life in color. So I thought,
Speaker 2: you know what, I'm just gonna buy all these different
Speaker 2: catsuits and different colors and just show like color, color, color,
Speaker 2: because I really wanted to. I feel like every I
Speaker 2: feel like almost every ten years I reached.
Speaker 1: Bent myself a little as by the way, I know,
Speaker 1: you know what, but.
Speaker 2: It's almost like the audacity at fifty six years old
Speaker 2: to literally like start all over again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, my new career.
Speaker 2: I've transitioned from reality TV to an actress now, which
Speaker 2: is we all know is not easy to do so.
Speaker 1: But you're doing it very well.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Thank you so much for that.
Speaker 2: It's my hard work is definitely panof that is committed
Speaker 2: to becoming an actress, a well respected actress, and I
Speaker 2: am actually booking things quite consistently, and it's I'm really
Speaker 2: enjoying the ride. I think one of the things from
Speaker 2: coming one of the things I love that, you know,
Speaker 2: as someone who came from reality TV, is so much
Speaker 2: fun to play anyone other than yourself, Like I don't
Speaker 2: want to, I don't want to play in the eventage.
Speaker 1: I've been playing me for fifty six years. Let's try
Speaker 1: something new.
Speaker 2: Over myself, someone else, anything.
Speaker 1: For those that don't know, uh, Cynthia recently divorced. She's
Speaker 1: been divorced twice, so that is what we're talking about
Speaker 1: with this new life. And as someone who went through
Speaker 1: a divorce late in life as well, I also made
Speaker 1: that choice and I appreciate. I called it the summer
Speaker 1: of Yes. As soon as I got divorced. I just
Speaker 1: had a summer of yes. If people called before they
Speaker 1: finished the sentence, yes, I'm in, I'll meet you there.
Speaker 1: I went to the Hamptons with people I didn't even know,
Speaker 1: just met some people in New York and went. I
Speaker 1: did some just awesome adventures and travel and dated people
Speaker 1: I wouldn't normally date, just to just to shake the
Speaker 1: snow globe up a little bit.
Speaker 2: There you go. I love that shake the snow globe. Well,
Speaker 2: that's what I'm doing. I am definitely shaking the snow
Speaker 2: glow of Chris. And it feels really good. You know.
Speaker 2: I feel like you know, when you live your life,
Speaker 2: you don't know you know what God has for you,
Speaker 2: and you just have faith that He's just going to
Speaker 2: move your steps. But I just I think my one
Speaker 2: fear is honestly is missing my purpose, are my mark.
Speaker 2: That's why I'm not afraid to transition and jump into
Speaker 2: other things because I just feel really pulled and let
Speaker 2: to you know, make those moves when I decide to
Speaker 2: make them, because I don't want to look back and
Speaker 2: be like man, when I had that feeling in my
Speaker 2: gut to you know, leave Reality TV and start my
Speaker 2: acting career although it was later in life, you know what,
Speaker 2: maybe I could have been successful. Like I don't want
Speaker 2: to question those things at this point in my life.
Speaker 1: You don't want to lay on your deathbed and say.
Speaker 2: What if I don't want anyone if know what? If
Speaker 2: I want? I just want to really feel like I
Speaker 2: walked in my purpose, truthfully walked in my purpose, lived
Speaker 2: for the things that I wanted to do, and make smart,
Speaker 2: happy decisions about my life, which is it is my life,
Speaker 2: and just be true to me, like whatever it is,
Speaker 2: even if people don't understand it, like, just be true
Speaker 2: to me, because this is how this whole journey started.
Speaker 2: Had I not been true to myself and went with
Speaker 2: what I felt and believed, I never would have went
Speaker 2: to New York in the first place. It was easier
Speaker 2: to stay. It's always easier to stay and not take
Speaker 2: that leap of faith.
Speaker 1: I totally agree, easy.
Speaker 2: To to just you know, I don't want to say
Speaker 2: not go for it to be mediocre. Just like I
Speaker 2: just knew I was pulled to try. I'm just trying
Speaker 2: trying to find my peace, trying to find my happy,
Speaker 2: trying to find my person, you know, trying to be
Speaker 2: a good mom, trying to you know, excel and continue
Speaker 2: to grow as an actress, you know, all of those things.
Speaker 2: That's it. Nothing beats a failure, but to try.
Speaker 1: And you just said trying to find your person. Does
Speaker 1: that mean you Does that mean you're back on the market?
Speaker 1: Are you dating?
Speaker 2: Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Cynthia Bailey is out there, gentlemen. This should spark everybody's interest.
Speaker 1: Her DM should be blowing up right about now. Single
Speaker 1: and ready to mingle. Cynthia Bailey, single and ready to mingle.
Speaker 2: And look here's the thing, you know, I think one
Speaker 2: of the other things at fifty six, you know, me
Speaker 2: being a woman of a certain age, Yes, of course,
Speaker 2: I'm like, hey, I know, it hasn't been that long
Speaker 2: since I got divorced. But at the same time, I'm
Speaker 2: not going to not I'm not going to not.
Speaker 1: Waste time. You're not going to waste time.
Speaker 2: If they if I meet them now, Like I'm not
Speaker 2: going to say I should wait like two years before
Speaker 2: I start, because you know, it's not like I need
Speaker 2: too much grass to grow under my feet. I am
Speaker 2: fifty six. It's not like I'm trying to have my
Speaker 2: first hot gook my first hot girl summer at sixty,
Speaker 2: like like sixty, I need my man to be I
Speaker 2: need a man by then, Like I'm not trying to
Speaker 2: be like, hey, I'm back outside. I'm sixteen sixty. So
Speaker 2: like even like for my birthday turning fifty six, it
Speaker 2: was a little different than fifty five. Fifty five still
Speaker 2: seemed like I was still closer.
Speaker 1: To fifty, right, you can still you still got one
Speaker 1: foot in the other circle.
Speaker 2: Exactly exactly now I could just you know, I don't
Speaker 2: even have to post my birthdays anymore at this point
Speaker 2: because I've always like owned my age and been super
Speaker 2: transparent about it. But now I'm kind of.
Speaker 1: Like I'm by now, have you been on a date
Speaker 1: since the divorce date?
Speaker 2: I have been on a date I have not been
Speaker 2: on many dates. I am slowly meeting people because it's
Speaker 2: not as easy to meet people as one would think. No,
Speaker 2: really not.
Speaker 1: Bizarrely, with all this technology, it actually feels harder.
Speaker 2: It is in a way I don't I don't know,
Speaker 2: it's it's it's just tricky. You know. Why's tricky. This
Speaker 2: is why it's hard, because the game has changed. People
Speaker 2: don't pick up the phone and call anymore. It's like,
Speaker 2: you know, I got to find them in my dms,
Speaker 2: which you has time to really take those that off
Speaker 2: r Like I'm like, oh, wait a minute, there's a
Speaker 2: cute guy here. Then I'm like, I'm Riah, which you know,
Speaker 2: it's like, you know, everyone thirty five years old likes
Speaker 2: my pictures and I'm like, I'm not looking for you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't need a pool boy, I need a date.
Speaker 2: Stop liking my pictures. And then you know, anyone like
Speaker 2: for me as low as I would go. I want
Speaker 2: to say the lowest. The youngest I would go is
Speaker 2: thirty seven, thirty eight, and I really don't want to
Speaker 2: go that young, but they they come hard for me.
Speaker 1: They'd have to be a perfect mature.
Speaker 2: The men, the old men that are my age. They're like, no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: we want younger. So they don't. That's just not I
Speaker 2: rarely get a response from them. So and the oldest
Speaker 2: I would go, I would go. I mean I would
Speaker 2: go as old as whatever, as long as they you know,
Speaker 2: looked good and kept you know, took care of themselves.
Speaker 2: Like I'm fifty six, but I'm not an old fifty six.
Speaker 1: I'm a young No matter who it is and what age,
Speaker 1: they got to keep up with you. You are a
Speaker 1: lot of energy, you are a lot of life force.
Speaker 1: You better keep up.
Speaker 2: That's right. They have to keep up. So we'll see.
Speaker 2: But I'm excited. I don't know if marriage is in
Speaker 2: the cards again, to be honest, Chris, but.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel that I get it.
Speaker 2: I am. I mean, if it is great, if it's not,
Speaker 2: it's it's fine. It's definitely not a breaker for me.
Speaker 1: That's how I felt. I mean, look, I'm engaged and
Speaker 1: we're going to get married. But honestly, as we started
Speaker 1: dating and I started dating again, it was not a
Speaker 1: priority my life. I have two beautiful kids. I know
Speaker 1: that I'm not going to have any more, so that's
Speaker 1: not the priority. And so the dynamic changes. Right when
Speaker 1: you're young, You're like, oh, I want to meet someone,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get married, I want to have babies. Well,
Speaker 1: once you've done that, I just want to meet someone
Speaker 1: who's a value add and a beautiful addition to my life.
Speaker 1: And then if marriage comes from that and we want
Speaker 1: to do that, great, that's wonderful and we both do.
Speaker 2: And you know, for me, I just want love again.
Speaker 2: Like I'm a Pisces woman. I think like, no matter
Speaker 2: what I do in my life, no matter how much
Speaker 2: success I have in my life, no matter how happy
Speaker 2: I am in my life, it's fun to just have somebody,
Speaker 2: you know, to travel with a person plus one, like
Speaker 2: go to a wedding with you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: You want a person, You want your person. Where's do
Speaker 1: we texting good night? Who are we texting good night
Speaker 1: at the end of the night? Who's our first Tello
Speaker 1: in the morning? You want that person?
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, absolutely, absolutely so I'm never going to give up.
Speaker 2: I'm never going to give up on love. Good. You know,
Speaker 2: love makes it's all about I mean, at the end
Speaker 2: of the day, that's it all kind of comes back
Speaker 2: to love. So you know, my person will be coming.
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna go ahead and manifest that they're coming.
Speaker 1: So you have way too much love in you and
Speaker 1: way too much love to give. There's there's no way
Speaker 1: you're not going to find that in your life. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm a big believer. If you put it out there,
Speaker 1: it comes back. The energy you put out and the
Speaker 1: love you put out. Again, having been in the room
Speaker 1: with you, there's no way that doesn't come back.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: You talked about life after Housewives. Obviously everyone kind of
Speaker 1: got to know and love you from Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Speaker 1: You made a huge, bold call to step away. Possibly,
Speaker 1: that's a question I have because there was a little
Speaker 1: dinner where you were in Beverly Hills. I believe, a
Speaker 1: little dinner with a little dinner with Camille Grammer and
Speaker 1: Denise Richards, who of course used to be on Real
Speaker 1: Housewives Beverly Hills.
Speaker 2: Le's dinner party. Yes. Yes.
Speaker 1: And on top of that, people have seen some trailers
Speaker 1: of Real Housewives of Atlanta and there's Cynthia.
Speaker 2: Bailey guilty is charged again?
Speaker 1: Yes, what gives? What gives? Cynthia?
Speaker 2: Well, here's the thing. One I decided to walk away
Speaker 2: from Housewives. You know, there was still a lot of
Speaker 2: relationships in place, you know, not just with ladies, but
Speaker 2: with the network. You know, still you know, a big
Speaker 2: family for me. And I knew that I no longer
Speaker 2: at that time wanted to be a housewife or official
Speaker 2: friend of the show at that time, So I don't know,
Speaker 2: like the longer, like you know, once I left and
Speaker 2: I started transitioning into the other things that I wanted
Speaker 2: to do, the other my other career, I just kind
Speaker 2: of like not really missed what Bravo Khan kind of
Speaker 2: made me get the bug again. I will say that
Speaker 2: I don't know, I just felt like, you know what,
Speaker 2: I still have great relationships with these ladies, like a lot.
Speaker 2: I'm friends with a lot of housewives from all the
Speaker 2: different franchises, and I really enjoy supporting them. So for Atlanta,
Speaker 2: I do pop in a few times to support some
Speaker 2: ladies who have really great friendships with And I made
Speaker 2: some new friends in Beverly Hills. I knew, you know,
Speaker 2: like Garcela already and Kyle, but Sutton and I connected
Speaker 2: at Bravo Khan and we become big buddies, and she
Speaker 2: actually invited me to be our plus one to join
Speaker 2: her at Kyle's house for dinner with the rest of
Speaker 2: the cast. And that was pretty cool because he probably
Speaker 2: can't tell you too much, but you can watch and
Speaker 2: see it was. It was the right dinner to be
Speaker 2: invited to.
Speaker 1: So he was a juicy dinner.
Speaker 2: Oh, it was a very juicy dinner for sure. Like probably,
Speaker 2: like I think we're gonna guess more, it will be a.
Speaker 1: Two part It's a two episode dinner. Absolutely. So the
Speaker 1: Real Housewives of Atlanta return rumor is not true? Kind
Speaker 1: of true, possibly true, not true.
Speaker 2: I'm not at this time in my life.
Speaker 1: I'm not interested in being You'll just make some appearances.
Speaker 2: Wipe on any franchise.
Speaker 1: If you had one to join Atlanta or Beverly Hills,
Speaker 1: and I know you're an Atlanta girl, but would you
Speaker 1: do Beverly Hills or Atlanta? What would be your Which
Speaker 1: one would I pick? Now you have friends in both.
Speaker 2: I know that's hard. Part of me wants to say
Speaker 2: Atlanta because Atlanta it's familiar and I have, you know,
Speaker 2: long term relationships with those ladies of well, long time
Speaker 2: relationships rather. But then the other little adventurous side of
Speaker 2: Cynthia's like jump over into Beverly Hills because you know,
Speaker 2: Beverly Hills ain't Atlanta, Honey, it's a very different, very
Speaker 2: different show.
Speaker 1: You could be the firecracker to go in there and
Speaker 1: just like stir things up.
Speaker 2: Oh I don't know, Chris, I'm getting that age. I
Speaker 2: don't want a lot of smoke. I just want to
Speaker 2: actually be the person that everyone comes to to tell
Speaker 2: me about what happened with someone else that like, you know,
Speaker 2: came for them. I've never been really good at being
Speaker 2: the smoke person or the villain.
Speaker 1: You want to be the quiet person that's known for
Speaker 1: the incredible romance and the love story that we all
Speaker 1: aspire to have, and then let's let everybody else like
Speaker 1: stir it up.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I don't have to be quiet. I
Speaker 2: like being that person who's like the two villains, like,
Speaker 2: I like being the connection where I'm always trying to
Speaker 2: get them back together or trying to figure out what's happening.
Speaker 2: You know. I love being the voice of reason and
Speaker 2: the peacemaker to some degree. But you know, every now
Speaker 2: and then I'll throw a sparkler on the fire to
Speaker 2: kind of keep things going.
Speaker 1: But I never want to just jump in the fire
Speaker 1: but I like that the godmothers of the franchisees got together,
Speaker 1: Camille Grammer, Denise Richards, you got together. I mean to
Speaker 1: be a fly on the wall at that dinner.
Speaker 2: Oh no, it was just wanting to tell you you
Speaker 2: are not ready. You're not ready for that dinner. One
Speaker 2: of the things that I love about being in the
Speaker 2: Housewife family, being in the Proble family is you know,
Speaker 2: you never know, like you know, some of us go
Speaker 2: away for years then come back. So I've taken a
Speaker 2: break and come back come back. It's a housewife or
Speaker 2: friend like they do a really really great job of
Speaker 2: just keeping this thing going for as long as you
Speaker 2: want to keep it incredible, right, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: And that feels really good because you know, once you
Speaker 2: become known for being a housewife, you just don't become
Speaker 2: unknown for it. It's like almost once a housewife, always
Speaker 2: a housewife.
Speaker 1: Well, I was going to ask you that it's funny.
Speaker 1: I was going to ask if that bothers you or
Speaker 1: if it's something that you're proud of. It's kind of
Speaker 1: like when people will still obviously you just recognize me
Speaker 1: from the Bachelor, and some honestly still think I'm hosting
Speaker 1: The Bachelor, and it never bothers me. It's what I
Speaker 1: did for twenty years. It's what brought me into your
Speaker 1: home and into your life. Does it bother you as
Speaker 1: you are trying to break away and become a serious actor.
Speaker 1: Does it bother you that people still kind of talk
Speaker 1: to you about Housewives and kind of want to and
Speaker 1: are excited about maybe the possibility that you were coming
Speaker 1: back now?
Speaker 2: Not at all. It doesn't bother me because, like, you know,
Speaker 2: true to what you just said, it was how I
Speaker 2: got here in a lot of ways, Like it really
Speaker 2: like I had a very successful modeling career for years,
Speaker 2: but it was only when I, you know, became a
Speaker 2: reality star where I was known across the world, Like
Speaker 2: it was just a different type of celebrity. And I've
Speaker 2: been able. I felt like I was true to who
Speaker 2: I was on Housewives, So you know, that same person
Speaker 2: is just transitioning into this other career. But I'm very
Speaker 2: proud of how I handled myself on Housewives. I only
Speaker 2: have maybe one situation where I was like, maybe I
Speaker 2: should not have kick Porsche. You know, Yeah that was
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna blame it on the alcohol, on the
Speaker 2: boat and no food because I was definitely that was
Speaker 2: definitely very out of character for me, and it was
Speaker 2: the one my one regret, it would be that regret.
Speaker 2: But I immediately, you know, apologized, and you know we
Speaker 2: were able to move on. So thank you.
Speaker 1: If you can go through your Housewives reality TV career
Speaker 1: and have one little oopsie, one regret years, that is
Speaker 1: a miracle. I mean that is you are you are
Speaker 1: the point one percent?
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, because it's very you know, those shows are
Speaker 2: like so entertaining for you guys to watch, but it's
Speaker 2: a lot, it's very stressful, it's very.
Speaker 1: The whole show is about drama, right, That's that's what
Speaker 1: the whole idea is about.
Speaker 2: All about drama. Definitely from a you know based show.
Speaker 2: So but I when I look back, like you said,
Speaker 2: everybody gets one oopsie, like okay, you know, can I
Speaker 2: make one, you know, one mistake. But for the most part,
Speaker 2: I felt like I love the way I handle myself
Speaker 2: because I was just being myself. I didn't know how
Speaker 2: to do reality TV. Until I wanted reality TV. I
Speaker 2: didn't know how it worked. So I just did the
Speaker 2: best that I could, the best way that I knew
Speaker 2: how to do it, and you know it's been a
Speaker 2: blessing and a curse. Like sometimes you know, some people
Speaker 2: may not book me for jobs because they may just
Speaker 2: always look at me auality Star, But some people who
Speaker 2: actually are fans of mine will give me an opportunity
Speaker 2: at least opportunity to at least audition, and then you know,
Speaker 2: then I have to go in and like overwork and
Speaker 2: over impress them. And I feel like that's where I'm
Speaker 2: at in my career right now. I feel like I
Speaker 2: have to overprove myself because it's really important to me.
Speaker 2: I don't want anyone to give me anything. I want
Speaker 2: to earn everything that I get, and more importantly, I
Speaker 2: want the respect of the actors that I work with.
Speaker 2: I want the respect of the director and the producer.
Speaker 1: But you realize that's always what has made you great,
Speaker 1: and that's why you've always been successful, honestly, from Taco
Speaker 1: Bell to modeling to Real Housewives to this. Because I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's people that come from the South,
Speaker 1: we have this kind of chip on our shoulder of
Speaker 1: always just wanting to prove that we belong and work
Speaker 1: our butts off and show up and work out and
Speaker 1: just do your job, and it's such a rare talent.
Speaker 1: It's a rare thing, like when you're eighteen year said,
Speaker 1: I showed up to every modeling gig early, and I'm
Speaker 1: sure you're doing the same. You're still doing it now,
Speaker 1: over preparing, over studying, and that is such a novelty
Speaker 1: these days that it's so beautiful to see because it's rare.
Speaker 2: It's like, honestly, I feel like my secret weapon, to
Speaker 2: be honest, I think at some point, you know, I
Speaker 2: think a lot of my modeling success was the thing
Speaker 2: that I felt like I looked, you know, good and everything.
Speaker 2: But I feel like at some point the people that
Speaker 2: were making the decisions just wanted to book who they liked,
Speaker 2: who was easy to work with, who was professional, who
Speaker 2: was going to get the job done, who was a
Speaker 2: team player. And I've always just had a great work
Speaker 2: ethic and just you know, respect for you know, my
Speaker 2: job and just being professional and it goes a long way.
Speaker 2: Like some people like sometimes the nice guys don't the
Speaker 2: good guys don't always win. But I do think that's
Speaker 2: changing in this industry. I think people.
Speaker 1: Appreciate when you and I were together at the Seagrams
Speaker 1: and I see the cans behind you by the way,
Speaker 1: nice plug, Yeah show it, there you go. But one
Speaker 1: of the things that you and I talked about because
Speaker 1: I asked your advice because your Seagram's drink had been
Speaker 1: out and it's been hugely successful. And I said, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, give me some advice on this, and you said,
Speaker 1: don't just put your name on something. You got to
Speaker 1: own it. You got to work it, grind. You come
Speaker 1: to these meetings, you talk to the salespeople, you go
Speaker 1: to the stores, you do everything. If you are putting
Speaker 1: your name on it, show up and do the work.
Speaker 1: And that really I took that to heart. And yeah,
Speaker 1: so we did as well. But that you've always had
Speaker 1: that mentality. I saw it back then, and that's why
Speaker 1: you are such a great success.
Speaker 2: It's the only way for me. It's the only way
Speaker 2: when I'm in. I'm one hundred percent in and I'm
Speaker 2: one hundred percent committed, and I want to be involved
Speaker 2: in all of it because I want it to be successful.
Speaker 2: I want anything that I'm doing to be successful, anything
Speaker 2: that I'm putting time into, I want it to be successful.
Speaker 2: I want us to be successful. I want everyone to
Speaker 2: be successful.
Speaker 1: Right, I want to win.
Speaker 2: I want to continue to win because I wake up
Speaker 2: most days and I can't even believe this is my life.
Speaker 2: Like I cannot even believe that this is my life
Speaker 2: although I dreamed it. I dreamed of this life. I
Speaker 2: pray for this life. But I still get to do
Speaker 2: this and keep going and going to different fields six
Speaker 2: years old, Like that's that's just God, and it's just amazing.
Speaker 1: If you can wake up feeling blessed every day. You're
Speaker 1: doing all right in this game. You're doing all right
Speaker 1: in this game. Before I let you go, because we've talked,
Speaker 1: we've dabbled a little bit about what you're doing now,
Speaker 1: and I know you are working hard to become an
Speaker 1: actress and you are getting some steam and you're picking ups.
Speaker 1: Are are you working on anything currently? Is anything we
Speaker 1: can see you in soon?
Speaker 2: I am. I actually have two movies on BT right now.
Speaker 2: One is called Under His Influence and the other one
Speaker 2: is called Blossom. And I'm actually headed to La next
Speaker 2: and the next two weeks to shoot another movie. Actually,
Speaker 2: my daughter Noel was in this movie with me, which
Speaker 2: no way, It's gonna be so much fun to work
Speaker 2: with her. So I have that going on and The
Speaker 2: other thing before I jumped off Chris is I wanted
Speaker 2: to share a little bit more about my wellness journey.
Speaker 1: I just do.
Speaker 2: Super committed to becoming a better me mentally, physically, emotionally,
Speaker 2: in every single way. So I am in the process
Speaker 2: of putting together a women's health and wellness retreat that
Speaker 2: I want to to do once a year, get women together,
Speaker 2: get all these different experts, like just help us, you know,
Speaker 2: be great and you know, tell us what we need to,
Speaker 2: you know, continue to to be the incredible moms and
Speaker 2: bosses that we are. Because the one thing about women
Speaker 2: I find at will for myself, I'll speak for myself,
Speaker 2: is that I don't always take the time for me
Speaker 2: like I need to. I just keep going until I
Speaker 2: get sick and then that's when I shut down. But otherwise,
Speaker 2: like I used to look at everything as a treat,
Speaker 2: like a massage. It was like I'm going to treat myself.
Speaker 2: But I don't have that mentality anymore. I don't look
Speaker 2: as at a massage as a treat. I look at
Speaker 2: it as this is like necessary maintenance. It's like getting
Speaker 2: your right, like you got to keep you.
Speaker 1: Know, it's called preventative medicine, your fitness, your diet, your health,
Speaker 1: your mental health. It's all preventative medicine. So we don't
Speaker 1: have to take medicine.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's easier said than done because oh so
Speaker 2: you get busy and then you know you don't take
Speaker 2: care of yourself as much as you should. So I
Speaker 2: have committed to that, and with committing to taking care
Speaker 2: of Cynthia, I want to inspire and motivate other women
Speaker 2: to do the same thing. You know what I'm saying,
Speaker 2: because it is important because you know, help is really well,
Speaker 2: like none of iturs if you're sick in the hospital.
Speaker 1: The older you get, you realize the adage is true.
Speaker 1: If you have your health, you have everything.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, And I also want to do I also
Speaker 2: want to give a shout out.
Speaker 1: By the way, Lauren Zima is like she's already signing
Speaker 1: up for this, like you you have her. I know
Speaker 1: there's at least one woman that's going to be there, Elsie,
Speaker 1: your biggest fan is already. Yeah. And if somehow I
Speaker 1: can slip into this, I'm gonna I may join it.
Speaker 2: Absolutely because that's the beauty of it too. Like we'll
Speaker 2: like probably go to like an island somewhere and then
Speaker 2: you can like do the and then you can stay
Speaker 2: a couple extra days with your man you know, or
Speaker 2: your woman or whatever.
Speaker 1: Perfect.
Speaker 2: So it's perfect. But I have to before I jump off,
Speaker 2: I have to shout out to all the moms out there.
Speaker 2: You know, Mother's Day is coming up and I have
Speaker 2: very delicious drink. We have a delicious recipe from seagrums Escapes,
Speaker 2: which you can go to secrems escapes dot com to
Speaker 2: check it out. It is called the Mother's Day Tropical Sangria.
Speaker 2: And who is of a beautiful sangria? Okay? The only
Speaker 2: difference is we're going to be adding are just making
Speaker 2: me happy, which is one of my top flavors. You
Speaker 2: start with that, and then you throw in your rum
Speaker 2: and your white wine and any fruits of your choice.
Speaker 2: I personally like strawberries and grapes and watermelon and oranges,
Speaker 2: so you know, you could just have fun with it.
Speaker 2: It literally takes five minutes to make this drink. It
Speaker 2: is the Mother's Day Tropical Sangria from Seagrum's Escapes. That's
Speaker 2: what I'll be drinking for Mother's Day, So I hope
Speaker 2: you guys will join me.
Speaker 1: I know it's not my day, but I'm going to
Speaker 1: be drinking it as well. To you or what, yeah,
Speaker 1: you did this. I'm telling you, guys, this is why
Speaker 1: she's so damn good. I mean, she could sell ice
Speaker 1: to Eskimos and they're buying it.
Speaker 2: That I always say that, I can't believe you just
Speaker 2: said that.
Speaker 1: Cynthia. You are such a love. You are such a
Speaker 1: light in this world. And when I started doing this podcast,
Speaker 1: I said, you got to get Cynthia Bailey. I hope
Speaker 1: she'll come on because you were just one of those
Speaker 1: amazing people that came through my life. Because again because
Speaker 1: we're blessed in what we do, and we get to
Speaker 1: meet amazing people. And to have sat there and had
Speaker 1: done business with you and then had dinner with you
Speaker 1: and spent some time and really got to know you,
Speaker 1: and to have watched you flourish.
Speaker 2: But there was a connection. And I'm so congratulations to you.
Speaker 2: I'm so excited for you. You know, I root for you,
Speaker 2: and I pray for you, and I know that the
Speaker 2: best is yet to come for you. So keep on
Speaker 2: going and I'm going to keep on going and I'll
Speaker 2: meet you at the top.
Speaker 1: Always, let's go we will be there together and all
Speaker 1: I'll always take the prayers and back at you. Cynthia,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us. I truly appreciate it,
Speaker 1: and I hope to run into you very soon. My friend.
Speaker 2: Well, we're going to make that happen. Okay, all right,
Speaker 2: take care.
Speaker 1: How amazing is that woman? And I know you're listening
Speaker 1: to a podcast, but sometimes you don't need to see
Speaker 1: to understand someone's energy, someone's light. And if you only
Speaker 1: knew her from Real Housewives of Atlanta, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to say you're missing out, but man, that is barely
Speaker 1: half the story of what an incredible woman she is.
Speaker 1: And I'm glad that I had the ability and the
Speaker 1: platform to hopefully expose her to even more people that
Speaker 1: didn't know her, because she is just an absolutely incredible woman.
Speaker 1: Cynthia Bailey. My thanks to her, and my thanks to
Speaker 1: you for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.
Speaker 1: We have a lot more to talk about. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Follow us on Instagram at the most Dramatic pod ever,
Speaker 1: and make sure to write us a review and leave
Speaker 1: us five stars. I'll talk to you next time.