“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” has named its 15th full-time cast member for its 13th season: Drew Sidora, an actress who has had roles in the VH1 biopic “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story” and the movie “Step Up."
Sidora, 35, has been married to business consultant Ralph Pittman Jr. since 2014 and has three children, one from a previous boyfriend and two with Pittman.
She is a Chicago native.
During the trailer released Thursday, she said, “I bring the flavor to Atlanta.” She told the other women she almost got divorced from her husband, who didn’t correspond with her once for three days.
“I was always accessible,” Pittman said to Sidora in a scene shot for the series.
“Where did you go?” she responded.
In the Bravo press release, her storyline includes this: “From getting ready to direct her first feature film to moving into her dream house, will her relationship be able to withstand her busy lifestyle?”
Sidora has shot a few projects in Atlanta, including VH1′s short-lived drama “Hindsight” in 2015 and “CrazySexyCool; The TLC Story,” in 2013 in which she played Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins. She has 161,000 Instagram followers.
She joins the “core four” housewives who have been on the cast for many years: Kandi Burruss (since season two), Cynthia Bailey (since season three), Porsha Williams (since season five) and Kenya Moore (also since season five).
Two full-time cast members are not coming back, as previously reported: Eva Marcille after two seasons and NeNe Leakes, who was there season one, left once during season seven and then came back full-time for season 10 before leaving yet again. Two recurring characters on the show, who are dubbed “friends," return: Marlo Hampton and Tanya Sam. Hampton has been associated with the show since season four but has appeared more regularly in the past few years. Sam is in her third season.
The series is also adding a third “friend” in LaToya Ali, who fosters a friendship with Moore. She is known online as “LaToya Forever” and has 739,000 Instagram followers and 1.45 million YouTube subscribers. She identifies herself as a mother of three and an author on her Twitter page.
The show has been shooting for several months under COVID-19 restrictions and will return on air Sunday, Dec. 9, at 8 p.m. The series began production later than normal because of the pandemic, so this is the latest the show has ever debuted.
The series has struggled to find a fresh new enduring full-time cast member for many years. Sidora is their fifth try in the past seven seasons.
Claudia Jordan lasted one season in 2014. Kim Fields decided the show wasn’t her style after one season in 2015. Shamari Devoe arrived in 2018 but was also gone after a single season. Marcille made it two seasons.
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