'Real Housewives' Star Cynthia Bailey Supports Marlo Hampton Replacing Sheree Whitfield

Bravo

"The Smalls" may be outnumbered next season on The Real Housewives of Atlanta if Bravo decides to replace Sheree Whitfield with season four’s surprise standout, Marlo Hampton.

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“I think Marlo is definitely very entertaining for the show,” cast member Cynthia Bailey tells The Hollywood Reporter about the possibility that Hampton could be upgraded to series regular status.

“I like shooting with her just in terms of Marlo as a cast mate,” she continues. “Whenever she’s in the equation, things always take a different turn than what they thought it was going to be. So, Marlo would be really, really great to throw into the mix and see what’s going to happen. Things usually are always a little different when she is around. I can honestly say that South Africa would not have been the same if Marlo Hampton had not come on that trip.”

Bailey’s ringing endorsement for the socialite may surprise some fans who believe that she’s jealous of the budding friendship between Marlo and NeNe Leakes. But, Bailey says she’s happy to set the record straight.

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“I am so absolutely fine with NeNe and Marlo’s relationship,” she says. “I think it’s great. Marlo and I are two different people. My relationship with NeNe is very different from hers. They do their thing; Nene and I do our thing. NeNe and I both have different friends.”

“I’m fine with NeNe being friends with anyone. The friend contract never said you couldn’t have other friends,” she goes on to say, referring to the prank document she wrote up for NeNe that some fans thought bordered on crazy.

And as far as Whitfield goes, Bailey takes the high road on her leaving the series. “As a cast mate, I wish her well. We were never really friends, but I wish her well in her new endeavors.”

The third installment of The Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on Bravo.

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro