Married to Medicine’ Needs Sweet Tea To Stay Alive liennhi

When Phaedra Parks left Married to Medicine to return to The Real Housewives of Atlanta, she threw an oak-tree-sized shade tree labeling the cast, Miserable with Medicine, instead of Married to Medicine. Married to Medicine was billed as an opportunity for reality viewers to get a glimpse into the lifestyles of high-performing physicians and their families, but instead of delivering high-level energy it's become a more boring version of a reality guilty pleasure. The core cast of Dr. Jackie Walters, Dr. Simone Whitmore and Dr. Heavenly Kimes has become as predictable and mundane as your dreaded yearly pap smear. Dr. Contessa Metcalfe returned, and was unwilling to face the dysfunction in her marriage. And Quad Webb was primed to offer as much pomp and circumstance as the cameras can capture. Producers realized the cast needed a shake-up and pulled in Quad's ex-husband Dr. Greg Lunceford and his new syrupy sweet country wife, Lateasha Lunceford aka Sweet Tea. With Sweet Tea announcing that she is leaving the show, it's guaranteed she is taking the ratings with her. Without Sweet Tea and Dr. Lunceford, the pulse of the show will flatline.

Sweet Tea Resuscitated 'Married to Medicine'

It was Dr. Heavenly who realized the show needed some pizzazz and had the bright idea to connect the producers with Dr. G's soon-to-be new wife, Sweet Tea. The 32-year-old served in the Air Force as a Pharmacy Technician and toyed with various careers before she focused on reaching out to an established doctor on social media in hopes of using her youth and beauty to become a kept woman. Unlike the accomplished and career-driven Heavenly, Jackie and Simone, Sweet Tea was content to put all of her eggs and energy into being the best wife possible to Quad's ex-husband. Even Toya, who enjoys the perks of being a physician's spoiled wife, had more personal ambition than Sweet Tea.

The generational gap between the ladies illustrates the hard-working women of Generation X versus the millennial generation who don't want to work as hard as their parents and instead want to enjoy the 'soft-life' of a real housewife. While the other women on the show were constantly striving to prove their independence and accomplishments, Sweet Tea was satisfied, focusing all her energy on Dr. G around and working overtime to give him the children that Quad refused to give him.

Sweet Tea Proved She Could Hold Her Own Against the OG's

The Married to Medicine OG's clashed with Sweet Tea in almost every scene. Her refusal to place them on a pedestal incensed the older women and, in turn, she became even more insolent and disrespectful. She even managed to get into a disagreement with Dr. Jackie, who is always the voice of decorum and reason. The dichotomy of the women's differences offered another perspective to a show that exhibits the struggle career women often have in maintaining a demanding career and a healthy marriage.

Sweet Tea's perspective also offered the possibility of connecting with another demographic of reality fans. With Dr. Mimi Sanders, at 40 years old, being the closest to Sweet Tea's 32, there is still a huge generational gap between the women on the show. The rest of the cast are in their late 40's and 50's, explaining the disconnect between their attitudes and priorities. Dr. Mimi is also an accomplished psychiatrist married to an ex-professional football player. Although she fits more seamlessly in with the cast, her presence doesn't offer any variety or diversity, which makes for good reality television.

Sweet Tea's Exit Is Going to Create a Huge Ratings Drop

Some fans speculated that adding Phaedra to the Married to Medicine cast was done to re-introduce her to Bravo fans subtly before reinstating her peach on RHOA, but others believe it was because of the lack of excitement in the cast. Phaedra entered with her blonde wigs and collagen-filled lips and without any connection to medicine, and shook things up, even if it didn't make much sense. Fans knew she was there for a short time, not a long time before she made any announcement. But Sweet Tea was the addition that added excitement and actually made sense.

There was an opportunity for her relationship with the ladies to grow and mature as they realized the differences and possibly learned to appreciate them. There was also a much-needed opportunity for her to grow and mature in her womanhood along with fans who could relate to her desire to create a soft life for herself on her own terms. Sweet Tea's exit suggests that there won't be much growth or challenge among the Married to Medicine cast, which is disappointing for viewers and ultimately will prove problematic for producers. The rigidness of the women on the show and their inability to embrace anyone who is different is one of the reasons the show will never have the ratings of the show Phaedra left them for.