In the most recent episode of Married To Medicine, cast member Phaedra Parks meets for lunch with friend of the show, Dr.Alicia Egolum. As Dr. Alicia is a newbie to the group, the chyron beneath her name reminds viewers that she, like Dr. Heavenly Kimes, is a dentist. Phaedra is described in the chyron next to her name as "Attorney." However, her career as an attorney is not featured on the series, and hasn't really been a topic on reality TV since her early days on The Real Housewives of Atlanta. Phaedra is a woman who has always been a multi-multi-hyphenate. Outside of raising her two sons and acting as managing partner at a law firm, Phaedra has proven herself willing to take any new business opportunity and give it a try. She has been an author, a video fitness instructor, a mortician, an elite fashion store owner --- the list is extensive.
At lunch, Phaedra told Dr. Alicia that she began practicing Reiki six years ago when she was going through a tough time after her divorce from Apollo Nida. Now it seems Reiki is the next business endeavor the diva is undertaking. The new practice could also be a bid to continue on the series centered around being "married to" either a medical career or someone in a medical field in Atlanta, Georgia. The timing is convenient, when viewers know that Phaedra was first introduced this season as a cast member who was dating a doctor who was not featured on the show. Phaedra also came into the group as friends with returning cast member Quad Webb.Quad has since been ejected from the group, and Phaedra no longer seems to be dating medicine, let alone married to it. Reiki is a storyline that loosely makes sense if she wants to continue as a main cast member in Married To Medicine next season.
Phaedra Parks' Resume Extends Beyond the Courtroom
In her tenure on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Phaedra featured a few of her legal clients on the series. Over time, she transitioned away from letting viewers see her legal career in action, opting instead to feature other business ventures. In season four of RHOA, Phaedra began an apprenticeship at a funeral home, and in 2014 she earned her mortuary science degree. When cast mate Kenya Moore was invited to Phaedra's concept of a booty-focused exercise video in season five, the two women could not agree on contract terms. The project split into two different camps, and viewers were blessed with a feud between Phaedra Park's "Donkey Booty" and Kenya Moore's "Stallion Booty". In Married To Medicine this season, watchful viewers will have noted that Phaedra is now a "partner" in the elite fashion boutique The Vault at the Ivy Showroom, which hosts the first event the ladies attended together this season.
Phaedra is the author of a "guide to life" titled Secrets For A Southern Belle: How To Be Nice, Work Hard, Look Pretty, Have Fun, and Never Have An Off Moment, published by Simon & Schuster. She has worked as a legal analyst for television shows, and even began an acting career with her appearance in the eight-episode anthology series Covenant in 2021. She now has a career moving from different reality TV projects like iterations of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip franchise, and appearances on shows like The Real Housewives of Dubai, Married To Medicine, and The Traitors.
Reiki Is Phaedra's Plan to Stay on 'Married To Medicine'
In her lunch with Dr. Alicia Phaedra indicated that she is interested in Reiki as an alternative to traditional medicine. "I mean, your traditional doctors, some of them, are definitely anti-alternative holistic, because it is a little hokey-pokey, you know?" she says. In pairing this conversation of holistic healing with traditional medical views, Phaedra is setting up the notion that while it is an alternative to traditional medicine, it is legitimate to include Reiki within the conversation of healing and wellness and other issues that medical doctors are also focused on. Phaedra then fills Dr. Alicia in on her plan to bring the ladies for a Reiki treatment with a sound bath, to demonstrate her healing work to the medical professionals. As Phaedra makes clear, healing is the central focus of her desire to bring the ladies together: "I want to heal people and let them be in pure tranquility."
Phaedra's lunch conversation with Dr. Alicia demonstrates her value to the franchise - as a newbie to the series but a veteran of reality TV, Phaedra can draw meaningful conversations out of the new women in the group while she gets to know them. Since Phaedra is a respected professional around Atlanta even outside of her reality TV career, she also has the esteem of the seasoned cast members of Married To Medicine. This plays a strong part in Phaedra's ability to act as a social glue between the newbies and the established cast. This is a role that Quad could also have served within the group, if she could be less rigid in her personal quest to control the narrative about herself.
The most recent episode features Phaedra's Reiki instructor, Shaman Rah, who lends authority to Phaedra's claim to have been practicing Reiki for the last six years. Her claim in a talking head interview of being a "Reiki master," however, draws attention to the loose boundaries around certification and training in the field. Regardless, her friends seem receptive to Phaedra's healing treatment. Toya claims to have felt a strange tingling sensation in her feet. Dr. Heavenly especially seemed impressed and expressed her experience characteristically: "I was very skeptical in the beginning, but actually this s--t seems like it's really working," Heavenly confirms. Dr. Simone, also characteristically, utilized the treatment as an opportunity to nap. Predictably, Dr. Jackie marries her professional skepticism with charming positivity: "Now, I didn't hear the gong and I didn't hear the flute and I didn't feel my toes tingling or any of that. I was just in "sleep land" and it felt so good. So if this is what Reiki is like, pour me some up and let me take it home."
Whether the treatments resulted in an opportunity to nap, to disconnect from the world, or to focus on an area that needs healing work, the ladies seemed open to Phaedra's new practice. But, receptive or not, the ladies couldn't help but throw a little shade in Phaedra's direction. When Phaedra responds to the group's praise for bringing them together, she says to the ladies: "Any time y'all want more Reiki sessions, let me know." To which Dr. Jackie quickly responds: "Now, how much does this cost?" The ladies joke about the treatment being free like church healing while Phaedra pivots gracefully by saying: "Um well, you know, everybody's different."
Undercutting Phaedra's zen holistic aura with a quick financial inquiry, Dr. Jackie asks the question if her friend's motivations are truly patient-focused or more monetary. Either way, if Phaedra continues in Married To Medicine, she may find that she needs to invest in her commitment to the healing practice if she wants to continue as a main cast member.
Season 10 of Married To Medicine airs on Bravo on Sunday nights. Catch up on past seasons on Peacock.
