Season 16 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta is officially over, and of course, we’ve got the tea on how the peaches capped off their reunion.
During last week’s episode, the ladies touched on the Kenya Moore Hair Spa drama, Angela failed to implicate Phaedra in the Marcus scheme, and Shamea pulled out a Judith Leiber bag that nobody cared about. Or was it from Akira?
Either way, Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 16 Episode 20, “Reunion Part Three,” tied up all of this year’s loose ends, and the ladies established a narrow path forward to Season 17.
What happened on Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 16 Episode 20?
During Part 3 of the RHOA Season 16 reunion, Porsha and Shamea finally gave some insight into the beef between their mothers that spilled out into the season. Plus, the men involved with this season came out onto the stage, and Charles lowkey read the entire cast. In the end, Andy ended up showing off some questionable dance moves, and somehow, everyone walked away with smiles.
Porsha and Shamea revealed their moms’ drama
When we last left off in Part 2 of the reunion, Shamea and Porsha admitted that they hadn’t spoken since filming wrapped. Porsha accused Shamea of orchestrating a smear campaign against her, and then, they started talking about the beef between their mothers, which is clearly the main sticking point in their frenemy dynamic.
Porsha finally shed some light on what caused the rift between Mama Morton and Ms. Diane. Supposedly, they both worked in the childcare industry and coexisted in the same lane for years. When one of Diane’s locations went up for foreclosure, Shamea’s mom bought the property without saying anything. According to Porsha, her mom found out when she drove by the property and saw her sign coming down and Mama Morton’s sign going up.
Is that a little shady? Yes. Is it worth throwing away a friendship over? We’re not sure. Someone had to buy the property, right?
Shamea jumped in and said that the relationship between their moms had been shaky prior to the foreclosure. One thing that Porsha and Shamea could agree on was that they shouldn’t dive into their moms’ issues any further. For now, they’re putting that to bed.
Andy’s words of advice for Shamea
We don’t want to say that Shamea “lost” her spat with Porsha, but Andy definitely made it seem that way by the end of their segment.
Porsha detailed how filming RHOA with Shamea ruined their friendship because their on-screen problems began trickling into their off-screen friend circle. Shamea apologized and said she wanted “peace” for both of them. That’s when Andy weighed in with his own psychoanalysis.
“Shamea, one of the lessons of this season, and tonight, is that when you feel a certain way, I think for your own benefit, you’ve got to figure out a way to vocalize it,” Andy began. “Because it’s diverting in a million different ways, but it still exists.”
He continued, “And for your friendships, with Porsha and everybody else, it’s only going to suit you to say, ‘You really pissed me off when you did that. I’m hurt,’ so you can move forward. And it’s the backbone of an honest relationship, you know?”
Shamea said she owned and accepted that feedback. However, she explained that with all of the things going on in her life, sometimes she just doesn’t have the energy. Sometimes she just doesn’t have it in her. Still, Andy wasn’t letting up.
“I know, but you see how that plays out,” he responded.
Things could have ended there, and it seemed like the ladies could find a path forward. However, we know that after last week’s episode aired, Porsha and Shamea went to war on Instagram. Porsha accused Shamea of lying. Shamea called their friendship “fake.” If they both come back for Season 17, they’re going to need to do some serious reflection on how to authentically move forward.
The Hot Dog King shared a bunch of bologna
All season long, we’ve been following this storyline of Drew and Dennis working together on music. Meanwhile, Porsha sat around losing her mind over it. Part 3 of the reunion was the first time everyone involved sat in the same room.
Andy started asking questions about the relationship with Drew, and it should come as no surprise that Dennis is to blame for all of the drama. Literally Dennis the Menace. He gave Ralph a heads-up that he would be working with her, but he never told Porsha.
“We didn’t have an in-depth conversation because I felt like it was Drew’s place to clear that part, you know, considering we’re all friends,” Dennis confessed.
That was one lie from Dennis that we got cleared up, but there were many more to sort through. For example, remember that text that showed Dennis saying that Drew wanted to hook up with him? He denied sending it at the reunion, despite Ralph and Porsha both confirming they saw it. Ralph felt the need to jump in to obscure the truth even further.
“I didn’t know exactly what the relationship was, but for me it became a little weird just because Drew had mentioned that you was trying to holler at her, too,” Ralph told Dennis.
Ralph’s words clearly triggered something in Drew. She erupted and accused him of making things up and putting on for the camera. In the process, she also clocked him for getting dolled up for the show with his Bigen hair dye.
“You are not going to come on here and start your lying! Dennis has never been inappropriate. I never said that to you,” Drew shouted.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much clarity gained from this segment of the reunion. All of the people involved seem allergic to telling the truth. At this point, the only thing we can hope for is that we leave these men behind for Season 17. They’re stinking up the place.
The Enforcer came and cleared the room
One person who arrived at the reunion ready to actually tell the truth was Charles. The only husband to grace the stage, he perfectly navigated the extensive line of questioning that came his way. We need more guys like Charles and fewer like Dennis and Ralph.
When asked about his standoffish behavior towards Angela, Charles explained he’s just not the type to play things up for cameras. And for those who claimed they didn’t know Charles was married, he had one simple question: “Where are your husbands?”
Like an expertly trained shade assassin, Charles broke down the rumblings that came from all of the women who claimed they “knew” Charles or had been in the “same rooms” as him. This conversation also unearthed a surprising connection Charles has to the RHOA cast. He used to date Shereé Whitfield before she was on Bravo! Atlanta is a small town.
Perhaps the biggest talking point throughout this season was the rumor that Charles fathered a secret baby. The former NBA pro cleared that up, too. Sure enough, he blamed it all on Wendy Williams getting her stories mixed up in an edition of Hot Topics.
With ease, Charles dismissed all of the noise about him from Season 16, while also making it known that he won’t be anybody’s storyline in Season 17. The Enforcer did what he does best, and Angela has a good man sitting behind her. The other women of RHOA should take note.
Closing the door on Season 16
After dismissing the husbands, Andy went around the room and asked the cast to share some final thoughts on Season 16. Outside of Kenya’s affinity for poster boards, what did they take away from the season?
Drew said she felt thankful to be in a better place with Porsha, and Kelli admitted that she wanted to be more careful about the people she lets into her life. You could tell she was really hoping to hammer things out with Brit and ended up without much to talk about because of her absence. Better luck next time, Kelli.
Angela weighed in and said she felt “deep gratitude” for the platform and for all of the “fangelas” that made her one of the season’s breakout stars. Meanwhile, Phaedra just seemed happy to be back on Housewives instead of Married to Medicine.
While Shamea vowed to be more open about her feelings, her frenemy Porsha called Season 16 “transformational.” She navigated divorce, death, and friendship-ruining arguments, so she said she just felt thrilled to make it out on the other side.
“I’ve had rough seasons on the show before, but none this transformative. To be able to sit and watch yourself not be your best, and I don’t blame anybody but me,” Porsha began.
“I love everybody that are on these couches,” Porsha continued. “That’s not easy to say on this show. Thank you for such a beautiful season, and a learning season for me.”
With that, Porsha brought out big golden fans for everyone, teasing Andy that they needed to relive her birthday trip to Nashville. Fans in hand, the peaches got up and attempted a line dance, all while wearing their shimmering, gold gowns. As the credits rolled, Andy tried twerking with Shamea, marking a much-needed happy ending to a tumultuous, controversial season.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta is streaming on Peacock, and is available on Hayu in the UK and Ireland.
