Bringing Shamea Morton on as a full-time cast member in The Real Housewives of Atlanta was long overdue, yet one of Andy Cohen and Bravo’s best decisions to date. Morton’s light-hearted energy paired with her inspiring vulnerability — not to mention the fact that she lives in a 21,000+ square-foot home that has two elevators — rightfully earned her spot as Season 16’s center peach after years of appearing on the show as a friend of Porsha Williams, whom she has known since childhood.
“To finally be here on this platform, living in my truth, in my true authentic self and just showcasing everything from my family to my friendships to my faith is just such an honor,” Morton said when she stopped by DECIDER’s studio last week.
For many seasons, Morton has been Williams’ ride-or-die best friend — but that’s getting put to the test in Season 16. The cracks have been slowly forming throughout the first half of the season, with Williams showing up late to Morton’s birthday party on one occasion and rudely interrupting her presentation of her new song by asking if it was Drew Sidora singing on another. Their friendship seems to hit a turning point when newbie Angela Oakley tells Williams that Morton feels like their relationship is “lopsided,” as fans saw in the midseason trailer.
According to Morton, Oakley was asking her “probing questions” about her friendship with Williams, then took the information back to Williams as if Morton had approached her to vent. Morton said Williams “allowed” the other women to pick their friendship apart by not directly asking her about her conversation with Oakley before jumping to conclusions.
“Give me the benefit of the doubt. Give me the grace that I’ve extended to you and let’s talk about it if we’re real friends and if you want the friendship,” Morton said. “I think that’s the thing that [was] the most hurtful part about it all because after 20 years of friendship I still didn’t get that grace.”
When we caught up with Morton, she also opened up about Phaedra Parks‘ upcoming return to the series, gave an update on her surrogacy journey, and emotionally revealed how she manages to keep a smile on her face despite all the hardship she’s gone through. Check out our full interview below.
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DECIDER: I’m so excited to have you here. Not only have you finally been promoted to a full-time Housewife, but you’re also the center peach! What does that feel like?
SHAMEA MORTON: It is such a blessing and it’s just a testimony to know that God’s time is the right time and we just have to be patient and when we pray, we just to wait. To finally be here on this platform, living in my truth, in my true authentic self and just showcasing everything from my family to my friendships to my faith is just such an honor. And the way I’m being received, it’s like, wow. Leading up to it, as a friend on the show, it was kind of like, “Who made her a peach holder? Why did they give her a peach?” And now the comments are so nice and so positive. “Congratulations, we love it. You’re killing it. My best friend.” I’m like, I love it.
The feedback you’re getting from fans has been incredible. Has the validation from the Bravo audience been nice?
Absolutely. It feels really good to just know that I’m relatable in a sense, if not to everyone, but to a lot of people. And I think that’s why we do it. We want to have people look at the show and be like, “Oh, wow, she’s like me. Or I get it. Or I have been there, I’ve done that, I resonate with this person. Or this person gives me hope to know that I can overcome this. Or I’ve got a child with special needs. Or I’ve gone through a divorce.” You know, whatever your walk of life may be, I feel like this cast, this ensemble, we are very relatable and you can find something in common with, if not all of us, somebody on the cast. And that’s what makes this season so amazing.
We get to see a bit of your surrogacy journey this season. Do you have any updates on that? I know you said you want to give your husband a son.
I do. Oh, my goodness. Please somebody give me your boy! Give me your baby boy, I’ll take him! No, I still do hope that I could be a boy mom and give my husband a junior or a son. It has not happened yet. Unfortunately, the surrogate that we just introduced on the show did not work out. But we do have a new surrogate, so I don’t know, maybe Season 17, you’ll get to know the new one and there’ll be a baby on the way. But as of right now, just send some prayers our way. Hopefully we’ll get a boy soon.
It will all happen when it’s meant to be!
All in its time and I just got to stay firm on that. When I’m telling you, I’m telling myself that as well. You know, be patient, it’s gonna all work out how it’s supposed to. But worst case, I’ve got two beautiful daughters and I can’t complain. A lot of people didn’t even get to have that. I have so many DMs and people are sharing their stories because of my vulnerability and the transparency in showing my troubles with fertility and my IVF, surrogacy journey. It’s opened up this new wave of friendships for me, where people are even asking me for advice. I’m like, “Well, I’m not an OBGYN. You gotta go to the doctor and have that checked out.” But I can tell you my experience. So many people are having trouble just procreating and growing their family. So I just say, “Hey, you know what, I’m hopeful with you guys. We’re sharing together and it can happen. And for those that it has not happened for yet, delay is not a denial.”
It sounds like a beautiful little community.
It is. It really is. And that’s what makes this platform worthwhile because you just don’t feel alone. I was telling people, sometimes when we get on here, we want to just showcase the great, all the colorful and wonderful things that are happening in our lives. But that’s not reality. In real life, bad things happen. It could be a fender bender or it could be infertility or it can be a divorce. There are so many things that happen in life that we just choose to kind of hide and to only showcase the great things. That’s not how I am. That’s not how I operate. I want you to know, if I’m going through the bad, you’re going through it with me. We’re riding together if we’re real friends. I gotta show it all to you because I need your support. And that’s what I’ve been getting.
Cynthia said that she’s in awe of the fact that you have gone through so much in your life and yet you still manage to always have a smile on your face. How are you able to keep things so positive and fun all of the time?
One, I believe it’s my strong faith in God. But it’s also the support system and how I was reared. My mom and dad have been married for almost 50 years. I have two older sisters and if I didn’t get thick skin from them, I don’t know. They go in. I just feel like you just have to walk in your purpose and have faith in knowing that you might be in a storm right now, but the sun will shine again. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. God only sends his best soldiers to do that heavy lifting, because we can do it and we’re strong enough to come through it. I always say, why not me? I’d rather it be me than someone else, because the other person may not be as strong. They may not have the support system that I have — and all of you guys to help push me along and support me.
I mean, the comments. People say, “Don’t read the comments.” But a lot of times, when I was bedside at the NICU, at CHOA, the children’s hospital with my youngest daughter, the comments are what kinda pulled me through it. I don’t wanna get emotional, because it was a very real time, a real dark time. But the comments from strangers around the world that were praying for me and lifting me up are what motivated me. That’s a blessing and I don’t take it for granted. You know, it’s like when two or more gather. God is in the room and he was because look at my daughter now. She’s thriving, she’s two years old, and she is kicking tail. She’s got a wobble walk. I mean, it is amazing to just see her going from this little girl who we didn’t know, who we were so unsure about, who couldn’t even breathe and was on a ventilator, to now she’s doing all the things. She’s able to sit up, roll. Mama, Dada, Baba. I’m like, yes! So this has proved that God is good and that things can turn around.
I want to talk about your friendship with Porsha. Some people have accused you of maybe being too loyal. Others have even gone as far as to use the word lap dog or puppet. What is your response to those accusations?
I would rather be accused of being a puppet, a lap dog, too loyal, than to be accused of being a bad friend. I can only worry about me and I’ve always been taught to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In order to get love, you gotta give love. And I operate in love and from a good space. And so in any friendship that I have, I’m gonna try to be the friend that I want you to be to me. And if it’s reciprocated, I’m happy, but if it’s not, that’s not my fight. That’s not my battle and I can’t worry about that. And yeah, I am sometimes loyal to a fault. But you know what? That’s just how I am. I can’t change it. I hope that we can come out in a better place. But if not, I know that I can leave knowing that I did everything I could. I love this person to the point where it made me look like a bad – puppet and lap dog. And that’s just what it is. I don’t feel bad for it, because we all want a loyal friend, right? We all want someone that we feel like is our person that will ride with us until the wheels fall off. And that is the friend that I am.
In the midseason trailer, we see Angela tell Porsha that you feel like your relationship is lopsided. What was your reaction to seeing that? How can you talk about how your friendship with Porsha will play out?
These are things that I do feel. However, I’ve never voiced them to Angela. These are Angela’s words and that’s the disappointing thing. Angela is afraid of Porsha for whatever reason. She can’t express that, “OK, looking at your friendship, this is how I feel about your friendship.” She’s taking it back to Porsha as if this is how I feel when she’s asking probing questions to me, like, “Oh, well, I saw Portia didn’t come to your wedding.” And I’m like, “That’s true. That was hurtful. That was a bump in our friendship, but we moved past it.” [She’s like], “Well, don’t you feel like it’s a little lopsided?” At times. But we’re good. So now that’s been taken to, “Oh, Shamea feels like this and she came to me and said this.” And I’m like, “Girl, I would never. I don’t even know you. I’m just getting to know you, why would I wanna come and confide in you about my best friend? What you’re doing is picking our friendship apart.” And a few of the ladies have done that, but the disappointing part about it all is that [Porsha has] allowed it.
If they’ve come to me, I’ve shut it down. I’m like, “Yeah, this happened, but we’re good.” The fact that she opens up and she’s like, “Yeah,” and crying about it with them, it is unfortunate because she never gave me the grace to call me and say, “Hey, this is what they’re saying. Is it true? Hey, this is what I feel, or this was hurtful when I heard this from Angela or I heard from Kelly, or whoever. Is this what you said?” Give me the benefit of the doubt. Give me the grace that I’ve extended to you and let’s talk about it if we’re real friends and if you want the friendship. I think that’s the thing that [was] the most hurtful part about it all because after 20 years of friendship I still didn’t get that grace.
Before we know it, Phaedra Parks is going to be back in the mix. As we know, she and Porsha are Frick and Frack. You and Phaedra have also had a bit of a tumultuous history. Do you think Phaedra being back in the group had an effect on your friendship with Porsha?
I would hope not. But I think at this point anything with Porsha is going to affect our friendship because she’s just so open to letting people pick it apart. I would hope that in the future, Frick and Frack could leave me out of whatever they conjure up because in the past, as we’ve seen, they’ve talked about my marriage or relationships that were not true with other castmates and it could have really hurt my engagement at the time. We’ve moved past it. I’m gonna continue to operate in love and I’m going to meet them where they are. If they continue to show kindness and they’re not shady to me, I won’t be shady or nasty to them. Yeah, I’m all about meeting them where they are now. I’m over it. I’ve given enough grace.
There have been a lot of rumblings about Charles allegedly having a baby outside of their marriage, cheating on Angela. What do you make of all these rumors?
I hate that. It’s unfortunate. I want to see marriages work. Whatever their drama is in their marriage, let them deal with that. I don’t want that to be up for public scrutiny or public conversation. That’s their private information and if they choose to share it, if it happened, it didn’t happen, I could care less. If he loves her and she loves him, then I wish them well. I love to see Black marriage. I love to see the excellence that they show. I want to see them stick it out because marriage is tough. There are highs and lows in it. So I don’t want to ever be a part of someone’s downfall. I want to only pour more love into their relationship so they can continue. And I hate that. People say, “Oh, this show will ruin a marriage.” No, I don’t think that’s [right]. If a marriage is solid in its foundation and it’s deeply rooted in love, a show can’t ruin your marriage. Only you can do that. You and your partner can do that. So I hope that their marriage can sustain it as well as mine. I hope the ones that are going through a divorce can figure it out and rekindle their relationships.
You’ve thrown some great shade this season. One of my favorite lines was when you said he’s looking for a Porsche, not a Porsha. Do you have a favorite?
You know, I’m really good at impersonations. So I will probably say my ability to turn my nose into an Angela nose. That will probably be the best one for me, because it’s not really what I said. It’s just kinda how I did it.
Love Angela. No, I always have a quick little – either you get it or you don’t. Sometimes it’s like, “Oh, that one fell flat, they didn’t get it, but they’ll get it later. They’ll see.” No, Angela’s amazing. I just wish she would just, you know, she’s telling Charles to get off the Porsha train. She’s got to get out of it, too. She’s hugging and forgiving and I’m laughing and I was like, “Girl, you mad at me still? For something I didn’t say?”
In the After Show, Angela said she wasn’t as ready to accept your apology because she holds you to a different standard than Porsha being as you are also a wife. Do you understand where she’s coming from? Or do you think there was more to it?
Aren’t we all wives? I mean, whether or not your divorce is final or not, we’re all wives or we all have been a wife. Why are you holding me accountable for something that somebody else said? You called me her lap dog. Well, you want me to bark? Like girl, deal with her. We agreed early on in the season when she was heavily defending Drew, I was defending Porsha, let’s let their fight be their thing. You and I are going to get to know each other and move forward. And now, here we are, we’re back. You want me to go jump in this and serve myself in this? I ain’t got nothing to do with it. I was out there just having a good time, enjoying my champagne and swimming in my cowboy boots. Leave me alone, OK? The worst thing I said was, “Your dressing ain’t good.” But then, don’t listen to me, they say I can’t dress either. OK! But I be feeling cute in my outfits. I feel cute. That’s all that matters. Just take it on the chin and keep it moving.
