The former ‘America’s Next Top Model’ star joins Bravo’s ladies of the ATL on Sunday night.
You can thank NeNe Leakes for roping Eva Marcille into The Real Housewives of Atlanta drama.
"It's all NeNe's fault!" Eva jokes with ET. "I moved to Atlanta because my [fiance, Michael Sterling] was running for mayor of Atlanta and... when moving, I kinda needed some help. Not necessarily on the move itself but some guidance in the city. What’s hot, what’s not, you know? Who are the socialites? What’s the scene? And I’ve been friends with NeNe Leakes for so many years, so when I decided to move to Atlanta -- or even when I was just considering it initially -- NeNe’s one of the first people I reached out to.”
"She goes, 'I think Atlanta will be good for you. I know a lot of good girls out here. I wanna introduce you to some of my friends,'" the 33-year-old model adds. "And [those friends] happen to be the women that you all know as the Real Housewives of Atlanta."
The pregnant TV personality makes her debut as an official Real Housewives of Atlanta “friend” on Sunday night’s episode and steps right into the drama, seemingly spilling some tea about Cynthia Bailey’s new boyfriend having a girlfriend who's not Cynthia.
"For me, I'm privy to some of the players from Housewives or people they might be dating, but [I don't] know them personally," Eva teases. "We learn very quickly that this is a very, very small town. You'll have to wait for everything to unfold, but you definitely get to see how some of these paths have crossed and how these relationships end up intersecting, merging, crashing, burning -- whatever you want to call it!"
Eva, who will launch an eponymous home collection later this year, sums up her Housewives experience as "spicy," promising that she brings a new perspective to the show that fans have never seen before. She notes she's a west coast transplant -- "I'm not your average southern belle" -- and won't be what fans expect, especially those who watched her rise to fame on season three of America's Next Top Model.
"I'm no longer that feisty 18-year-old girl that first stepped on the scene," she shares. "Now, I am a mom, I'm engaged and I am expecting my second child. So, for me, life is very different than it used to be. The fast-track life in New York and Los Angeles isn't my reality anymore. Cooking dinners and doing PTA meetings and volunteering my kids' school [is now my reality]."
Still, that doesn't mean she won't bring the drama. Eva jokes that it "wasn't love at first sight" with all of her co-stars. She did, however, immediately connect with Kandi Burruss.
"I fell in love with Kandi," she spills. "She is the bee's knees. To me, she is just the epitome of how you matriculate through the business. As a 33-year-old woman still doing my thing, she's someone I definitely look up to."
While Eva admits to thoroughly enjoying her experience with the ladies of the ATL, she confesses she's not quite ready to sign onto another season of the show.
"Instead of making that decision so hastily, especially since my first episode has yet to air, I kinda want to see what the viewers think," she says. "I want to see how they feel like I fit. The fans who have been watching the show since 10 years ago and they love them some NeNe and they love them some this person and that person, I want to know how they feel I fit and kinda go from there. I'm not the kinda girl to force a fit."
See how Eva fits into the group on the next episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, airing Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo. For more on the current season, check out the video and links below.
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