Security! This catfight just turned into a wild brawl. As the Sunday, Dec. 6, episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta opened, the tension between Cynthia Bailey and Porsha Williams had already reached boiling point. (ICYMI, Porsha called Cynthia a bitch and then insisted she meant it as a term of endearment, but Cynthia wasn’t buying it.) Things were about to get ugly — really ugly.
“We have had years of issues back and forth and I’m going to find out if this how it’s gonna all fall out,” Porsha shouted, as Cynthia blasted back, “This is how you want to be? This is how you want to be?” One thing led to another and the, um, “ladies” began pushing and kicking each other until crew members stepped in and pulled them apart. “She’s losing her husband! She’s lost businesses! She’s lost everything she has! And the bitch is on a boat with me and she wants me to lose everything!” Porsha wailed as she ended up pinned down on her back, her legs still flailing.
“I’ve seen this before. She’s like a rabid dog. This is a scary scene,” Kenya Moore — who had her own physical altercation with Porsha in the past — said to the camera, clearly feeling somewhat vindicated. She then flitted off to demand that the captain remove both Porsha and her friend, Shamea, from the boat. Meanwhile, Cynthia called her husband, Peter Thomas, to ask him to come home. “Something happened,” she cried. “And it just got really out of control.”
Baby Steps for Kandi and Todd
Having survived the boat brawl, Kandi Burruss headed to the doctor for an ultrasound of her growing baby. During the visit, the mama-to-be and her husband, Todd Tucker, were set to experience the magic of hearing their baby’s heartbeat. The only problem was that the expectant father stepped out of the room to take a phone call and missed it. “We’ve got to find some balance,” Kandi lamented to the camera.
Todd did make it back in time to see the ultrasound image on the screen long enough to mistake various body parts (the umbilical cord, the leg) for proof that their child was a boy. “We are trying to speak into existence that it’s a boy,” Kandi laughed.
Kenya Plays Peacemaker
For some reason that wasn’t quite clear, Kenya decided to take Cynthia and Porsha’s potential reconciliation into her own hands. The aspiring haircare entrepreneur got on the phone to tell Cynthia of her plans to host a girls’ lunch to try to smooth things over (which sounded like a terrible idea for about a billion reasons). Oh, also, Kenya planned to talk to Porsha separately first (which, again, sounded like a terrible idea for about a billion reasons).
Because she’s not an idiot, Cynthia seemed skeptical that Kenya’s strategy would work, but because she felt “really awful” for how she acted, she agreed. “I want to talk to her to take responsibility,” Cynthia explained before conceding, “I may have overreacted.” (Insert replay of Cynthia pretty much drop-kicking Porsha across the deck here.)
Then Kenya Stirs the Pot
And so Kenya and Porsha got together. It did appear, at first, that Kenya was going to allow Porsha to speak her piece. “When I first got on the boat, it seemed like we were all having a good time,” Porsha explained. “But it just went to the left when you were taking shots at Shamea, and then she was asked off the boat.” Kenya listened as Porsha added, “I was upset because the day started so positive and just went so negative so fast.”
Kenya didn’t miss a beat. “We had a situation before, a heated debate, and things turned physical,” she reminded Porsha. Basically, Kenya just wanted to point out that now Porsha was a repeat offender in terms of getting violent during fights — while she, Kenya, wasn’t. Porsha picked up on the “got ya” vibe and the conversation turned icy.
“I don’t trust you,” Porsha told Kenya, point-blank. “You don’t have any compassion for me, and I know that.” Still, Porsha wasn’t going to let Kenya’s passive-aggressive jibes prevent her from doing what she thought was right, and told the camera she would “give Cynthia a chance.”
Ladies Who Lunch
Kim Fields, Sheree Whitfield, Kandi, Cynthia, and Phaedra Parks (who had fortuitously missed the ill-fated boat ride because she was taking care of her sons) were speechless when Porsha and Kenya arrived at the luncheon together. But that wasn’t the only reason the women were less chatty than usual.
“I really don’t know what to say about my friendship with Phaedra anymore,” Kandi confessed to the camera. “We talked but I don’t know if she is being genuine about being able to move forward.” If history repeats itself, it’s likely she’ll find out soon, one way or the other.
For her part, Cynthia readily admitted that she was “uncomfortable” and “embarrassed” facing the girls again for the first time since she went bonkers on the boat.
In a surprising move, it was mild-mannered Kim who butted in to get Cynthia and Porsha talking. “If getting more clarity is a part of moving forward, where are you?” Kim asked, prompting the two frenemies to go to another room and find out.
Porsha and Cynthia Hug It Out
Once they had some privacy (well, except for the fact that the other women were all watching through a window), Porsha and Cynthia wasted no time getting down to business. Cynthia looked genuinely concerned as she asked Porsha how she was.
“Just bruising, so I took a couple days off from work,” Porsha replied. “But emotionally, I was bothered by the situation.” Porsha stuck to her story that she’d meant “bitch” as a sign of affection rather than an insult. “However that made you feel, that was not my intention behind it,” she said. It wasn’t an actual apology, but it was apologetic enough that Cynthia moved on.
“I came here today to apologize for my part in it,” the Bailey Agency owner said. “I had no expectation from you whatsoever.” They both agreed they were glad they’d had this one-on-one and hugged it out, prompting applause from the women gathered outside.
When they returned to the table, Cynthia revealed a silver lining to this dark cloud. “I really feel like it’s not only made my marriage stronger, it’s also in a weird way, made us closer,” she explained. In other words, it sounds like Peter came through when she needed him most.
Tell Us: Do you think Cynthia and Porsha can put this fight behind them?
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
