Buckle your seatbelts and hold on to your weaves because the The Real Housewives of Atlanta are back! Season six left us at a cliff-hanger of hair pulling, shade throwing, and an entire array of drama, so what can we expect from season seven and what have the ladies been up to in the meantime?

Initially all six ladies signed on for season seven however since this announcement Porsha Williams was officially demoted from a ‘series regular’ to a ‘friend of the housewives’. Speculation surrounding the reason for this move centred on her now infamous physical altercation with Kenya Moore at the season six reunion where she approached her and pulled her to the ground by her hair. Porsha was provoked after Kenya repeatedly pointed a sceptre prop in her face followed by shouting demeaning phrases through a megaphone at close range. Real Housewives creator and television host Andy Cohen gave a statement about Porsha’s demotion and put an end to the speculation by saying ‘”It had nothing to do with anything that happened at the reunion last season. Really, it was about the amount of story we got from Porsha this season. We went into it assuming she would be a full Housewife, holding a peach. We just haven’t gotten enough to merit that. She’s going to be in it a lot. We love her. I hope she’ll be on Bravo endlessly.”

Taking Porsha’s full time place is radio and television personality Claudia Jordan. Claudia is best known for her appearance on Celebrity Apprentice as well as various music videos, her own radio show and as an assistant on Deal Or No Deal USA. However she has faced backlash since joining the show from co-star and show icon Nene Leakes. In a recent interview with Access Hollywood Nene expressed her disproval at the fact that Claudia does not originate from Atlanta and is not a true ‘Georgia peach’. The official trailer for season seven shows Nene referring to Claudia as a ‘whore’ and that ‘Hollywood ain’t looking for you’. Watch Nene’s interview with Access Hollywood below.

Another newcomer to the show is actress Demetria McKinney who will be appearing alongside Porsha in a ‘friend of the housewives’ role. She is best known for her role in the US sitcom Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. The remaining members of the cast will all continue in their full time roles.

Phaedra Parks has been in the press regularly these past few months due to her husband Apollo Nida having been convicted of federal fraud charges and facing the next eight years in prison. Shortly after Apollo reported for his sentence Phaedra appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show to talk about her current situation and how she is going to move forward and parent her two young children without Apollo. She also revealed that she definitely will be divorcing him. In the US state of Georgia if two people are married and one of them is convicted for two years or longer then the other partner has the legal right to an immediate divorce. Watch Phaedra’s intense and heartbreaking interview with Ellen below.

The show airs on Bravo in the US and ITVBe here in the UK, and is Bravo’s highest rated show as well as the highest rated show in the entire Real Housewives franchise. With these high ratings raking in the cash the cast members undoubtedly receive extremely high salaries for their appearances. According to an article published by All About The Tea, for season six the co-stars were allegedly paid the following salaries:

– Nene Leakes: $1 Million
– Kandi Burruss: $450,000
– Kenya Moore: $300,000
– Cynthia Bailey: $300,000
– Phaedra Parks: $300,000
– Porsha Williams: $150,000

For season seven it was alleged that Nene would receive a pay increase to $1.5 Million. She has neither confirmed nor denied these rumours. The rest of the cast members salaries for season seven are yet to have been leaked or even speculated but can be expected to have been increased since the previous season.

Watch the trailer for season seven of The Real Housewives of Atlanta below, and be sure to let us know what you think of the new season so far.

Image: Real Housewives of Atlanta

Video: Real Housewives World, TheEllenShow, VealityScoopCom