LaToya Ali Returned to ‘RHOA’ for Season 15 — Is She Back for Good?
Aug. 7 2023, Updated 1:40 p.m. ET
Season 13 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta welcomed two new castmates in 2021 — Drew Sidora and LaToya Ali. While Drew received the coveted peach, LaToya joined as a "friend" of the cast. However, like several "friends" before her, the influencer soon became a reason some fans tuned in each week.
LaToya got into several blowups with Drew and Falynn Pina on the show. She also faced allegations regarding an affair with Drew’s friend Prophet Anthony Lott.
After an explosive season, LaToya stepped away from RHOA after one season. While LaToya’s been gone for quite some time, her name came up several times on RHOA Season 15. The beauty guru also appeared in a few scenes during the season.
Upon LaToya’s second bout of drama with Drew, Bravo fans wonder if LaToya may come back to the show amid fan complaints of a lackluster few seasons since she’s been away. Here’s what we know.
What happened to LaToya on ‘RHOA’?
After leaving RHOA following Season 13, LaToya, who first gained notoriety with her YouTube channel, LaToya Forever, continued her career as a digital content creator and mostly stayed away from reality TV. However, that all changed once Season 15 of RHOA aired in May 2023.
During the season, Season 15 cast members Kandi Burruss, Sheree Whitfield, Marlo Hampton, Kenya Moore, Drew Sidora, and Sanya Richards-Ross took a cast trip to Portugal. At some point in the trip, production asked several ladies, including Marlo and FOH Monyetta Shaw-Carter, to record the group.
The camera phone footage showed Drew and Kandi discussing former peach holder Cynthia Bailey’s bachelorette party for her October 2020 wedding to Mike Hill, which also occurred on Season 13 of RHOA. Fans recall that Cynthia’s party got exceptionally wild after Bolo, the stripper Kandi hired for the night, appeared, and RHOA’s producers left the event, per Kandi’s request.
In the Season 13 reunion, LaToya revealed that cameras missed seeing her and Drew kiss at Cynthia’s bachelorette party. Drew, married to her estranged husband, Ralph Pittman, denied kissing LaToya at the reunion. She also rejected it again in Portugal, calling Kandi a “liar” and stating LaToya only said they kissed to boost the reunion’s viewers.
The back and forth about whether Drew and LaToya kissed continued at Kandi’s erotic toy line, Bedroom Kandi’s party in Season 15, “Peach Passion.” During the party, LaToya confronted Kandi and Marlo and asked why they were spreading lies about her and Drew when they were trying to “establish” a friendship.
Marlo and Kandi denied lying about the kiss and agreed they saw the same thing at the party in a rare turn of events. Still, Drew claimed Marlo was lying and even accused Marlo of “editing” the video to make Drew look bad.
Is LaToya Ali coming back to ‘RHOA’?
LaToya first joined Season 13 as one of Kandi Burruss’s friends. The beauty guru then spent more time with Kenya and the other Atlanta ladies. However, since leaving RHOA, LaToya seemingly only hangs out with Kandi. In February 2022, they snapped a photo together and posed with their hands on their hips.
"We representing the mamas making moves! Happy to see my girl!" Kandi shared on her page, followed by LaToya commenting, "Yaaassss yaaasss yaaassss I love you."
Despite her appearance at Kandi’s party, LaToya doesn’t have any public plans to rejoin the RHOA cast. Although she’s clearly close enough to the cast to still get invited to parties, the longtime show may have to pay her more this time than they reportedly did in Season 13.
LaToya Ali Reportedly Only Earned $1,000 an Episode as a “Friend of” ‘RHOA.’
LaToya appeared in her first episode of RHOA in December 2020. Before joining the cast, LaToya and her ex-husband, Adam Ali, were already separated. Although the divorce was made public during filming, neither Adam nor the couple’s children appeared on the show.
Despite his absence, Adam had plenty to say about LaToya’s RHOA gig on social media. He claimed his ex only received $1,000 per episode on Instagram Live, much less than he reportedly expected.
LaToya hasn’t confirmed Adam’s claims but ultimately decided not to return to RHOA after its Season 13 finale. However, it’s unclear if it was the coins (or possible lack thereof) or the drama that kept her away. Meanwhile, in June 2023, the mom of three announced she was pregnant with her fourth child. So, if she does return, she will have plenty to discuss!
Watch new episodes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta Sunday nights at 8 p.m. EST on Bravo.
