Phaedra Parks (born October 26, 1971) is an American television personality, attorney, mortician, businesswoman, author and actress. Parks is best known for having appeared on the Atlanta installment of Bravo's The Real Housewives franchise, The Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA). She appeared on RHOA from its third season to its ninth. Prior to her appearance on the show, Parks was an established attorney, fronting her own legal firm, The Parks Group. She is currently starring on the second season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip on Peacock.
Phaedra Creonta Parks | |
|---|---|
| Born | Phaedra Creonta Parks (1971-10-26) October 26, 1971 (age 50) Athens, Georgia, U.S. |
| Education | London School of Economics Wesleyan College (BA) University of Georgia (JD) |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Spouse | Apollo Nida
(m. 2009; div. 2017) |
| Children | 2 |
Parks was born in Athens, Georgia, where RHOA co-star NeNe Leakes also lived, and attended the same high school as Parks. She is one of four children to pastor parents Regina Bell and Henry Parks.[citation needed] Before undertaking a Juris Doctor at the University of Georgia,[1] she attended the London School of Economics (LSE) and Wesleyan College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours.
Parks first appeared on The Real Housewives of Atlanta in 2010.[2] She was already an established attorney, with her own legal practice, The Parks Group. Throughout her career, she had represented multiple public figures such as Bobby Brown.[3][4] In 2006, she was awarded 'Attorney of the Year'[citation needed] and has served on Georgia's Law School Alumni Council,[5] the Grammy Recording Board, UGA Law School Board, and G-Capp.[citation needed] She has served as a legal analyst on shows like Fox News and NBC regarding the Michael Jackson trial. Parks has also acted as a television producer for BET's The Tiny and Toya Show.[5]
Her appearance on The Real Housewives of Atlanta helped her become nominated as one of Atlanta's top 100 Black women of influence, as her season 3 debut kick-started high publicity and positive attention for Parks.[6] Her seven season stint on the show saw Parks involved in multiple main storylines including the dissolution of her marriage to Apollo Nida and pregnancies resulting in sons Ayden and Dylan.[7] In a 2011 episode of RHOA, Parks announced her plan to become a mortician.[8] Parks was ultimately fired ahead of the show's tenth season following a damaging rumour she circulated about fellow RHOA cast member Kandi Burruss and her husband, Todd Tucker.[9][10][11] Following her departure from RHOA, Bravo tentatively announced a new unscripted series focussed on Parks alone titled, Rich People's Problems.[3][12] The show was never released.
In 2013, Parks released her first book, Secrets of the Southern Belle: How to Be Nice, Work Hard, Look Pretty, Have Fun and Never Have an Off Moment.[13][14] In 2020, Parks and then-boyfriend, Medina Islam, appeared on the season two premiere of Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition[15][16][17] She made her acting debut in Covenant, an eight-episode anthology series on Allblk, in October 2021.[18][19] She played Bernice Whitfield, the family matriarch.[15] In 2021, it was announced that Parks would be appearing on the second season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, the franchise's 'mash-up' series produced by Peacock featuring multiple well-known housewives from the franchise.[20][21]
In 2022, alongside Parks' RHUGT main cast appearance, she additionally stars in a recurring guest role in The Real Housewives of Dubai's first season, as a friend of housewife Caroline Brooks. [22] Shereé Whitfield stated that Parks filmed for Season 14 of RHOA at her fashion show, however scenes featuring Parks were never aired. Rumours regarding Parks' return to RHOA in a full-time capacity have begun to swirl following executive producer Andy Cohen stating he would love to have her back, following her 2017 firing.[23] Reportedly, her appearances on RHUGT, RHOA and RHODXB are to test whether her Bravo comeback appeals to audiences. Kandi Burruss has stated she would leave RHOA if Parks returns.[24]
Between 2009 and 2017, Parks was married to Apollo Nida. Nida was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud, but Parks has maintained she had no knowledge of his criminal activity.[25][26] With Nida, she has two children: Ayden (born 2010) and Dylan (born 2013).[18][27] She dated Medina Islam before breaking up in 2021.[28]
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