Phaedra Parks built her Bravo fame on sharp one-liners and a marriage that became one of Real Housewives’ most talked-about storylines, but her actual profession, a practicing entertainment attorney, is what made her such an effective Original Traitor on Season 2 of The Traitors. She holds a law degree from the University of Georgia and outlasted both of her fellow Original Traitors before finally being banished in Episode 10.
Long before Bravo, Parks was building a legal career, and later a second career in mortuary science, that her castmates never fully accounted for.
Athens, Georgia, and Two Very Different Degrees
Phaedra Creonta Parks was born October 26, 1973, in Athens, Georgia, the daughter of Pastor Henry Parks and Regina Bell, with three siblings. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan College before going on to a Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law, building a practice representing entertainment clients as managing partner of The Parks Group, an Atlanta firm handling entertainment law, intellectual property, and litigation. Less widely known is that Parks also holds a mortuary sciences degree from Jefferson State College and is a licensed funeral director, a career pivot she’s described as finding new purpose in after a series of personal tragedies; she told interviewers in 2020 that the funeral side of her business was “booming” during the pandemic.
Seven Seasons of Real Housewives of Atlanta
Parks joined The Real Housewives of Atlanta for Season 3 in 2010 and remained a main cast member through Season 9, becoming known for her wit and for a marriage storyline that dominated headlines. She was fired from the show in April 2017 after it emerged she had spread a rumor to castmate Porsha Williams claiming that Kandi Burruss and husband Todd Tucker were planning to drug and sexually assault her. Parks said she’d heard the claim from someone else, but was identified as the one who spread it, and Bravo said the allegation was too serious to continue working with her; she apologized publicly, and she and Burruss remained estranged for years afterward.
The Apollo Nida Marriage
Parks married Apollo Nida in 2009. Nida was convicted in 2014 of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud, and identity theft, a scheme that defrauded at least 50 victims of millions of dollars; he was sentenced to eight years in federal prison, ordered to pay $2 million in restitution, and released in 2019 after his sentence was reduced. Parks filed for divorce in October 2014, and the split was finalized in 2017. The couple has two sons, Ayden and Dylan, and Parks said in a May 2026 update that the boys are with her roughly 95 percent of the time, though she’s tried to stay on friendly terms with Nida for their sake, noting one of their sons had asked her to try rebuilding a friendship with his father.
Running the Table as an Original Traitor
Parks was named one of Season 2’s two starting Original Traitors alongside Dan Gheesling, and the pair recruited Parvati Shallow as their third in Episode 1. Other players consistently underestimated Parks specifically because they knew her as a Real Housewife rather than a strategist, and she used that misjudgment to stay hidden for most of the season. Gheesling was banished in Episode 6 and accused Parks on his way out; Shallow was banished two episodes later after a heated round-table clash with Parks. Parks herself, the last Traitor standing for a long stretch after that, was finally banished by unanimous vote in Episode 10, having outlasted both of the Traitors she started the game with.
A 2025 Return to RHOA and Life Now
Parks returned to The Real Housewives of Atlanta partway through Season 16, first appearing in the episode “The Frack Is Back” on May 25, 2025, after two seasons on Bravo’s Married to Medicine. She said she was confident the return was permanent, appeared at that season’s three-part reunion, and confirmed she was returning again for Season 17, which premiered in April 2026. She’s currently in a relationship with boyfriend Cheick Kone, whom she met at a speed-dating event during her Married to Medicine years, and has said publicly that she isn’t interested in remarriage, describing herself as happier and more financially independent than she’s ever been. Her Traitors Season 2 run is covered alongside the rest of that cast in OpenThreadNews’ Traitors Season 2 cast guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Phaedra Parks’s educational background?
She holds a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan College, a law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law, and a mortuary sciences degree from Jefferson State College.
Why was Phaedra Parks fired from RHOA?
Bravo let her go in April 2017 after she spread a rumor to Porsha Williams alleging Kandi Burruss and Todd Tucker planned to drug and assault her.
How far did Phaedra Parks get on The Traitors?
She was one of the season’s two Original Traitors and outlasted both Dan Gheesling and Parvati Shallow before being banished by unanimous vote in Episode 10.
Is Phaedra Parks engaged?
No. As of 2025 reporting, she is in a relationship with boyfriend Cheick Kone but has said she isn’t interested in remarriage.
