Kandi Burruss: Bringing More Drama to 'Real Housewives of Atlanta'

Next month, Bravo's 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' will return for a second season with a new housewife in tow.

In its first season, 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' became Bravo's first reality show to hit more 2 million adult viewers in the 18-49 age range. The reunion special pulled in 3 million viewers.

Now, Sheree Whitfield, NeNe Leakes, Lisa Wu Hartwell and Kim Zolciak are back and ready to balance their hectic careers as mothers, girlfriends and social butterflies on the Atlanta scene.

This time around, however, NBA wife Deshawn Snow is out of the mix and new to the pack is Kandi Burruss, the Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter who was a member of the platinum-selling 1990s R&B group Xscape.

Burruss, a friend of original cast member Hartwell, is planning her dream wedding to her live-in fiancé, A.J., raising her 6-year-old daughter, Riley, and working on a solo album. She should be a great addition to the peachy crew, and it should make for good television to see where the other ladies are now in their respective lives.

Mel B Pictures

In this photo provided by Kraft Foods, Spice Girl "Mel B" poses for a photo wearing a T-shirt she designed based on the classic pink ribbon used for breast cancer awareness, after a fashion show and launch of "Pose for the Cure" web site to help Kraft Foods raise money for the 'Susan G. Komen for the Cure' fight against breast cancer in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008. The shirt is for sale on the web site and the net proceeds will benefit the foundation. (AP Photo/Kraft Foods, Ray Stubblebine) **NO SALES**

In this undated image released by Oxfam Tuesday Sept. 23, 2008, British singer Mel B participates in the 'In My Name' global campaign calling for action against poverty and demanding world leaders keep their promises on millennium development goals. (AP Photo/Oxfam, HO) ** NO SALES **

In this photo provided by Kraft Foods, Spice Girl Mel B, left, serves as the emcee at a fashion show and launch of "Pose for the Cure" web site to help Kraft Foods raise money for the 'Susan G. Komen for the Cure' fight against breast cancer in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008. Mel B wears a T-shirt she designed based on the classic pink ribbon used for breast cancer awareness. The shirt is for sale on the web site and the net proceeds will benefit the foundation. The woman at right is unidentified. (AP Photo/Kraft Foods, Ray Stubblebine) **NO SALES**

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: TV personality and designer Khloe Kardashian and Olympic-level swimmer and model Amanda Beard (R) pose backstage at the Mel B With Ultimo Spring 2009 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at the Metropolitan Pavilion on September 9, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images )

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NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: Ultimo Scottish designer lingerie brand founder Michelle Mone (L) and pop singer Melanie Brown pose backstage at the Mel B With Ultimo Spring 2009 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at the Metropolitan Pavilion on September 9, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images )

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NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: Pop singer Melanie Brown poses backstage at the Mel B With Ultimo Spring 2009 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at the Metropolitan Pavilion on September 9, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images )

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NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: Pop singer Melanie Brown and Olympic-level swimmer and model Amanda Beard (R) pose backstage at the Mel B With Ultimo Spring 2009 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at the Metropolitan Pavilion on September 9, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images )

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NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: Pop singer Melanie Brown and singer Aubrey O'Day (R) poses backstage at the Mel B With Ultimo Spring 2009 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at the Metropolitan Pavilion on September 9, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images )

Getty Images

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: Pop singer Melanie Brown, Olympic-level swimmer and model Amanda Beard, singer Aubrey O'Day and TV personality and designer Khloe Kardashian pose backstage at the Mel B With Ultimo Spring 2009 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at the Metropolitan Pavilion on September 9, 2008 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images )

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First, there's Sheree. This aspiring 'She by Sheree' fashion designer and ex-wife of Atlanta Falcons' Bob Whitfield, was forced to sell her Sandy Springs mansion in May. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, her home, which was purchased for $2.4 million in 2000, sold for just over $1 million. In addition, Whitfield is appealing her divorce settlement that left her less than the seven figures she hoped for. Instead, she ended up with a $775,000 lump sum, $113,422 in her ex's retirement funds and $2,142.87 in monthly child support.

Last season, Zolciak, an aspiring country singer, not only broke up with her mysterious "Big Poppa" boyfriend, but she also fell out with both Leakes and Hartwell. She's supposedly still an aspiring country singer on the upcoming season of the show, and according to a show publicist, will launch her own wig line.

Hartwell is also starting her own clothing line, called 'Closet Freak,' and is contemplating having another baby during the the new season.

Then, there's Leakes -- the firecracker of the bunch -- who just penned a tell-all book about how she got out of an abusive relationship. She's a wife and a mother who never holds her tongue when she feels like she's been disrespected.

That is sure to make for more drama this season.

Brace yourselves, 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' premieres at 10 p.m. on July 30.