In the always expanding Bravoverse, few non-Housewives-related series stand the test of time. To compete with the crown jewel in Andy Cohen’s castle is a feat on its own, but to do it effortlessly for a decade is something spectacular. And, with nary a flop season in sight, Married to Medicine returns with its tenth-season premiere, reuniting us with the women we love and introducing two new cast members who ignited controversy before filming began.
To get to where we are in the premiere, we need to roll the cameras back to 2013. The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the franchise’s first city with a predominantly Black cast, was thriving in its fifth season, which fans still cite as the beginning of its golden era. That same year, the network debuted another show that followed the lives of successful Black women in Atlanta, this time with a cast of female doctors and doctor’s wives. In Married to Medicine’s inaugural season, Quad Webb was newly married to psychiatrist Gregory Lunceford and was learning how to navigate the social scene as a doctor’s wife.
By 2017, Quad and Gregory’s marriage came to a bitter end, which was chronicled in the fifth season of the show. Months before that season aired, fans witnessed Phaedra Parks, an integral part of the RHOA cast dream team, fall from grace in a way no one could’ve predicted during the season-nine reunion. After (somewhat) admitting to conjuring a damaging rumor accusing one of her castmates and former close friends of sexual assault, Phaedra was fired from the show. Years passed, and both shows continued without Phaedra or Gregory on our screens. Phaedra slowly inched her way out of exile and back onto Bravo when she was cast in the second season of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, and, naturally, Married to Medicine fans kept tabs on Gregory through social media as he began a relationship with his now wife, Lateasha.
Fast-forward to 2023, when Bravo officially announced that Phaedra and Lateasha would join the cast of Married to Medicine for its tenth season. Fan reactions varied from sheer excitement at the inherent messiness to utter disdain for bringing on such controversial people. There were those perplexed about why the show would bring back Gregory, who, despite being a mental-health professional, admitted to physical abuse and other extremely toxic behaviors. And, of course, there’s the question of how Lateasha and Quad would coexist in the same cast. Similarly, some people wondered why Phaedra was deserving of such redemption, and while reality TV has a strange relationship with the concept of ethics, many fans staunchly believe in justice. But no matter what side fans fell on with either situation, we’ve all been anticipating watching this twisted social experiment unfold. Now, the premiere has finally arrived, so let the games begin.
Married to Medicine wastes no time acclimating viewers to the two polarizing new cast members, feeding us hungry fans within five minutes. Phaedra is featured in the first group scene, meeting Dr. Heavenly, the cast’s resident dentist, and Dr. Jackie, Atlanta’s premiere A-list OB/GYN, at the Vault. Phaedra is a partner at the Vault, which is a high-end boutique department store, and the women try on clothes as they catch up. As a well-known celebrity attorney, the ladies already know Phaedra from the Atlanta professional community, so their interactions are friendly and natural; however, based on the women’s confessionals, Phaedra’s reputation hasn’t gone unnoticed. Overall, they’re welcoming and acknowledge her success, but quickly, the shade comes trickling in. Jackie quips that Phaedra is “that girl,†but she also says she’s “slick as oil on a wet highway.†Heavenly, being Heavenly, dives in head first and proclaims that Phaedra is a liar, saying, “The truth ain’t in the bitch.â€
While Heavenly has a history of treating rumors as truth — or at least blurring the lines enough for the viewers to be unsure — with Phaedra’s track record, any confirmation from the other women of her untruths never lands in her favor. This time, the rumor in question is whether or not Phaedra and Gregory dated or dated. It’s common knowledge that the two knew each other before Quad, but the nature of their relationship is murky. Phaedra swears they’ve never been intimate, which prompts Heavenly to warn us in our confessionals that Phaedra is not known to be a truth-teller. Regardless of what did or did not happen, I’m surprised these women are not as turned off by his voice as I am. I’ll never forget the reunion when a viewer asked Quad how she could stand it.
Meanwhile, Dr. Simone, another prominent Atlanta OB/GYN, hosts dinner at her house for the other half of the cast. After last season’s dramatic reunion, the cast is somewhat divided. Simone and Heavenly still have friction, which has driven a wedge between besties Jackie and Simone. Toya doesn’t trust Heavenly because of her habit of spreading falsehoods on her social media. Quad has been relatively MIA, barely appearing in this episode, still betrayed by Heavenly’s rumors. Toya’s husband, Eugene, and Simone’s husband, Cecile, remained friends with Gregory after his divorce, so they’ve all already met and welcomed Lateasha into the group, and she joins Gregory and the other couples at Simone’s house for her official on-camera introduction.
At 31, Lateasha, who goes by Sweet Tea, is younger than most of the group (and her husband), has a fraternal twin sister, and was raised in Texas. According to Tea, she slid in Gregory’s DM with a message that read, “Hello. I can give you what you need,†accompanied by a baby emoji. He flew her out to Georgia, and the rest is history. Tea and I are three years apart, and it’s beyond me what she sees in this admitted abuser almost twice her age when she has her whole life ahead of her, but, Hey, do you, girl. Tea saw what she wanted, grabbed it, and slipped right into Quad’s vacant place in Gregory’s life, living in the same home and occupying a spot on the show her fiancé used to be on as an extension of his ex.
Lateasha throws a hoedown-themed engagement party to properly debut her relationship to the entire group. With everyone decked out in their take on yee-haw attire, there’s an overwhelming feeling of everyone sizing up the new editions. Heavenly asks Lateasha what she likes the most about being engaged, and Lateasha responds, “I get a little access to the money.†As Phaedra remarks, I think all our gold digger detectors are going the hell off. Or, in reference to Heavenly’s deliciously hilarious confessionals, I should say “copper meters.†With the ice broken, Toya, who tends to be the most straightforward in the group, brings up Quad, who has been distant since the reunion. Lateasha rebukes her fiancé’s ex as a topic of conversation and redirects the discussion to the new family she and Gregory are building, thanking Simone for a referral to a fibroid specialist.
Heavenly interjects, questioning why Simone didn’t refer Lateasha to Jackie, stating that they should “keep the money in the friend group.†Simone tries to explain how, although both she and Jackie are surgeons, there is a reason she referred Lateasha to a specialist. But Heavenly is hell-bent on defending Jackie, who sits silently, and has a rebuttal for all of Simone’s explanations. The argument is clearly about more than the referral — for years, Simone and Jackie’s relationship was the heart of the show, but after Simone felt that Jackie’s loyalties lay more with Heavenly than with her, the fissures in the doctors’ friendship formed into cracks. Though in season seven, Jackie and Simone promised to rebuild their bond, Simone and Heavenly have historically bumped heads while Heavenly and Jackie have only grown closer. Heavenly’s protectiveness over Jackie, combined with Jackie’s tendency not to defend Simone from Heavenly’s mouth, has led to a shift in the doctor’s dynamic, and moments like these between Simone and Heavenly highlight some possible unresolved feelings with Jackie’s silence speaking volumes.
Like church bells, Simone’s infamous yelling begins, the volume of her voice rising as her frustration mounts. Days later, when debriefing about the party, Toya asks if Simone received an apology from Heavenly, to which Simone replies, “Girl, please.†The camera then cuts to Heavenly talking shit about the food at the party, comparing it to Quad’s cooking … seconds after promising not to bring up Quad, showing just how little things have changed. Despite appearing to be a part of a perfect couple for the majority of the episode, it seems like little has changed with Gregory, too. The episode ends with a peek into the rest of the season, featuring a montage of scenes where Lateasha complains about Gregory’s controlling behavior and snippets of Gregory yelling about pulling his pants down as strippers dance in front of him. Oh, and we see Quad joining Lateasha’s bachelorette festivities. Married to Medicine is back, y’all!
Doctor’s Orders
• Phaedra’s mystery man is cracking me up because it gives me flashbacks of Mr. Chocolate and all the alleged African boyfriends on RHOA. Of course, her boyfriend is a nameless, faceless Nigerian cardiologist.
• Toya bringing up Quad’s apparent DUI case was so out of left field. I did exactly as she said and Googled “DUI Quadriyyah Webb-Lunceford,†and nothing recent came up. Phaedra turning on her church-lady persona in her confessional was funny, saying, “It’s not okay to put a DUI on a good, Christian woman.†So … would it be okay to accuse a non-Christian woman?
• Heavenly is one of a kind. Season after season, we watch her at the reunion, vowing to change and grow, only to start talking shit in the first second of the new season. We’re in episode one, and she’s already called Phaedra a liar and insinuated that Quad is sleeping with men in relationships, but I would expect nothing less.
• Watching Heavenly dress shopping for Alaura’s prom was so sweet. I love Bravo kids — seeing Phaedra’s boys after all these years is a treat. The Prince and the President are all grown up!