Cynthia Bailey

Cynthia Denise Bailey is an American model, reality television personality, podcaster, and actress. Born on February 19, 1967, in Decatur, Alabama, she was raised in Tuscumbia. Her father worked at an auto factory and her mother worked at a sewing factory. Bailey attended the University of Alabama in Huntsville, competed in local pageants, and became the first African American homecoming queen at Deshler High School. After being scouted by a talent agent at a pageant, she moved to New York City at age 18 and signed a five-year contract with Wilhelmina Models.

In New York, Bailey established a successful modeling career, working on runways in Paris and Milan. She appeared in advertising campaigns for brands such as Maybelline, Oil of Olay, and Target, as well as in magazines including Vogue, Glamour, Elle, Vanity Fair, and Essence. During this time, she also began acting, featuring in films such as Without You I'm Nothing (1990) and For Love or Money (1993). Her early television credits include episodes of The Cosby Show and New York Undercover, alongside appearances in music videos for artists like New Order and Heavy D.

Bailey gained wider public recognition in 2010 when she joined the cast of the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Atlanta during its third season. In 2011, she launched the Bailey Agency School of Fashion in Atlanta, hosting regional model searches. Throughout the 2010s, she appeared in a trilogy of music videos for the R&B singer Jaheim, acted in Kenya Moore's pilot Life Twirls On, and took roles in projects such as the 2015 documentary Black Friday, the television film Sharknado: The 4th Awakens, and various reality series including Cupcake Wars.

In addition to entertainment, Bailey pursued several entrepreneurial ventures. She established her bag brand, CB VIOR, along with lines of eyewear, leather goods, and candles. In July 2019, she opened an event venue called The Bailey Room and a wine bar named The Bailey Wine Cellar in Atlanta. She also became a brand ambassador for Seagram, creating a signature Bellini cocktail. Her acting work continued with appearances in the film How High 2 and television series such as Last Call, Star, and Tales.

After eleven seasons, Bailey departed The Real Housewives of Atlanta in 2021 to focus more on acting. She subsequently starred in the spin-off series The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, played a recurring role on Games People Play, appeared in the Lifetime movie Cruel Instruction, and placed third on Celebrity Big Brother in 2022. She later returned to The Real Housewives of Atlanta as a guest in its fifteenth season and as a "friend of" the cast for its sixteenth season. In October 2024, she began co-hosting the pop culture podcast Humble Brag with Crystal and Cynthia alongside Crystal Kung Minkoff.

In her personal life, Bailey has a daughter, Noelle, born in 1999 from her relationship with Leon Robinson. She married Peter Thomas in July 2010, and their relationship was featured on reality television and documented in their 2013 book, Carry-On Baggage: Our Nonstop Flight, before their divorce was finalized in 2017. She married sportscaster Mike Hill in October 2020, and their divorce was finalized in 2022.