Phaedra Parks

Phaedra Creonta Parks is an American attorney, television personality, legal commentator, author, businesswoman, and activist. She gained widespread public recognition through her appearances on several reality television programs, most notably Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Peacock's spin-off series The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, Married to Medicine, and the reality competition show The Traitors.

Born in Athens, Georgia, Parks is one of four children raised by pastors Regina Bell and Henry Parks. She pursued her undergraduate education at Wesleyan College, where she graduated with honors and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. She subsequently continued her legal studies at the University of Georgia School of Law, completing her Juris Doctor in 1997.

In 2000, Parks established The Parks Group, an Atlanta-based law firm specializing in intellectual property and entertainment law. Her legal work first drew major public attention through her representation of R&B artist Bobby Brown during his legal proceedings in the 2000s, and she later represented notable music figures such as Jazze Pha, Jermaine Dupri, and Too Short. Alongside her legal practice, Parks served as a legal analyst for news networks including CNN, Fox News, and NBC during high-profile cases such as the Michael Jackson trial. She worked as a producer on BET's program The Tiny and Toya Show and held positions on organizations such as the Grammy Recording Board, the Georgia Law School Alumni Council, the UGA Law School Board, and G-Capp. In December 2016, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard recognized her as Atlanta's most popular lawyer.

Parks achieved broader celebrity status after joining the third season of Bravo's reality series The Real Housewives of Atlanta in 2010. Her prominence on the show led to her nomination as one of Atlanta's top 100 Black women of influence. In 2013, she published a book titled Secrets of the Southern Belle: How to Be Nice, Work Hard, Look Pretty, Have Fun and Never Have an Off Moment. She ultimately exited the reality franchise in 2017 following the conclusion of its ninth season after circulating a controversial rumor concerning fellow cast members.

Following her initial exit from the franchise, Parks continued to participate in various entertainment projects. She appeared on Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition in 2020 alongside Medina Islam and made her scripted acting debut in October 2021 as Bernice Whitfield in the Allblk anthology series Covenant. She returned to the Bravo universe by joining Peacock's The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, appearing as a guest on The Real Housewives of Dubai, and joining the main cast of Married to Medicine for its tenth season. In 2024, Parks competed on the second season of Peacock's competition series The Traitors, was announced as a contestant on season 33 of Dancing with the Stars partnered with Valentin Chmerkovskiy, and returned to The Real Housewives of Atlanta for its sixteenth season.

Parks was married to Apollo Nida from 2009 until 2017, and the couple had two children together. During their marriage, she maintained she had no involvement in or knowledge of the financial fraud crimes that resulted in Nida's legal conviction. Regarding television programs such as reality shows, Parks has publicly expressed that she does not permit her children to watch them, maintaining that adult-oriented television content is not appropriate for young viewers.