The Truth About Tanya Sam's Real Housewives Of Atlanta Exit

"The Real Housewives of Atlanta" first aired in October 2008 with the original cast including NeNe Leakes, Kim Zolciak-Biermann, DeShawn Snow, Lisa Wu Hartwell, and Shereé Whitfield, per Screen Rant. Atlanta was also marked as the third city added to "The Real Housewives" Bravo franchise. As the seasons continued, RHOA continued to grow into a massive hit reality series and later included stars like Kandi Burruss, Claudia Jordan, Phaedra Parks, and Cynthia Bailey to name a few, per TV Guide. However, things started to heat up when Leakes' friend Tanya Sam was first introduced on Season 11 of the show. According to Bravo, Sam and Leakes instantly hit it off and became close friends after initially meeting at Leakes' store, Swaggalicious. 

"I kind of love being the friend to the show, it's really the best of both worlds," Sam said during an interview with Essence. As the Director of Partnerships at TechSquare Labs, Sam enjoyed being on the big screen but also having the freedom to still work her day job and do other things. "No one can tell me like when you have to show up, for what. I can still travel so I kind of like it."

Although, she was on the show as a part-time cast member, she still learned very quickly that when it comes to reality television every aspect of your life is aired, whether you like or not. 

Tanya Sam's busy life, including the ins and outs of her relationship with fiancè Dr. Paul Judge, was all captured on camera. The first incident that seemed to infuriate Sam was when a woman who was later coined as "The Cookie Lady" appeared on an episode of Season 12 to tell Sam about a flirtatious encounter she had with Judge, per Bravo. During the RHOA Season 12 After Show, Sam briefly spoke about how her partner felt about the situation. "He was mad. He was really, really mad," she revealed. "When we first saw it, he was livid like, 'That's a lie!'"

Back in October 2020, Page Six exclusively reported that an alleged threesome involving two cast members and a stripper occurred at Cynthia Bailey's bachelorette party. The outlet Love B. Scott later revealed Porsha Williams and Tanya Smith were the ladies who took part in the naughty ordeal. Sam quickly broke her silence and denied any involvement that night. "I will address this topic now and will not entertain this absurdity any further," she wrote on Instagram. "The rumor circulating about me is NOT TRUE."

Sam has remained firm on the fact that she did not partake in any extra activities at the bachelorette party and makes it clear that she did not cheat on Paul. However, that scandal ultimately prompted her to make a big decision when it came to her future on the show. 

According to TMZ, Tanya Sam abruptly stopped filming during Season 13 of the "Real Housewives of Atlanta." Production sources told the outlet Sam reportedly abandoned her duties in the middle of the season and decided she will no longer film for the rest of the season and will part ways all together. 

The outlet also reported that the entrepreneur wasn't thrilled with how she was being portrayed on the show. Sam was also displeased that a major focus of Season 13 would involve the stripper scandal that took place at Cynthia Bailey's bachelorette party. 

During a recent appearance on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen," Porsha Williams revealed her and Sam aren't as close as they used to be, however she did note that her former friend is living her best life after leaving RHOA. "She was doing a project with Da Brat," she said (via Meaww).  "She's busy. She has a lot of different things and shows that she's doing right now."