1 week Ago By mliss1578
Cynthia Bailey is a Real Housewives legend, an actress, a podcaster — and now, she’s a bonafide “gamer.” Using her undeniable mental prowess and trustworthy personality, Bailey — who rose to fame on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta — just won a whopping $156,000 in Hulu’s new game show Got To Get Out . So, how does it work? A mix of celebrities, gamers, and normal people must strategize with each other to escape the house for their chance to win a prize pot that increases with each passing second.
If someone is able to exit the property without anyone pressing the red button that closes the gate back up, they get to take the entire prize pot for themselves, resetting the clock at zero for the remaining contestants. In Episode 5, titled “Not To Fast!”, Bailey and her partner, adventure film maker Stein Retzlaff, successfully deceived their fellow competitors and escaped the mansion with a total of $312,000 that they ultimately split. As the mastermind behind their winning strategy, Bailey now has her eyes set on another popular game show.
“I really want to do Traitors at some point,” she told DECIDER in a recent Zoom interview. “I felt like my poker face and my acting skills really helped me out. And I feel like, in a lot of ways, Got To Get Out has prepared me for Traitors down the line.
” While Bailey has not decided how she’s going to spend her money just yet, she promised that she would “put it to good use.” “Believe me, it’s not hard to spend money,” she joked. “But I’m just so excited that I won and I think this officially makes me a gamer now because I won something.
” When we caught up with Bailey, she also talked about reuniting with Kim Zolciak in Got To Get Out and her upcoming appearance on Bravo’s Love Hotel . Check out the full interview below. DECIDER: I was so excited to see you on Got To Get Out .
What made you decide to do this show? CYNTHIA BAILEY: As a reality star, I love reality TV and I love competition shows, although I don’t usually go that far. Well, that’s not true. On Big Brother, I did go far.
I didn’t win. I definitely made it to the final three, but that was only because I was never a threat in the house. So I never win because of skill.
I win because I cook and I clean and people literally forget that I’m in a house. So there’s that. So, Got To Get Out, I felt like, you know what? It sounds fun.
It kind of reminded me of an escape room a little bit, which I suck at, but that’s okay. I was like, “You know what? This will be a lot of fun.” So it just felt like a really fun show to do.
I imagine that being a reality TV veteran would help you going into a show like this. Would you say your time on Housewives was beneficial when it came to strategizing? Or was this just a completely different beast? Honestly, the Housewives stuff only helps me if I’m going into a drama-based situation. That’s where I can get the help from Housewives .
As far as competition shows, I feel like the one advantage that I do have coming from a Housewife platform would be just [I’m] used to being thrown into situations with different people, new people, unexpected situations, being used to cameras being on me and the whole production side of it. I’m very comfortable with that because it’s been such a big part of my life. As opposed to a newbie — and we had a lot of new people who have not been in that situation — who maybe were like, “Oh, my God.
I can’t believe this is happening.” Whereas it’s just kind of my normal life at this point. So, I was comfortable.
I didn’t know how well I would do, but I was comfortable. You reunited with your former Real Housewives of Atlanta co-star Kim Zolciak. Was that your first time crossing paths since Housewives? What was it like to reunite with her? Yes! Got To Get Out was definitely my first time crossing paths with Kim Zolciak since Housewives .
It was such a treat because Kim and I actually were never really friend, friends. During our Housewives time together, we just weren’t [close] for different reasons, mostly because when I came in, I came as Nene [Leakes’] friend and they were going back and forth so I was loyal to my friend. And we just never got to know each other.
What better way to get to know someone [than] being locked up in a house with them for 10 days? It’s a great way to know somebody, number one. And you can’t get out, which, well, we did eventually, but the rest, not so much. But anyway, it was great.
We ended up being roommates and I got a chance to really know Kim. And I have to say, I fell in love with her. And I’m so glad that we got to reconnect in a real way.
It just felt like a family member who I just wasn’t speaking to, I guess. And then we decided we were gonna be speaking. So it was really great.
And I was surprised at how much we had in common. I mean, she was just so transparent and authentic. It was just like we had been dying to talk to each other all these years.
Have you stayed close since you finished filming the show? I haven’t and only because I’m bi-coastal between Atlanta and LA. And I’ve been crazy busy, honestly, since I got out of the house between Housewives of Atlanta and my acting career and all the things, my podcast, Humble Brag with Crystal Kung Minkoff. We shoot it out here in LA, which is where I am now.
She’s on my books for us to do dinner or drinks at some point. I’m really looking forward to definitely connecting with her. That was one of the things we talked about.
Like, we got to hang out when we get out. And then, you know, she’s kind of busy as well. You know, her life is life-ing.
It just hasn’t been the time yet. But I’m looking forward to having a very strong margarita with Kim, for sure. I want to ask about your other roommate, Omarosa.
She told us that she was actually part of yours and Stein’s escape plan, but she was stuck in a Zoom class when it all went down. What was her part in the plan supposed to be? And do you think Stein should’ve split it three ways instead of two? That’s so funny. I’m so glad you brought that up because she actually texted me and was like, “Oh, I did an interview and I said that I was a part of the plan, but I know I wasn’t a part of the plan.
” So I think she misspoke on that. When I first came into the house, you guys never saw this part that was edited out, but Omarosa, Kim, and I were in an alliance. But that fell flat really quick.
It just didn’t work out. But in any case, she was not a part of the plan, although she was someone I did have my eye on if I ever got a clue. She was like one of my backup plans, for sure.
She’s someone that I definitely trusted in the house. And from the moment she walked in, she was, like, “I got you, sis.” And I was like, “Thank you, Lord.
” Because she’s the GOAT. She does really well on these types of shows. So she’s someone that I absolutely would have teamed up with if everything had aligned.
But here’s the problem. I’m older. She’s older.
I needed a runner. I learned [from] watching the show that she is a former track star or whatever. I didn’t know that at the time.
So I figured we were in the same boat and we needed some young legs to run the gate for us. I know I did, which is why I handpicked Mr. Stein.
After talking to him and asking him what he does and he’s like, “Oh, I’m all over the world. I do all this crazy, dangerous, adventurous stuff. I’m jumping off mountains and cliffs and swimming oceans and whatever.
” I was like, “If you can do all of that, you can run down this driveway and out of this gate. You can do that.” It seems like your real life is way harder than this.
So it was just a matter of time. Once I got the clue, Stein was my guy. He was also under the radar enough that no one would expect him.
Well, another thing that I loved about him, he was not like one of the louder people in the house. Nobody really was clocking in on him. And I was like, “Hmm, he’s quiet.
I think he can keep a secret. I felt like he was trustworthy, which was very important because if you’re gonna split the money, you want to make sure you get the money in the end from the person that you team up with. So I felt like his energy was right.
And for me, it just felt like he was my person. When I go into these reality show situations, I never usually want to go in to push any buttons, but this was the time I was the button, basically. I was the button queen! You were! Everyone trusted you with that button.
That was part of my strategy because I decided that I actually probably should have somewhat of a strategy when I go on these shows since I keep booking these types of shows. So my strategy was to build trust in the house. That’s number one.
And it was pretty easy, I’m not going to lie. Just hang out by the button all day. There was a nice comfortable couch and all I [have to] do is just hit the button.
I didn’t have to do a lot of work so it was a very appealing job to me. I committed to it. I committed to that button like it was nobody’s business.
Nobody was even concerned about the button because they knew I was there. So, building trust was number one. And then just being patient, waiting for a clue to fall into my lap.
So when I finally got one, then activating, not the button so fast, but activating a partner. Again, I’d already had my eye on Stein. So once I got my clue, when I was in play, I was ready to play.
And it worked because you won! I actually just watched it last week. I finally had time to watch it last week. And I’m watching it and I’m watching everybody else struggle to get out.
When you’re in it, you don’t realize how hard it is. I still can’t believe — look at the show, it’s so good, by the way. I love that it’s a binger.
You won over $100,000! How did you end up using the money? I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with the money yet. I’m still basking in the glory of even winning the competition with Stein and even making the extra money. But I will put it to good use.
Believe me, it’s not hard to spend money. But I’m just so excited that I won and I think this officially makes me like a gamer now because I won something. We need to see you on more competition shows ASAP! I know.
Well, I really want to do Traitors at some point. I felt like my poker face and my acting skills really helped me out. And I feel like in a lot of ways Got To Get Out has prepared me for Traitors down the line.
I’m not sure if you’ve seen the promos for Bravo’s new dating series Love Hotel , which your good friend Luann de Lesseps is on. Will you be watching? What do you hope for her and the other women? Not only will I be watching the show, I actually am on the show with her ..
. I’m watching the show. Luann is a very close friend of mine.
I’m a lover of love. She’s a lover of love. And she called me to come and be a second set of eyes for her.
She had her eye on a couple of guys and she wanted my advice. So they flew some of the friends of the ladies in. So I flew in as Luann’s friend to just kind of vet some of these men out that she was considering as her love interest.
You guys will see how that plays out. But yes, [I’m] so excited. It’s such a fun show.
If I wasn’t in a relationship, it would definitely be a show that I would consider doing. I’m even more excited about you being on it! They had a good line up of guys. I came to help her out but I was like, you know what, before I met my guy, I was on the dating apps and people were trying to hook me up and all the different things.
And I really was impressed with the men that they found to participate in a show to meet the ladies. I was like, “OK, this is cool.” I’m really excited for you guys to see how it all plays out.
It was great seeing Gizelle [Bryant] and Ashley [Darby] who I’m friends with as well. So we had a great time. The guys also had no concept of the Bravo universe, so it was probably a nice authentic change up for the ladies.
Yeah, it felt very authentic and just fun. No matter what anyone’s going through in their life, who doesn’t want to find love? You know what I mean? If you’re not in love, if you don’t have a love, no matter how happy you are or how successful you are in your life, everyone wants love. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Got To Get Out is currently streaming on Hulu..
