Photo Credit: Derek Blanks
On the “A” w/Souleo
When the married stars of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Cynthia Bailey Thomas and Peter Thomas set out to write their joint memoir, Carry On Baggage: Our Nonstop Flight, they didn’t expect to discover new things about each other. After all, they have known each other for nearly 20 years and shared their ups and downs on national television.
“I discovered a lot of things about her,” says Thomas. “There is a lot of stuff she talks about that I never knew exactly how she felt until I read them.”
One of those revealing surprises involves Bailey opening up in detail about the couple’s financial struggles, which were well documented during their first year as cast members on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
“I believed in him when he sold me the Peter Thomas dream because I wanted to and loved him. So he was surprised at how much I felt that I sacrificed for this relationship and how upset I was with him for quiet awhile when things started to fall apart,” she says.
The book also chronicles their efforts to maintain a blended family, establish and run a family empire and keep the romance alive after age forty, at a time when both are admittedly set in their ways. Still they hope readers learn the value of honesty that Bailey credits as having saved their marriage. “In your forties relationships are more of a struggle ‘cause you’re not as open minded. But I am honest with my intentions, my expectations and myself. If you’re honest with each other there is nowhere else to go but to a resolution that works for the both of you.”
In hindsight, Jay King of the band, Club Nouveau wishes he had learned the proper conflict resolution skills early in his career. In the late 1980s, the band was on top of the charts with hits including a Grammy-winning cover of Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me,” “Jealousy” and “Why You Treat Me So Bad.” Yet that all began to change after King’s temper led him to a major confrontation with former Warner Bros. Records executive, Mo Ostin.
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