SHE’S PEACHY
‘Housewives of Atlanta’ pal seeks star status
‘REAL Housewives of Atlanta” friend/confidant Marlo Hampton hopes to be validated on the series by getting to hold a Georgia peach in the show’s opening credits — just like full-time stars NeNe Leakes, Kenya Moore, Porsha Williams, Eva Marcille, Candi Burruss and Cynthia Bailey. “I personally don’t care about holding a peach, but I do feel I deserve one because I think it’s only fair that fans know what I actually do and how I actually live,” says Hampton. “They only see 15 minutes of me [in each episode] stirring up some mess. But they don’t know if I cry at night. It’s so much more to me than just labels. “I think NeNe can definitely recommend [my getting a peach]. Candi and Porsha and even Wendy Williams have said [to] give me a peach,” she says, alluding to her recent appearance on “The Wendy Williams Show” when Williams gave her a peach to hold. “I think it’s just a decision from Bravo.” Hampton was born in Clearwater, Fla. and raised in St. Petersburg by a mother who suffered from substance abuse, forcing her to live in five foster homes before finding a permanent residence. “Emma is my biological mother and Arrie was my foster grandmother, who made sure I went to college and kept me on track.” Hampton earned a B.A. Interdisciplinary Science from the University of South Florida in 2003 and later moved to Atlanta to open a boutique called The Red Carpet, which she operated for 10 years, rubbing shoulders with the city’s elite. She then invested in real estate and has been a “Real Housewives” staple for eight years. Many of the show’s fans have questioned what Hampton does for a living to afford such an extravagant lifestyle, since she’s known for her over-the-top fashions. But she says she’s always been like that. “I wasn’t always able to afford labels but I always look good, regardless,” she says. “I worked at Wet Seal, Arden B, BeBe, Allstate, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks. I made great money and I get paid when I post something online — and my home is paid for.” She’s recently been joined in her home by her two nephews Michael, 12 and William, 11. “I’m a ‘mumty’ now,” she says. “My sister has mental issues; she’s bipolar and schizophrenic. My nephew called crying and said, ‘Aunty, can you come get me? The people are coming to take my mom.’ My nephews came to me in April and my little brother passed in March.” Even with so much on her plate, Hampton says she still has fun on the Bravo series. “The best part of the show is the sisterhood when we do get along,” she says. “The trips are amazing.” But there’s a bad side, too, she says. “It absolutely hurts my feelings when Eva [Marcille] talks about me not being a mother,” she says. “You don’t know if I’m dealing with any fertility issues, and I just feel that when it comes to children and fertility issues, that’s something that’s offlimits. And with [Eva] being a mother, I think it’s just an awful thing to say. “It’s really below the belt.” She says her friendship with Leakes is “in a great place” after some ups and downs, and that she wants people to know she’s just like everyone else. “I’m just human. I’m a sister and a daughter,” she says. “I have feelings like everyone else. I put on a hard shell but I’m really super-sensitive. When I’m sad I just go sit in my closet all the time. I was naked the other night with just heels on and I just danced in the closet. “It was definitely my happy place.”