Kandi Burruss Was Surprised Andy Cohen Was ‘Super Sad’ Over Her ‘RHOA’ Exit

Kandi Burruss never thought Andy Cohen would have strong feelings about her Real Housewives of Atlanta departure.

“He was super sad, which I was like, I don’t know how I expected him to feel,” Burruss, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, April 19, while discussing her and husband Todd Tucker’s Broadway revival of The Wiz. “I didn’t know that he cared that much.”

The RHOA explained that Cohen, 55, called her after she let the show’s team know that she would not return for season 16 of the Bravo series. In their chat, Burruss shared that Cohen wasn’t sure how to process it, but the reality star assured him they would “figure it out.”

“Basically we had a long heart-to-heart and he made me get teary-eyed, honestly, because at first I’m just like, OK, yeah, I’m onto the next,” she recalled. “And then he’s saying all these things making me feel like, dang, did I make the right choice?”

Burruss admitted she was touched that Cohen had such an emotional reaction to the news and how he publicly shared how much he was going to miss her.

“It made me feel special because then he also went on his radio show to say how much he was going to miss me and everything,” she told Us. “And I feel like we really developed a good relationship based off of just us having a relationship.”

The reality star also shared that she was grateful that she and Cohen had established a “personal level of trust” where the duo could speak openly with one another. After news broke in February that she was leaving, Cohen gushed about how Burruss had an “unbelievable run” on the reality series and how he enjoyed being by her side through it all.

“She has been one of my favorite people to work with in my whole time. First, as an exec at Bravo, and then as an E.P. of The Housewives and hosting Watch What Happens Live,” Cohen recalled on Sirius XM’s Radio Andy. “I love how competitive she is. I love how thoughtful and smart she is. She is so strategic.”

Burruss revealed that she was going on a RHOA hiatus for the rest of the year so she could focus on other projects, including going on tour with her girl group Escape and producing a Broadway revival of The Wiz with her husband.

“It was my favorite musical of all time,” Burruss said of the show, which is a take on The Wizard of Oz. “[It is] a classic. And we got to show love to our producing partner Brian Moreland because he was like, ‘Hey, what do you guys think about bringing back The Wiz?’ And I was like, ‘I’m in. Let’s make it happen.’”

The current revival, which premiered on April 17 at New York City’s Marquis Theatre, stars Wayne Brady, Deborah Cox and Nichelle Lewis.

“We did a great job with just casting an amazing cast. Everybody can sing and they’re all incredible vocally. But even the dancers in the background — everybody can sing,” Burruss gushed about the talented crew. “That’s what somebody said to me the other day, they were like, ‘I think it’s crazy how even your dancers can sing. That’s great.’ Everybody is doing everything in this show and it really makes it fun and interactive and makes you want to get up and sing with them.”

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi