Welcome to I'll Tell You How I'm Doing, in which we get to know the husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends, hairdressers, party planners and any other supporting character on Bravo we can get to talk to us! — by digging into their lives. Today, we're talking to Mike Hill, Cynthia's husband on the Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Mike Hill has been a television personality for nearly 25 years, as a sportscaster for ESPN and Fox, and now in a new role co-hosting the morning show “Start Your Day with Sharon and Mike” on Black News Channel. But Cynthia Bailey's husband — as viewers of The Real Housewives of Atlanta know him — was in for a whole new experience when he joined the show as Cynthia's love interest in Season 11, after the couple met on Steve Harvey's talk show, SteveTV.
In addition to his new morning anchoring gig, Hill runs Thrill of Entertainment, a multimedia production company he founded, and in 2020 released his autobiography, Open Mike, for which Cynthia provided the foreword (awww).
As Season 13 of RHOA winds down, the now-married Mike Hill took a look back at his three seasons as a reality TV beau and talked to us about his wedding, his bride's big — and we do mean big! — Bolo Bachelorette, and the difference between sports fans and Bravo fans.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The Dipp: Your wedding to Cynthia Bailey was just featured on The Real Housewives of Atlanta; what moment or moments were you most looking forward to watching back?
Mike Hill: It was great to just see it. Believe it or not, I hadn’t seen extended footage of that day until the night of the show; I’d seen a few small clips but not put together like that. I got emotional over again seeing her walk down the aisle. She was so beautiful. People are still talking about the vows.
Other than your wedding, what was your favorite moment from this season?
The engagement surprise party that Kenya threw for us. We really thought we were going to see Joe Biden, and even though we didn’t get to see him, that night was beautiful. Like Kandi, Kenya has often looked out and done really sweet things for Cynthia and I’ve always appreciated that. My other favorite moments have been how they showed the feeling of the time with the BLM movement and how they navigated around COVID.
Your response to Cynthia telling you about her surprise bachelorette party, Bolo and all, struck many viewers as very modern, easy-going, fun and loving. Tell us more about how you felt receiving the news in the moment, and then also how it sat with you.
I thought it was funny! She was telling me that they had a blast and to me, that was the only thing that mattered. I’m too old and secure to be jealous. She was open and transparent about even telling me, so that was a plus. I was actually happy that Kandi was thoughtful enough to make sure she had a bachelorette party. I’m not too surprised about some of the things she tells me when it comes to this group anymore.
On WWHL, Cynthia said you had a more negative response when you watched the bachelorette party episode. The experience of hearing about something versus seeing it is different, tell us what that was like.
Well, I’m secure but let’s just say there was a detail or two that was left out once I saw it. I don’t think any man wants to actually see his lady at her bachelorette party, doing some of the things that were happening there. We talked about it. It’s no big deal. I’m just happy there were no cameras at my bachelor party LOL.
You've been on TV for over 25 years, but is being on The Real Housewives of Atlanta different from what you thought it would be like?
I will admit, I was a bit naive going in. I thought my previous years of being on television, especially being in the world of sports, would prepare me for the reality TV world and how dedicated the fans are — but I was wrong. Reality show fans are on a different level.
We see Mike Hill on RHOA, but in small doses, and we want to know more! What do you think viewers would be surprised to learn about you?
I don’t know if there would be anything that would surprise viewers — I’ve been an open book. However, I do sometimes come across as too serious or not fun on the show. I LOVE TO HAVE FUN and act like a kid. I’m a hard worker but I work to LIVE.
Is there anything I didn't ask that you think I should have?
I’d like to add that it was great to actually get the phone call from my publicist seeing my book cover for the first time. That was an authentic moment I’m happy was captured.
We like to end with a whimsical question! If you could give yourself a nickname, what nickname would you want people to call you?
Kenya calls me “Magic Mike” but I’ll have to go with “Thrilla" … for a number of reasons.
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Feature Image: Instagram/Mike Hill