Cynthia Bailey Talks Real Housewives, Ultimate Girls Trip, & Cocktails - Exclusive Interview

Fans of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" have watched Cynthia Bailey go through a lot of life during her many seasons on the show — from starting several businesses (including a modeling school and agency, the Bailey Agency School of Fashion, and a wine bar) to raising a daughter to getting married (twice!). But unlike many reality TV stars, Bailey has no interest in being famous just for being famous. Indeed, according to Millennium Magazine, she initially turned down offers to be on the show, finding it "too dramatic." As a model, actress, and entrepreneur, however, she soon came to realize the show would be a great platform for building her brand. And after finally signing on, she was pleased to find her instincts were correct. "Bravo is an incredible business platform, with built-in advertising," she told Millennium Magazine.

But as all entrepreneurs know, change is inevitable — and essential if you want to keep growing, either personally or professionally. So after starring on the show for years, Bailey announced it was time to move on. (She didn't leave the "Housewives" franchise entirely, though: She recently starred in the crossover series "The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.")  But leaving "RHOA" doesn't mean Bailey is slowing down — far from it. She has plenty of big plans for life after the show. In this exclusive interview, she shares her favorite memories from "RHOA," her love of tasty cocktails, and her future plans.

So have you ever had like an absolute favorite cocktail?

Yes, honestly, one of my favorites ... The great thing about all of the Seagram's Escapes flavors, you can drink them by themselves just as they are, or you can have a lot of fun with it. You can layer them. You can do vodka with a splash of the Peach Bellini, or even more like what I'm super excited about is the Seagram's Escapes Aloha Ice variety pack. We have four new flavors. We have Pink Pineapple Passion, Island Berry, which is so delicious. I had that actually the other day for the holidays. And it's such a cute drink you can make for the holidays — it's called a Santa Hat Martini, and it actually has a marshmallow and a coconut rim. It is so amazing. Like you guys have to go onto SeagramsEscapes.com to get the recipe because it's super easy to make. It's called the Santa Hat Martini, and that one's made with the Island Berry.

One of the other new flavors is the Hawaiian POG, and the fourth flavor is the Strawberry Guava. And these are all like so yummy. And again, you can drink them alone or you can throw in a splash of vodka, throw in a splash of tequila, even like a sparkling white wine or some champagne. You can really mix it up. And it's also fun to actually take the flavor of your choice and pour it into ice cubes and freeze them and then put the frozen ice flavors in a glass and throw like a little tequila shot on top or vodka. That's a lot of fun as well. They have so many super easy fun recipes on SeagramsEscapes.com.

Do you have any specific secrets for making really great cocktails?

Well, for me, I just like to keep it simple. I'm, at heart, a vodka girl, and I am a tequila girl, and I also like a good sparkling white wine as well. So for me, it's either I'm going all in or I'm just keeping it simple. And I pretty much like to keep it simple. Like I really honestly enjoy all of the flavors just on their own as well, just over ice.

So, cocktails are a must for a good party. What else do you think you need to have a really great party?

You need a great group of people, that's first and foremost to enjoy the delicious cocktails. But you can have so much fun. Even like going back to the Santa Hat Martini, that drink is rimmed with marshmallow and coconut, and you can also like partner it up with coconut cupcakes. You know what I'm saying?

You can create desserts to complement the different drinks as well. And with any cocktail, I always love a good charcuterie board as well because I always feel like, although it's a limited amount of alcohol in the actual Seagram's Escapes cocktail drinks, if you drink enough of them, it does add up. And if you layer it with vodka or tequila, or wine or champagne, it's always good to make sure you have some food inside your stomach as well. So a good charcuterie board, some cookies that may complement whatever flavor you're drinking. And like I said, the one thing I'm really excited about this holiday season is the Santa Hat Martini, and I think they pair really nicely with a nice charcuterie board or some coconut cupcakes.

Well, it sounds like quite a journey. So on "Ultimate Girls Trip," was there anyone that you were looking forward to spending time with?

I think I was the most curious about getting to know Teresa Giudice because I feel like, out of everyone in the group, out of all the ladies that attended the trip, she was the one that I knew the least about. I only knew of her personality, really from the show. We do have mutual friends in common, and we actually have gone to dinner before ... We had gone to dinner before with a mutual friend, but we still didn't get to know each other. I feel like Teresa's been through the most out of all of the ladies. I mean she went to prison, I mean, like that alone is something very hard to deal with and to overcome.

And the way she overcame all of the issues that she was dealing with or has dealt with was amazing to me because she had to deal with them privately. And she also had to deal with them publicly and on the show. So I just think there's a certain amount of strength a person has to have to overcome so many obstacles like that. To leave her children, I mean, I have so much love and respect for her. She actually ended up not only being the person that I wanted to get to know the most, [but also] the one that I actually bonded with the most. And we are great friends, and we'll be friends forever as a result of the "Ultimate Girls Trip."

So what was it like filming with the stars of the other "Real Housewives" shows?

Oh, it was great. You know, of course, there was drama, but you know, what I loved about being asked to be a part of the first "Ultimate Girls Trip," I just knew that it was something that the fans had been wanting for a really long time, and not even just the fans. Even as a Housewife, I've always been curious about what it would be like to mix it up and have different Housewives from different franchises in one house together.

So yeah, being asked to be a part of the first one was really, really cool. And I really enjoyed getting to know all of the ladies, even the ones that I bumped heads with or I had a disagreement with. I think at the end of the day, I feel because of that trip that I will forever be bonded and have a connection with all of those ladies.

Do you have any favorite moments from being on the show? Favorite memories?

Yes, I do. Well, I have a couple. Getting married on the show was a favorite, of course, because I married my now-husband, Mike Hill. And I finally got my happily ever after, and you know, he's my best friend. So I was excited to share that moment with the fans. I also really loved the moment where my daughter came out on the show as fluid — Noelle. That was a really important conversation for us. And it really affected a lot of the fans that watched the show because there's so many parents who have children that are fluid, so that was a big moment to share that conversation on the show. I thought it was important for her to create her own narrative in terms of how she wanted to put that information out there.

You know, as a reality star, we don't have a lot of privacy, even our children. So if she is living a certain lifestyle off the show and you know, the world, like the blogs and all of the other media outlets, [is] privy to that, it almost feels like we're hiding something from show. So it's always just really good as a reality star to just put it on the show, just be transparent. And that way, you can tell your own story. 

And my other moment that I'm super proud of is when I had my fibroid surgery, UFE, uterine fibroid embolization. And that was an important moment because so many women suffer from fibroids, and at the time, the producers weren't really sure if this was something people really cared about. And now I cannot tell you how many women have come up to me and thanked me for sharing that moment on the show because a lot of women didn't really talk about that.

Celebrities didn't really talk about fibroids. It just wasn't like a cool thing to talk about. It was kind of one of those things that you just kind of didn't talk about. It was like a secret or whatever, and not only do I talk about it, I continue to talk about it. I talked about it then. I brought it to the forefront and I am still having those conversations with an organization called Fibroids USA, where I still make sure that I have a platform to continue to encourage women who are suffering with fibroids to know their options and get the help that they need to really honestly get their life back.

Fibroids can have such an impact on your physical and even mental health in a lot of ways. Because of fibroids, a lot of women suffer from depression and they're anemic. I mean, it just goes on and on and on. So yeah, those three moments were probably my best moments, but I've had so many moments on this show. Oh my goodness, I opened up my school on the show, the Bailey Agency School of Fashion. I opened up my wine cellar on the show, the Bailey Wine Cellar.

Wow. I mean, it's just too many to — I could go on and on and on. It's been an incredible journey.