Kandi Burruss on Naming Son After Her Husband’s Late Mother: ‘She’s Not Here to Share This Moment with Us’
On Sunday night’s season 8 finale of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Kandi Burruss decided not to watch the scene that showed her and husband Todd Tucker visiting his mother Sharon‘s grave.
“I didn’t watch that part back, to be honest with you,” she tells PEOPLE. “It’s a weird feeling because [Todd] doesn’t feel like that’s his mother there in that grave anymore. It’s a reminder every time you go there, you think about everything that has happened in the last few years.”
For Burruss, 39, she remembers the well wishes and encouragement her mother-in-law provided their family before her now 10-week-old son Ace Wells was born.
“She really was the main one who used to always tell us, ‘Oh, I can’t wait for you to have a baby,’ ” Burruss says. “Now we have a baby and she’s not here to share this moment with us. It’s sad for us, even though we know that in our hearts, she’s watching over us and she’s with us in spirit.”
Andrew Thomas Lee
To keep her spirit alive, Burruss and Tucker decided to include her in naming Ace. His middle name, Wells, is his late grandma’s maiden name.
“We wanted to honor Sharon and we were trying to do it,” says the reality star. “I was like, ‘Oh, [Wells] would be a great middle name for our son.’ ”
Burruss says a newborn in her home has certainly mixed things up a bit.
“I’m starting all over and it’s almost like, ‘Wow, I forgot this part,’ ” she explains of having another baby 13 years after welcoming her first child, daughter Riley. “I’m getting adjusted and I think I’ve been pulling myself together pretty good … It’s all about finding my mojo [and] getting my swag back.”
Courtesy Kandi Burruss
But that doesn’t seem to be a problem with baby Ace, whom everyone adores.
“He’s amazing,” the proud mom says. “Everybody loves Ace. Ace is the bomb. He’s so cute, if I do say so myself. And he’s just an adorable baby. We brought him to New York with us this trip, it was his first time on a plane [and] he did awesome. He didn’t cry — it was great.”
Burruss isn’t sure if she and her family will be picked up for season 9, but assures that Ace will be featured if the Bravo show decides to keep them on.
“I’m sure if we are a part of the show, he definitely would be there,” she says.
The season 8 reunion episode premieres Sunday on Bravo.
— Blake Bakkila