'RHOA' Recap: Apollo Nida's Girlfriend Crashes Kandi Buruss' Party

Just because a man’s locked up doesn’t mean he’s not playing the field — just ask the women of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. A surprise visitor dropped in on the Sunday, April 2, episode: She happened to be Apollo Nida‘s new girlfriend, Sherien Almufti. Watch all the highlights in our video recap above!

The episode began with Kandi Burruss and her husband, Todd Tucker, preparing for a soft opening of their restaurant. To be more accurate, Todd was reviewing the things that needed to be done and Kandi was doing her best to mask her disapproval of the fact that he still had so much work left. “She’s controlling,” Todd lamented to the camera — though in Kandi’s defense, it did seem like Todd might be in over his head.

Sheree and Kenya Have a Heart-to-Heart

Meanwhile, Kenya Moore dropped by Sheree Whitfield‘s (not-yet-completed) house to say hi. Both acknowledged how strange it was that they were actually friends now, but they both seemed happy about the change. Then they bonded over their recent breakups. “I just feel like I’ve been protecting [Bob] for so many years,” Sheree sighed, noting that she didn’t feel the same way about him since they got back from Hawaii. (ICYMI, Sheree and Bob got into a huge fight on the trip after he joked about choking her.) Kenya then revealed that she was done with Matt Jordan. Again.

“His desire to marry me has never gone away,” she said before adding that when he got mad, he turned “into the Hulk.” She admitted she still loved Matt, but said, “The more he revealed himself, the more I realized that he was not the one for me.” Sheree then invited Kenya to her upcoming housewarming party, and Kenya joked that she was going to bring a home inspector as their date. It was probably the nicest exchange these two had all season.

Apollo Stirs the Pot

Kandi’s husband, Todd, was driving Cynthia Bailey‘s ex-husband Peter Thomas around when Phaedra Parks‘ ex-husband (or maybe-not-quite-ex-husband) Apollo called from jail. He told his friends that he had a new girlfriend who was “an upgrade” from Phaedra and insisted that his divorce from the lawyer wasn’t final yet. “Well, s–t, man, it’s been real nasty,” Apollo reported before claiming that Phaedra had pretended she might not really want the divorce so that she could file the papers behind his back. Peter immediately called Phaedra a “con artist” and Apollo promised that things were “going to get real ugly” soon. Noted.

Cynthia’s Divorce Is Finalized

While Phaedra’s divorce status was once again in the air (she had recently insisted that it was finalized), Cynthia’s was most definitely done. Talking to her daughter, Cynthia was reflective, saying that she felt “relief,” but that it was “emotional” too. “It’s just like, ‘Now what?'” Cynthia said sadly. “Peter changed the course of my life, and for all of the great things that came out of that, I’ll always be grateful,” she added to the camera. “I’m going to be 50 years old, and I feel like this first 50 was for the people around me that I love and this next 50 is for me.” For what it was worth, Peter separately reiterated that he hadn’t wanted the divorce in the first place.

New Lady Shows Up to the Old Lady Gang Opening

The day before the restaurant opening, Kandi was clearly doubting that her husband was going to pull off the party. The place was dirty and the CO2 machine wasn’t going to arrive (you need that for anything that’s carbonated). “This is looking real crazy right now,” Kandi said to Todd in a tone that let him know she was not pleased. That’s when he revealed they were about $100,000 over budget. Yikes.

To Kandi’s (pleasant) surprise, however, Todd did seem to get it all together in time for the event and the party went off without a hitch. Cynthia, Sheree and Kenya all came. Porsha Williams wasn’t invited, and Phaedra went to Porsha’s house instead. (Porsha decided to throw Phaedra a birthday celebration with just the two of them, some champagne and some matching pajamas.)

Then Apollo’s new girlfriend Sherien walked in. “Boom, I’m here!” she said as she entered. Sherien insisted she was there representing Apollo, who wanted to support Kandi and Todd since they had been so supportive of him. Right. “What am I supposed to do with this chick?” Kandi asked the camera. “I don’t want any problems.”

When she sat down, Kandi began grilling her about her relationship with Apollo. “We found love,” Sherien said, dodging a question about how she and Apollo met. She did say they had been “friends” for about four years, prompting Kandi to ask if they “became friends” before or after Apollo went to jail. “Wifey wasn’t around so I was there more than she was,” Sherien replied with a shrug and a smile. “He’s been away for two years. She’s only been there twice.” Apollo called right then to say hello to everyone. How convenient.

“I feel awkward meeting your girlfriend,” Kandi said over the phone. One thing led to another and the topic of conversation became the status of Apollo and Phaedra’s divorce. Apollo insisted they were still in litigation, which directly contradicted what Porsha and Phaedra had been saying. Sheree, Kenya and Cynthia all perked up at that. “After [Phaedra] flipped the script on me in Hawaii, I just don’t believe anything that she says, ever,” Kenya said. The phone call cut off before Sherien got to tell Apollo how much she loved him, but it’s safe to say that her work at the party was pretty much done.

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The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs on Bravo Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.

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