You Don’t Have to Be a Lapdog to Be a Loyal Friend, Says ‘RHOA’ Star Shamea Morton

All season long on The Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA), Shamea Morton has been tagged as a “lapdog” by castmate Drew Sidora—a tag that was subsequently laughed off by Morton on the March 16 episode of Watch What Happens Live. 

There, Morton snarked, “I saw [Kelli Ferrell]’s lapdog, and I was like, ‘Cha-Cha is living the good life.’ So if I can be that kind of lapdog, ruff ruff!”

But on Scheananigans, the multihyphenate peach holder sat down with host Scheana Shay and explained the very real difference between blind obedience and steadfast loyalty, while also discussing her friendship fallout with Porsha Williams and the deportation of Williams’s ex-husband, Simon Guobadia. 

What Morton means by loyalty vs. lapdog

Morton laughs off Sidora’s shady remarks but refuses to shrink from them. “I’m a loyal person,” she tells Shay before driving the point home. “If loyalty means lapdog to you, then I’ll bark yet again.”

For Morton, standing by a friend doesn’t equal losing her voice. She describes herself as “a loyal companion” who will “ride with you so the wheels fall off,” and she throws down a challenge to viewers and castmates alike, saying, “A lot of y’all could take a page out of my book because that’s hard to find.”

The sound-bite underscores her Brand Morton M.O.—show up, speak up, and stay solid even when the group chat turns hostile. In a franchise where alliances flip fast, the Atlanta Hawks vet argues that consistency is the real flex.

Where her friendship with Porsha Williams stands now

Morton and longtime bestie Williams have weathered a rough patch that played out on camera and across social feeds. Although Morton admits it was “very hurtful” to watch Williams align with newbie Britt Eady, she keeps the olive branch extended. “I love Portia. I wish her the best, and I just never wanted it to affect our friendship,” she says.

Morton insists there’s “room for everybody to rise and thrive,” meaning competition for screen time shouldn’t cancel a decades-deep sisterhood. She confirms the pair “moved past” an explosive moment when Williams publicly referenced tension between their mothers, choosing to focus on history over hysteria. “We’ve since moved past it,” Morton says simply, refusing to elaborate further.

Reacting to Simon Guobadia’s deportation

News that Nigerian-born entrepreneur Simon Guobadia was deported from the United States in April rocked the Bravo fandom, and Morton learned the update in real-time during the Scheananigans taping. 

Despite the recent tension, her first instinct wasn’t gossip—it was empathy. “I can only pray for him, pray for his family, and that whole situation because I can only imagine,” she explains, adding that she would “hate to be separated from my family.”

Morton, whose husband, Gerald Mwangi, was once close to Guobadia, calls the development “unfortunate” and highlights the human cost. “There was love at some point in their relationship,” she muses. “[But] they won’t ever get that closure because he is being deported.”

Why Morton’s no-nonsense definition of friendship resonates with RHOA viewers

In an era of screenshot warfare, Morton’s outlook is what it should be as a grown adult: drama-free. She tells Shay that giving compliments comes naturally because “it takes nothing from me, and I feel like we can all be amazing and share that same space.”

That positivity doesn’t make her a pushover. When fellow newcomer Eady switched from confrontation to a performative prayer circle in Grenada, Morton clocked the whiplash. “I was like, ‘what’s happening?’” she remembers. “You’re on your knees…this is not that moment.”

Morton’s ability to side-eye theatrics without stooping to them is precisely why her “lapdog” nickname never sticks. Loyalty, she insists, is active—checking in, showing up, and telling a friend hard truths when necessary. “Everybody can win,” she says, shutting down the idea that another woman’s shine dims her own.