Cynthia Bailey has got the streets talking with her latest admission.

The former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star appeared on the “Outlaws” podcast with TS Madison and revealed plainly and memorably why she didn’t marry the father of her child, actor and artist Leon. 

“Oh my God, wow. I’ve never been asked that question before!” Bailey laughed. “I did not marry Leon because I felt like, at the time, he’s an artist, I’m an artist, he’s a creative, I’m a creative, he’s a Pisces, I’m a Pisces. We are literally the same people in so many ways.”

Bailey went on, “I just felt like Leon’s a true artist. That man was born to be an actor. That is what he does, and a singer. I felt like he needed the type of partner that could really nurture that. He needed someone to let him be the artist.”

She was clear about who and how she was when they met over 25 years ago. Bailey was a model all about her career and she knew she didn’t have what it took to nurture Leon’s career and hers.

She said, “It’s tricky when you’ve got two artists and everybody’s going for the same thing. I’ve seen it be done, but I felt like I wouldn’t be able to fully just nurture his talent and the things that he needed from a partner because I was still figuring out what I was doing. I knew that it would probably be something in entertainment for sure and he’s in entertainment. So, I needed a partner that was maybe not so much doing the things that I was doing.” Bailey told Madison that she needed balance. 

She explained that she knew their relationship would happen the minute she saw him in a movie. “I knew I was going to meet Leon and I knew that we were going to connect and this was just seeing him movies. I would literally be like, ‘I’m gonna meet him one day.’ I knew there was going to be a connection. I’m telling you! And from the first time I met that man, we locked eyes and I was like, ‘I knew it!’ I don’t even know what that’s called, but I knew he was my person. I think we were put together to have Noelle.” Bailey told Madison that when she got pregnant with Noelle, marrying Leon still wasn’t the goal. “I didn’t want to be like, ‘I’m pregnant, let’s get married,’” she said.

Noelle is both Leon and Bailey’s only child. The 25-year-old is the center of their partnership and even though they are no longer romantically linked, the two still co-parent in perfect harmony and maintain a healthy and happy relationship. “I still love Leon. He’s one of my closest friends,” she said.

Bailey still thinks of her and Leon’s romance as a “beautiful time” and a “beautiful love story.” And she knew that their love story was meant to be. She told Madison, “[I have] a lot of love and respect for him. I just didn't feel like, at that time —- I still don’t feel like I’m his person in that way. I always felt like I was going to be in his life. I knew we were going to have sex. Now that, I knew! Some good sex! I didn’t know I was going to get pregnant and have the man’s baby! But I knew it was going to go down if we ever met.”

As for where Bailey stands romantically now, after high-profile marriages (she divorced Peter Thomas in 2017 and split from Mike Hill in 2022), she has kept her new love intentionally private while recently confirming a relationship with Amsterdam-based musician LePrince, whom she began seeing in 2024 and later went public with at a Los Angeles gala. Bailey has said she prefers building relationships away from the spotlight.