The popular reality-television show, “Little Women: Atlanta,” has been on the Lifetime network as one of the spin-off series of the TV series franchise, “Little Women.” The show focused on the lives of little people as they navigate the world of average-sized people, making its TV debut in January 2016, and becoming one of the most-watched TV shows on the cable channel. It aired its final episode for the sixth season in September 2021, and fans have been wondering if it will be back for another season this 2022.
Premise and background of “Little Women: Atlanta”
“Little Women: Atlanta” is a show about seven women based in Atlanta, with a genetic condition called dwarfism. They prefer to be called ‘little people’, who generally share the same physical characteristics of having a height of four feet ten inches and under. It featured the common problems that most little people encounter, and the things they have to deal with in the average-sized world.
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Just like the original series, it also has the element of what made “Real Housewives” successful, and was the second spin-off series based on the success of “Little Women: LA” from the production company Kinetic Content.
It generated close to 1.5 million views each episode from its premier on 27 January 2016. The first to be included in the cast was Ms. Juicy, who has been popular in the local little people community due to her radio stint. It was through her that the main cast was completed, from the list of little women who were living in Atlanta.
Meet the original cast of “Little Women: Atlanta”
Just like most reality-TV series, some narratives stayed the same, but some evolved as the series grew bigger. However, the success of any show depends particularly on how the first season was presented to the viewers and how the main cast of characters was perceived. So get to know the original cast that made the series equally interesting as the original series:
Ms. Juicy (4’0”, Season 1 – 6)
Shirlene “Juicy” Pearson was born on 5 January 1972, in Corsicana, Texas. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from DeVry Institute of Technology, works as a radio show host, and was one of the regulars on the “Rickey Smiley Morning Show” from 2008 to 2019. In 2020, she started co-hosting a digital radio show called “ReecRadio.” She’s known in the little people community with her self-proclaimed title, “Queen of Atlanta.” She was married for 15 years, but it ended in divorce. In the show, she’s considered the mother figure of the group as she’s the oldest member of the cast. She has a beef with another member, Ashley “Minnie Ross.”
Minnie “Mama Bear” (4’3”, Season 1 – 6)
Ashley Rosemarie “Minnie” Ross was born on 21 October 1985, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Chattanooga State Community College, and was a professional hairstylist before she joined the reality-TV show.
Minnie has a tight friendship with fellow cast members, the Tiny twins. She’s not on good terms with Juicy – they were once friends, but drifted apart somewhere along the way; Minnie said that Juicy would often say mean and cruel things about her, while Juicy claimed that Minnie was a consummate liar. In April 2021, it was reported that Minnie died in a vehicular accident, and her fellow cast members paid tribute to her in the premiere of the sixth season of the show.
Emily “Right Cheek” Hernandez (4’1”, Season 1 – 2, 5)
Emily Fernandez was born on 30 June 1991, to biological parents of average height. They put her up for adoption when she was a baby, and she was adopted by a couple from the little people community. Life has been tough for her since her mother passed away when she was a teenager, and her father lives out of state.
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Emily works as an event host and a professional club dancer, along with her best friend and fellow cast member Briana Barlup. She calls herself “Right Cheek” with Bri as the “Left Cheek”, after they were featured in Lil Chuckee’s music video, “Da Wop.” After the filming of the MV, they were professionally known as the duo “The Cheeks.” Emily has a daughter named Eva, who is four years old and of average normal height.
Bri “Left Cheek” Barlup (3’11”, Season 1 – 2, 5)
Brianna Lyn ‘Bri’ Barlup was born on 20 April 1992, in Dover, Pennsylvania; her father was average-sized and her mother has dwarfism. She was a daddy’s girl, and it was quite hard for her growing up since she lost him in a car accident when she wasnine years old. She has a two-year-old son named Malik who is also a little person – Wooda is the father of her baby, is of average-height, and with whom she fell in love the day they met.
They have a complicated relationship, as they live together, but he doesn’t want to commit to her; she’s not waiting for him forever.
Before she moved to Atlanta, she worked for Emily in Texas as a nanny for her daughter. The best friends met at a Little People of America convention and since that day have become a family. They were curious as to why people can’t tell them apart, because they aren’t twins. They’ve danced at parties, hosted events, and acted in MVs.
Tiny Twins: Amanda (3’11”m Season 1 – 6) and Andrea (3’10”, Season 1 – 6)
Amanda and Andrea Salinas were born on 18 April 1993, in Texas, so are known as the Tiny Twins -Amanda claims that she’s the angel and Andrea the devil between the two. They moved from Dallas, Texas to Atlanta because they heard the clubs were popping. Just like Emily and Briana, they worked as entertainers in the club scene. Going to Atlanta was a huge step for them as it was the first time they’d lived on their own, away from their families. They also brought their boyfriends Jordan and Chris with them.
Andrea said one of the reasons moving to Atlanta was hard was because she couldn’t bring her son Andre with her. He’s two years old and also a little person, and almost died when born because he was sickly. Later on, he was diagnosed with a lung disease so they decided to let him stay with his grandparents.
Monie Cashette (4’6”, Season 1 – 4, 6)
Tiffany “Monie” Cashette was born on 26 October 1982, in Houston, Texas; she was a medical claims examiner before she joined the TV show. She was previously married to Derrick Becton Sr., and they have a son named D2. Monie soon fell in love again and became engaged to Morlin Ragland; their planning and the wedding ceremony were part of her narrative in the show, all chronicled in four episodes with the other girls helping her make it a memorable one. In the “Little Women” universe, she’s the tallest in their group, but only second to Jessica Capri Sloan from “Little Women: NY” by an inch.
Cast replacements after The Cheeks left the show
When Emily and Briana left the show and returned to live in Texas, the show upgraded Tanya Scott’s status from guest to the main cast in the third season, but she only stayed with the show for two seasons. They also added Samantha Ortiz in the fourth season, but she wasn’t seen after that. During the sixth season, they added Abira Greene to the mix.
Tanya Scott (3’11”, Season 3-4)
Tanya Tehanna Scott was born on 13 June 1993, in Virginia. She worked as an exotic dancer, but retired when she found out she was pregnant. When she gave birth to her son Jaidan, she had an epiphany and became a herbalist. One of the reasons why she moved to Atlanta was to expand her business called “Life Body Naturals.” She now has three children, two with an ex-boyfriend music producer and vegan chef Devon Neal, the third with another ex-boyfriend, Nico Cobb.
Sam Ortiz (less than 4’0”, Season 4)
Samantha Ortiz was born on 18 January 1995, in New Jersey, and is the youngest to be included in the cast.
She was a make-up artist before she joined the TV show, and was already friendly with Monie and Tanya. The decision to move to Atlanta was purely about business, as she wanted to expand her clientele – she was busy preparing and launching her online “Sam’s Glam Shop” when she was on the show. It was difficult on her part, because she left her boyfriend, Michael, in New Jersey, so they had to adjust to a long-distance love affair.
Abira Greene (4’1”, Season 6)
Abira was born on 6 March 1986, in Tampa, Florida. She used to be an exotic dancer with the stage name Fire, sometimes called Lil Vee/Lil Vicious. Exotic dancing was her bread and butter for 10 years, before she transitioned to become a singer-rapper, businesswoman, and reality-TV star. At one point in her life, she also tried boxing as a career. She has four children to support – Jazsper, J-Henri, Terbira and Phoebe – only the youngest turned out to be a little person like her.
Abira was friends with Tanya Scott even before she joined the TV show, as they used to dance together, and moved to Atlanta to pursue a singing career. She started as a recurring guest in the show for three seasons, before she was promoted to the regular cast. Her turbulent relationship with the Tiny Twins over the years made headlines; initially, the fights between them were all verbal with both sides throwing shade, and then they escalated to getting physical with each other.
Interesting drama and rumors in “Little Women: Atlanta”
Here are some of the most popular issues and altercations in “Little Women: Atlanta”:
The beef between The Cheeks and the Tiny Twins
It was quite obvious from the first episode that Emily and Briana have a beef with Amanda and Andrea. The moment they found out thru Instagram that the Tiny Twins arrived in Atlanta, it didn’t sit well with the duo. Apparently, it was The Cheeks who opened the doors for the twins in the club scene, so they could make money with their looks and skills back in Dallas. Emily felt that they had been used, and it seemed that the twins had become too arrogant for their own good.
She said she’d had enough of them copying their every move, and believed that the twins purposely wanted to take over the club scene from them.
There was a twerking contest in a club hosted by Miss Juicy, in which both the Cheeks and the Tiny Twins participated – Emily was upset that the twins had a lot of nerve coming to their turf. Andrea, on the other hand, said that they would surely win the contest since they have fat asses. The Tiny Twins won the competition that night, as the people found the twins adorably sexy. It sure upset The Cheeks duo, and when they had a small talk after the competition, things turned ugly. Minnie arranged a Spa Bonding Day for them to sort out their differences, and they agreed to call a truce, but all knew that it could be broken anytime.
The long-standing beef between Ms. Juicy and Minnie
During the first season, Minnie said that she and Juicy had a long history together, and were once close friends. Juicy said during the debut episode that Minnie repeatedly said untruthful things. for instance, she highly doubted Minnie’s claims that she was in a relationship with rapper Pastor Troy.
When Emily and Briana told Minnie that Juicy told them that she was lying about it, she was upset, as at her age she doesn’t need to make up stories like that.
In the next two seasons, Minnie claimed that she was impregnated by her boyfriend. When Pastor Troy was asked about it, he initially told everyone that there must be a DNA test first, but never denied the relationship. However, later on he told everyone that it wasn’t true, as they weren’t really dating, that Minnie was just his friend. He claimed that Minnie told that story to attract interest but he wasn’t upset about it, since it would help his friend gain relevance. In the third season of “Little Women: Atlanta,” Minnie confessed to Juicy that she wasn’t pregnant. The Tiny Twins who were pretty close to her were upset that Minnie lied to them, and to make matters worse, Juicy was the first to be informed about it. One of the issues that they also had was when Juicy claimed that Minnie underhandedly took management of the singing careers of Amanda and Andrea from her. Juicy said that Minnie has always been jealous of her and wanted to be a Juicy wannabe.
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Juicy’s Bloody Party: Abira vs. Tiny Twins
While other reality-TV stars would make an effort to leave their tempers at the door before filming, so that they won’t get into an altercation with their frenemies on the show, some of the cast of “Little Women: Atlanta” couldn’t care less. When Abira first appeared in the TV show, one of the twins invited her to their first gig so she could hang out with all the girls. However, she was bitchy during the event, making faces and criticizing the performance of the twins. After that, there was a confrontation, and insults were thrown. Juicy fixed the situation by having the two sides talk it out as mature people, and they came to an agreement.
However, it seemed that each time they get together, their mouths would get the better of them. One of the most unforgettable fights between Abira and the twins was when they all attended the launch of Juicy’s new eyewear line at a restaurant. It started with just a simple argument that escalated with drinks being thrown – Juicy tried to placate them, but soon found herself with a bloody cut on her forehead caused by one of the glasses that was thrown.
Cancelation rumors in 2022
The last episode of the sixth season was aired in September 2021, and fans eagerly waited for the seventh season, but rumors that it was canceled went around social media. There was no official announcement about it, but Joe Gnoffo, one of the executive producers of the show, posted something about it on his Instagram: ‘With the “Little Women: Atlanta” season finale happening last week, it’s most likely a conclusion of all things “Little Women” on the Lifetime network.’
He also said that he’d like to congratulate and celebrate his wife, Terra Jole, for getting the job done with flying colors. Joe also mentioned the 10 spin-off series and other specials created due to the success of the original show. Some of the fans were confused as to whether the post was about the cancelation of the shows altogether, or just that their contract with Lifetime network ended. Generally, most of the viewers took it as a good-bye post, and considered that all the shows under the “Little Women” franchise were canceled.
