What Happened to Kandi Burruss? Where She Is Now in 2026

If you grew up on ’90s R&B, Kandi Burruss was the voice behind Xscape’s harmonies and the pen behind some of the decade’s biggest hits. Then a whole generation met her again on reality TV, and another discovered her as a Tony-nominated Broadway producer. In 2026 she’s navigating a very public divorce with notable composure while building an empire that stretches from Atlanta to the theater district. Here’s where Kandi Burruss stands now.

01Profile

Full name

Kandi Burruss

Born

May 17, 1976 (50 years old)

Birthplace

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Occupation

Singer, songwriter, TV personality, Broadway producer, businesswoman

Best known for

Xscape; The Real Housewives of Atlanta; writing "No Scrubs" and "Bills, Bills, Bills"

Group

Xscape

Awards

Grammy Award-winning songwriter

Burruss has spent three decades reinventing herself without ever fully leaving any lane behind. She’s still a singer, still a songwriter, still a mogul with her hands in beauty, food, and entertainment ventures — and now, increasingly, a name in serious American theater.

02The Rise of a Hitmaker

Xscape and the ’90s R&B wave

Kandi Burruss broke through in the early ’90s as a member of Xscape, the Atlanta girl group signed to Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def label. With hits like “Just Kickin’ It” and “Understanding,” Xscape became one of the defining R&B acts of the era, racking up platinum sales and a run of chart singles that made them fixtures of the decade’s radio.

The songwriter behind the hits

Even as Xscape thrived, Burruss was quietly becoming one of the most consequential songwriters in pop and R&B. She co-wrote TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills” — two of the biggest singles of the late ’90s — earning her a Grammy Award and a permanent place in the credits of the era’s most-played songs. She also launched a solo career, with the 2000 single “Don’t Think I’m Not” landing as a Top 40 hit.

From music to media mogul

Over the 2000s and 2010s, Burruss built out a business portfolio that extended well beyond music — including her Kandi Koated cosmetics line, restaurants, and a range of entertainment ventures. That entrepreneurial reputation would become central to her later fame, as television introduced her to audiences who knew her more as a businesswoman than as a singer.

03Stepping Away From Reality TV

Burruss joined The Real Housewives of Atlanta in its second season and became one of the franchise’s longest-tenured and most respected stars.

• 2009Burruss joins The Real Housewives of Atlanta, quickly becoming a fan favorite for her candor and business acumen.
• 2010sShe expands into restaurants, cosmetics, and other ventures, with much of her entrepreneurial rise documented on the show.
• 2024Burruss announces her departure from RHOA after roughly 15 years, telling reporters at the Grammys it was time for a break.
• 2024She takes a role on Hulu's legal drama Reasonable Doubt, playing a character named Eboni Phillips.

As Variety and The Hollywood Reporter reported, Burruss announced her RHOA exit in 2024 on the Grammys red carpet, framing it as a decision to move on after a long run rather than a fallout. She has since said publicly that she still supports the show, even as she pursues acting and producing work that a weekly reality shooting schedule would have made difficult.

04The Broadway Producer

An unexpected second act on stage

Perhaps the most surprising chapter of Burruss’s career is her emergence as a Broadway producer with a serious eye for prestige material. Her producing credits include the Tony Award-nominated 2022 revival of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” and the 2024 revival of “The Wiz,” alongside other revivals of major works. Broadway trade coverage has repeatedly noted that she operates as a genuine producer, not merely a celebrity name attached to a marquee.

From the wings to center stage

In late 2025, Burruss added performing to her theater résumé. According to New York Theatre Guide and other outlets, she joined the Broadway company of the jukebox musical ”& Juliet” at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, playing the role of Angélique in a limited engagement running from December 2025 into early March 2026. For a performer who first made her name in a ’90s R&B group, stepping onto a Broadway stage decades later closed a loop few would have predicted.

“When Kandi Burruss produces on Broadway, she’s more than a celebrity name.” — Headline, Broadway News, on her work as a theater producer

05What She Is Doing Now

A finalized divorce, handled publicly

The most significant recent development in Burruss’s personal life is the end of her marriage to producer Todd Tucker. According to TMZ, TheGrio, and Forbes, the couple announced their split in November 2025 after 11 years of marriage, and a Fulton County judge finalized the divorce in March 2026. Reporting on the settlement described a lump-sum payment and a joint-custody arrangement for the couple’s two children; outlets noted the split appeared amicable, centered on co-parenting. Burruss has largely kept the details private, and the specifics beyond what those outlets reported remain her own.

Still creating across screen and stage

Professionally, Burruss enters mid-2026 with more irons in the fire than most artists half her tenure. She’s continuing her Broadway producing work on prestige revivals, has stepped in front of audiences again through her ”& Juliet” run, and remains part of Hulu’s Reasonable Doubt universe following her turn on the series. Her business ventures in beauty and food continue alongside the entertainment work.

A reputation for reinvention

What ties this era together is the same thing that has always defined Burruss: an unwillingness to be boxed into a single role. Singer, Grammy-winning songwriter, reality star, mogul, and now Broadway fixture — she has spent 2025 and 2026 proving that leaving one chapter behind doesn’t mean slowing down. Even amid a highly public divorce, she has kept the focus on the work.

06Summary

Kandi Burruss’s story is one of continuous reinvention — from harmonies to hit songwriting to the reality-TV era and, finally, to the theater.

Thirty years after Xscape first hit the charts, Kandi Burruss remains one of the busiest and most versatile figures in Black entertainment. Whatever the next chapter looks like, her track record suggests she’ll write it herself.