It's Time For 'Married to Medicine's Dr. Jackie and Dr. Simone to Go-quang

The last season of Married to Medicine has been the messiest season yet. The shift happened when Dr. Heavenly Kimes played puppet master, positioning Dr. Greg Lunceford, Quad Webb's ex, and his new wife Lateasha Lunceford were added to the cast last season. In addition to the Luncefords coming on board while Quad was readjusting to her conflict with the rest of the women, producers added former RHOA attorney turned reality diva Phaedra Parks as a wildcard. Contrary to the show's mission, Phaedra was cast without any affiliation to medicine. Before Phaedra, the core cast was either the spouse of a medical practitioner or the practitioner themselves.

When Dr. Greg and his former wife Quad divorced; her presence on the cast felt disjointed because she was separated from the medical fraternity through the divorce. Still, fans of the show knew how Quad ended up on the show and didn't protest about her sticking around with the doctors and their wives. Phaedra's presence on the series meant all bets were off and Married to Medicine was attempting to compete with its flashier and much more popular Bravo labelmate, Real Housewives. But even Phaedra couldn't save the show. And now, its resident HBIC's Dr. Jackie Waters and Dr. Simone Whitmore's presence is no longer needed.

Phaedra Parks Brought More Reality Drama to 'Married To Medicine'

Producers added Phaedra to the series hoping she would bring some of her Real Housewives fan base and also realized it would be a great way to put the blonde bombshell in place to return to RHOA. Phaedra delivered on the drama and producers squeezed as much as they could out of her, bringing her ex-husband Apollo and his wife on a couples trip. Thanks to the entertaining dentist that is Dr. Heavenly, fans realized the show was transitioning to more "mess" and less "medicine". The not-so-subtle changes have left Dr. Jackie Walters, the resident goody, two shoes, and Dr. Simone Whitmore, the no-nonsense OB-GYN, out of sorts with the rest of the cast.

Dr. Jackie Is the Closest Thing to Michelle Obama on Reality TV

Dr. Jackie has been the face of Married to Medicine since its inception in 2013. The pretty, accomplished and extremely successful OB-GYN is the epitome of class and presents a perfect example for women aspiring to be in the medical field. Aside from Michelle Obama, there are few women revered as much as Dr. Jackie and she came as close to a presidential appointment as possible when she spoke on behalf of the black maternal health care crisis with 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Dr. Jackie is possibly the only reality star that would convince the democratic presidential candidate to make a cameo on a prime-time unscripted show.

Every season Dr. Jackie tries to encourage her friends and co-stars to aspire to interact with each other with class and grace, and every season she fails. This season things reached an all-time low when Dr. Jackie was pushed to the ground attempting to break up a physical confrontation on a group trip between Dr. Heavenly and Dr. Contessa. Fans held their breath watching Dr. Jackie pleading with a headstrong Dr. Heavenly to stop. The scene revealed much more than the distance between Dr. Heavenly and Dr. Contessa. It illustrated how far Dr. Jackie was from the new direction the show has continued to move in.

Dr. Simone was introduced as one of rhe most successful OB-GYNs in Atlanta, a wife and mother of two boys. Although Simone is hard-working and could be considered a perfectionist, it quickly became clear that she is a firecracker in her own right. Unlike Jackie, Simone will clap back at a co-star if needed, but her comfort zone is in being a great doctor to her patients and a pillar for her family. Simone has had several outbursts with her co-stars, including the fiery exchange between her and Quad at the reunion. She operates on principle and will vocally stand up for what she believes in, even if it means going against a friend. Still, even with Simone's friendship disputes, it's clear that isn't her happy place. She would prefer to remain in a space of decorum and respect. Her core is much more similar to Dr. Jackie's in that she doesn't thrive on or enjoy drama or negativity. Unfortunately, this puts Dr. Simone in the same predicament as Dr. Jackie; she no longer fits the trajectory of the show.

Mariah Huq's Return to 'Married To Medicine' Will Bring More Drama

With the official announcement that creator and former star, Mariah Huq is returning to Married to Medicine making headlines, it's further etched in stone that the show's direction is pulling away from the conventional medical profession and leaning more towards the salacious arguments and blow-ups that serve as a guilty pleasure for reality television fanatics. Neither Dr. Jackie or Dr. Simone enjoy putting their personal business out for others to digest and divide. They've both made it clear that their marriages and practices come before the hype of reality television. When Dr. Jackie and her husband went through a rough patch. Instead of speaking negatively against him, she held her head high and worked on her marriage off camera. When the show began filming again, it was announced that she and her husband Curtis had reconciled their issues. She gave Dr. Simone similar advice when she and her husband Cecil went through a dark patch. Although Simone and Cecil's issues played out more on the show, she managed to save her marriage and family by working through their problems mostly off camera.

Dr. Jackie and Dr. Simone are great examples of accomplished women that make wonderful role models for young women. They have achieved a form of work-life balance that has evaded most women. Although they appear to enjoy their Bravo-inspired fame, neither of the ladies is willing to sacrifice their sense of self-pride for ratings or allow themselves to be manipulated to appear more exciting or interesting. The reality formula that rewards bad behavior with more popularity and higher ratings is lost on both Drs, making them stand out like sore thumbs in the new direction of Married to Medicine. Between Dr. Heavenly's messy social media rants, Contessa's internal issues and Mariah's manipulative ways, the upcoming season of Married to Medicine will look more like some of the other shows focused on cattiness and superficiality as opposed to the world of medicine.