Shereé Whitfield leaves Real Housewives of Atlanta before season 16

Shereé Whitfield officially says goodbye – for the third time – to The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Amid a massive casting shakeup for the Bravo series’ upcoming 16th season, the She by Shereé founder, 54, has left the show she helped build, PEOPLE can confirm.

PEOPLE has reached out to Whitfield’s rep for comment.

Whitfield’s departure comes as news broke of Kandi Burruss’ departure. RHOA after 14 years and Porsha Williams Guobadia would return after two seasons away. PEOPLE also broke the news of Marlo Hampton’s departure in February. Sanya Richards-Ross will also leave the series.

Kenya Moore and Drew Sidora are the only returning cast members from season 15. New cast members include longtime series friend Shamea Morton Mwangi alongside Brittany Eady, Kelli Ferrell and Angela Oakley. Additionally, series veteran Cynthia Bailey will return to the series in a friend role.

Whitfield was a founding member of RHOA created on Bravo in October 2008 and gave the series some of its most memorable moments, including the infamous “Who’s gonna check me out, boo?” Clap back.

Over the years, the mother of three (and glam-ma) has come and gone from the show several times. Whitfield was a full-time housewife until season 4, a friend in season 8, and a housewife again in seasons 9 and 10. After season 10, she left the series, stating on Instagram in July 2018 that she was unhappy with the network’s salary. had proposed with his contract.

“I was not interested in accepting the low value offer that was sent,” she wrote. “Know your worth.”

But Whitfield made a return appearance in season 13 before sighing again as a full-time housewife for seasons 14 and 15.

She currently appears in season 2 of the Peacock hit Traitors.

Developed as the third installment of the franchise, RHOA quickly became the most popular and dominated the ratings for years.

A shrinking audience and conflicting distribution dynamics have pushed the channel to make big changes to RHOA. The series suspended production for months and reworked the Housewives, with Andy Cohen explaining at BravoCon 2023 in November that The Real Housewives of New Yorkthe style reboot wouldn’t come, but the series would use some stars as anchors.

“I always like to build with what we have,” he said at the time. “I think Atlanta has very strong building blocks that are already there and we have a growth opportunity for Atlanta“.

Earlier this month, Cohen, 55, spoke about the future of the franchise while discussing Williams Guobadia’s return on his Andy SiriusXM Radio channel. “We have a wonderful cast,” he said. “We have some amazing new girls, and that’s going to look very positive to me going into the new season of Atlantaso stay tuned and you will hear more. ”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Previous episodes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta can be streamed on Peacock.