Kandi Burruss dishes on her divorce in one-woman show coming to Dallas

Kandi Burruss, singer-songwriter, sex toy brand owner and Real Housewife of Atlanta, is bringing her one-woman show to Dallas.

Amid her recent public divorce from her ex-husband, Todd Tucker, she chose to create an intimate space to discuss the truth about her marriage journey from start to finish.

Having consistently been on the road performing with her girl group Xscape, which achieved success in the ’90s, she wanted to do a solo show for deeper connection and creative freedom.

“Doing things by myself, I’m able to do things that are a little bit more intimate, smaller venues because the cost doesn’t have to be the same,” she says to the Observer. “Obviously, with Xscape, we’ve been around for quite some time, so it’s a different price tag that comes with that, but when I’m doing things on my own, I could just kind of be creative and play with my own ideas, and it doesn’t take anything away from the group.”

Although Burruss has spent years sharing her life on reality television, audiences have rarely seen her in such a vulnerable state. In her “I Do. I Did. I’m Done! Tour”, she balances humor with deeply personal moments.

“It definitely was a way for me to vent, I would say,” she says. “I found out that the marriage was falling apart last summer. I always tell people it was like July 15, but I didn’t speak out or do anything that the public knew about until November, when we filed for divorce. And so it came as a shock to a lot of people, but for me it was something that I had been internalizing and dealing with for months.”

Like many artists, Burruss expresses what she internalizes through her musical gifts.

“Just like other things, when I go through something, I typically vent creatively,” she says. 

Burruss mentioned that attendees will be on an emotional rollercoaster throughout the night because of her honesty, but they will leave smiling. 

“So, we actually show real footage of moments where I was in tears, or I was frustrated,” the Atlanta native said. “I just cut it up in the show, and I sit down, and I tell everybody what happened, like the real what happened.”

“It’s a show unlike what anybody else is doing,” she added. “Like, a lot of people ain’t telling their business. They ain’t really just keeping it 100. I overshare. Let’s just say that. The show goes from being happy, fun, sexy, wild to tears. Then I bring you back up, uplift you to show you where the music at the end is more so about pushing through the hard times.”

She also created an original unreleased song for the show.

“I have not decided on if it’s ever going to be out there for the world to see or if it’s just for those who came to see me and be a part of this private show,” Burruss says.

Burruss says each show has become part of the healing process.

“I go through so many emotions in the show itself,” she says. “It takes a lot out of you when you’re going through all the different emotions. People don’t understand it … But overall, at the end of the day, it’s really helping me get through this moment in my life because you gotta imagine, like, we were married. It would have been 12 years in April.”

As Burruss adjusts to being single again, she’s also getting a firsthand look at how much the dating landscape has changed.

“Being back outside was scary,” she says. “The thought was scary to me at first because being off the market for so long, it’s not like I was in the club picking people up. I got people, all kinds of people, coming at me right now.”

The end of a marriage has stretched the actress beyond simply learning how to be single again. One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to co-parent.

“At the end of the day, we have kids together,” she says. “We need to try to make everything pleasant, at least when they’re around.”

Burruss extended her tour, adding Dallas to the tail end for a good reason.

“I absolutely love Dallas,” Burruss says. “Every time I’ve come, it’s always, they’ve always shown me a lot of love there. It doesn’t matter what show or performance. Everything that I’ve done there, y’all always show love.”

Burruss’ “I Do. I Did. I’m Done! Tour” will be at the House of Blues on Aug. 21. Tickets are available online.