Model Cynthia Bailey and “Waiting to Exhale” star Leon Robinson have been one of Black entertainment’s most quietly beloved duos for decades — not because they’re a couple, but because they’ve managed to co-parent their daughter, Noelle Robinson, with a level of unity and respect most exes only dream of.
Viewers caught glimpses of their spark during Bailey’s years on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” leaving many to question why two people with that kind of ease and chemistry stayed unmarried—at least until now.
‘Mini You and Leon’: Cynthia Bailey’s Pic with Daughter Noelle Robinson Has Fans Debating Over Who the Young Model Favors More
“Why didn’t you marry Leon?” Bailey was asked during her appearance on T.S. Madison’s “Outlaws” podcast this month.
She didn’t hesitate to explain how their artistic similarities made the relationship feel more complicated than romantic.
“I did not marry Leon because I felt like, at the time, you know, he’s an artist, I’m an artist. He’s a creative, I’m a creative. He’s a Pisces, I’m a Pisces. Oh, Lord. We are literally the same people in so many ways,” Bailey said.
She admitted that supporting another artist’s needs while still chasing her own goals felt impossible back then.
Random, but can Cynthia Bailey and LEON just get their old thang back. #RHOA pic.twitter.com/XbcqvGegFs
— Daughter (@DetroitDiva517) February 25, 2023
“I felt like I wouldn’t be able to fully nurture his talent and the things he needed from a partner, because I was still figuring out what I was doing,” Bailed expressed.
In the end, the “WHO’S CHEATING WHO!” star decided she “needed a partner that maybe was not doing the same things I was doing. I needed balance.”
Fans immediately weighed in on her explanation when a Housewives fan page posted the clip on Instagram. Some thought Cynthia was sugarcoating a harder truth.
“Said a whole bunch of nothing,” one wrote, as someone else wrote, “You was willing to work and missed out on your soulmate.”
“She wanted to be number one folks?” one commenter wrote, adding, “She didn’t feel that it was natural to service someone’s ego. That’s why her and Peter and every other man didn’t work.”
Peter Thomas Reveals Why He Divorced RHOA Star Cynthia Bailey: “She Didn’t Have My Back”
Peter also claimed he appeared on the show because Cynthia ‘wasn’t bringing anything’ to it. He added that his lawyer advised him to take half of Cynthia’s earnings, but he said he wasn’t… pic.twitter.com/R4vs96bLRA
— The Gworls Are Fighting (@baddietvv) July 17, 2025
Another viewer accused her of holding back, while others understood her reasoning: “I heard exactly what she said. He needed a traditional woman who’d be his house wife/trophy wife. And she was out here hustling !”
Another person joked, “Cynthia is so beautiful but one thing she gone do is not get to the point. He didn’t ask is the answer.” One person bluntly wrote, “Did he ask?”
Still, Bailey made it clear that what she shared with Robinson was real. She even felt their connection before it happened.
She said, “I did feel like I knew I was going to meet Leon, and I knew we were going to connect… I would literally say, ‘I’m gonna meet him one day, and I’m gonna have his baby.’”
She believes they were “put together to have Noelle,” calling their time together “model/actor love” and a “beautiful love story.”
The couple dated in the 1990s and early 2000s, according to Bravo, with their daughter being born in 1999. Decades later, her affection remains steady: “I still love Leon. He is one of my closest friends.”
Through every life season, the two have publicly uplifted each other without throwing even a hint of shade.
That mutual love is exactly why fans won’t let go of the possibility of a romantic reunion — especially after Bailey’s divorces from Peter Thomas and Mike Hill.
When she posted a sweet birthday message to Bailey, calling him her “Pisces brother, my friend & amazing father,” social media went into full matchmaking mode.
One commenter doubled back on her podcast explanation, writing, “Cynthia, it’s okay to say you weren’t meant to be anybody’s wife. Cuz ain’t you with another artist right now girl?!”
Bailey has been dating quietly Amsterdam musician LePrince for the past few months. The two are rather private, keeping details of their relationship and how they met private.
However, Leon also appears to be in a serious relationship with Patricia Blanchet since 2014, and before her, the “Temptations” star dated Ebony McIver from the mid-2000s into at least the early 2010s, according to The Sun.
But the clearest example of their success is Noelle herself. Confident, grounded, and openly fluid, the 26-year-old once told the world, “I just like who I like, and that’s just what it is,” a reflection of the openness she grew up with.
Bailey married Peter Thomas in 2011, whom she later divorced in 2017. She later tied the knot with Mike Hill in 2022 after two years.
