Carlos King Spills All the Reality True Crime Tea in New …

Carlos King knows how to make reality television messy—in the best way. He’s the producer who helped turn The Real Housewives of Atlanta into Bravo’s crown jewel, the architect behind OWN staples like Love & Marriage: Huntsville, and the man responsible for making shows like Hollywood Divas and The Next:15 feel like cultural events.

His track record speaks for itself: if there’s chaos, confessions, and cameras rolling, chances are King had a hand in it.

But his latest project isn’t just about feuds and champagne tosses. With RealiTEA Crime Stories, King has found a way to merge two of pop culture’s most addictive genres—reality TV and true crime—into one weekly obsession. Think Dateline with a dash of Bravo, or as King puts it, “a no-brainer.”

The show was born out of a test run. During the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial, King and attorney Eboni K. Williams launched “True Crime Thursdays” to break down what was happening.

The feedback was immediate: fans couldn’t get enough. “My audience—the Reigndrops—are just as passionate about the lives of reality stars as I am,” King explained to Complex. “So it only made sense to focus on specific reality stars and the crimes they’ve been accused of.”

Instead of rehashing cases that have already been picked apart by mainstream outlets, King and co-host Courtney Parker zero in on the legal drama swirling around familiar faces from the unscripted universe.

That means everything from Simon Guobadia’s deportation case to the long-running saga of Joe Giudice’s immigration battles. Todd Chrisley’s pardon push? Erika Jayne’s ex-husband Tom Girardi’s guilty verdict? All fair game.

“Courtney and I are passionate about making sure we feed the audience with stories that are super relevant but also juicy,” King said. “Simon Guobadia’s deportation was such a hot topic on social media that we had to cover it. Same with Todd Chrisley being pardoned. CNN might talk about it, but we take a different twist and dive into their presence on reality television.”

The Guobadia case, in particular, forced King and Parker to dig deep. It wasn’t just tabloid fodder—it was an immigration story, a divorce, and a public meltdown happening in real time. To make sure it wasn’t all speculation and hot takes, the duo brought in a lawyer specializing in deportation to break the whole thing down.

“We had to really dig with an expert to make it digestible for the audience,” King said. The result was an episode that balanced shock value with substance, proving that this wasn’t just gossip—it was real-life law colliding with reality fame.

Of course, King’s signature wit still comes through. He knows his reputation as one of reality TV’s most unfiltered voices, but he’s careful not to make the show a roast. “The beauty of having Courtney Parker co-host and legal experts join in is that it helps me focus on the story and not just my personality,” he explained. “It’s a balance of being myself but also respecting the fact that some of these crimes are way more serious than others.”

That balance might be why fans have latched onto RealiTEA Crime Stories so quickly. Reality TV already thrives on unpredictability—betrayals, divorces, sudden exits—but once you add the criminal justice system into the mix, the stakes skyrocket.

King has lived behind the curtain of these shows long enough to understand that while audiences are quick to judge, the people at the center of the scandals are still human. “Listen, it’s easy to judge the decisions they make, and yes, they signed up for the audience to judge them,” he said. “But there’s also a sensitivity to addressing some of their issues. I make sure I’m not poking fun at the situation.”

That perspective separates RealiTEA Crime Stories from the rest of the true-crime podcast pack. While others stick to grisly details or paint narratives in black and white, King leans into the gray areas—the part where celebrity, fame, and bad decisions blur together. He knows how to keep it entertaining, but also how to leave listeners with something to think about.

“I want my audience to understand that by listening to our recap, it’s an opportunity for them to learn something and hopefully not commit the crime the reality star was either accused of or was found guilty of,” King said. “There’s always a lesson to be learned when you listen to these episodes.”

For someone who’s been called “the King of Reality TV,” it might seem like a risk to dive headfirst into true crime. But for Carlos King, the move feels inevitable. He’s always thrived on building bridges between what audiences love and what they can’t look away from. With RealiTEA Crime Stories, he’s created the perfect mash-up: a series that scratches the itch for drama while also unpacking the legal and cultural implications behind it.

In other words, he’s done it again.