Brandi Milton joined as a new friend to the ladies of Married to Medicine in its 12th season on Bravo. The Greensboro, N.C., native is a nurse practitioner and most recently became board-certified as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. For 15 years, she has practiced as a nurse practitioner across several specialties, gaining a broad and holistic perspective on patient care. Today, she is the founder and owner of Conqr Aesthetics and Wellness in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, where she specializes in medical aesthetics.
The wife and mother of four has been married for a decade and is juggling it all. Blavity’s Shadow and Act spoke with Milton about her debut season, cast feuds and what’s next.
Congratulations on your first season on Married to Medicine. What made you want to join the franchise, with it being so established at this point? And were you previously offered a role on the show?
So, no, I wasn’t previously offered a role and had never even thought about reality TV. But the reason why I chose to do it was that it was going to be the first season that they were going to have a nurse practitioner. So when I heard that, I was intrigued because we’re such a big part of medicine, and all these years they haven’t really shown that. They haven’t shown more than doctor life, right? So that’s what kind of motivated me. I wanted to represent my nurses because we are medicine.
That was actually my next question, because how do you feel about the viewers finally seeing different medical professionals?
It was definitely well past due, right? How can you have a show where you’re highlighting successful Black couples, Black women in the medical field, and you don’t include nurses, right? Especially me as a nurse practitioner, I’ve been a nurse practitioner for 15 years. So I am vital. I assess patients, I diagnose them, I treat them, I prescribe meds. So I do all these things. So the fact that they finally came to this point and are highlighting us, I love it. And I think we’ve added and are going to continue to add so much more to the show.
I know that there can be some pushback from various health institutions about being on reality TV. Were you at all worried about your reputation joining the show?
I own my own business. I have my own aesthetics practice, so there’s no issue with that. Aesthetics is fun. People like seeing it, but there was a little initial hesitation because I pride myself on having an amazing reputation. I want my patients to come in and trust me, love me and not see anything that would discourage that. So initially, that was my concern, but honestly, I’ve gotten so many new patients that saw me on the show that love it, so it’s been great. I think I made a great decision.
What were you hoping to showcase in your debut season?
Number one, I wanted everyone to see what nurses and nurse practitioners do, right? I wanted to give you a little glimpse into that life. Also, I wanted to show you my family dynamic. You haven’t seen a lot of it, but when you do, I think everybody’s gonna love it. My husband and I have been married for 10 years, we’ve been together since college, and we have four little kids, which is a nice break from what you’ve seen recently. Everybody’s kids are older and they’ve left the house, so I take it back to the beginning. I have little kids, so it’s a different dynamic. It is a different dynamic in our marriage, and that’s what I wanted people to see the most.
Describe your process of assimilating into the group. Now we know that you have previous ties to the group, but it’s different when cameras come into play.
Yeah, absolutely, it’s definitely different, especially in this established group. They’ve been together a long time, so they have a deep history and deep relationships. So it’s hard at first, but I had a couple of people on the cast that were amazing from the beginning. They gave me advice, they helped to usher me in and make me feel comfortable, so that was vital. Coming in as a newbie is hard. So I definitely appreciate those women on the cast — Toya, Simone, Contessa — that really took the time to kind of pour into me and help me get comfortable in the group.
Now, we did see a little bit of tension between you and Contessa with the whole birthday party and thanking your husband fiasco. Did that take you by surprise, and where would you say that the two of you stand by the end of the season?
It did take me by surprise at the moment because I came to her party. I actually came and helped her set up her party, was very supportive, loved it and had a good time. And then when she came to my birthday dinner, I was confused as to why she was coming at me. I didn’t do anything to her, didn’t talk negatively about her nor her husband. So it caught me off guard because I felt like she took her frustrations out on me.
I didn’t have anything to do with her never having a party, so that was a lot. But we have talked about it, she’s apologized and, at the end of the day, we’re in a good place now. But at the time, I was a little pissed, especially because I don’t play about people coming for my husband. But we are in a better place now.
How do you view the Toya of it all, considering she had a lot of contention this season?
Let me start by saying Toya’s my girl, that’s my girl. She was in a lot of the drama this season, some of which she did kind of put herself in. But one thing I can say about her, sometimes she may go a little bit too far with what she says, but I think it’s also a good quality to be honest. She’s very honest. A lot of people, they’re not honest, they’re faking it and sometimes they’re hypocrites because they may say one thing and do another. So I do appreciate her honesty. We have talked sometimes and I have told her how I feel or disagree with how she handles some things, and we move past it. Toya gave it to them this season, but they came for her.
What do you think about the duality of Heavenly, her political ambitions and her controversies on this show and on the internet?
That piece is tough for me. I do appreciate the fact that she wants to make a change in her community and do all these things. What’s difficult for me is to separate the two because on this show, she’s said and done a lot of things that I don’t necessarily agree with, so it’s hard. She’s going to have to show a different side of herself that maybe doesn’t say and do some of the things that she’s been doing. But I think she does have to show a different side for people to really get on board and support her. It’s hard to erase all those things we’ve seen and heard her say and really listen to what she’s trying to do now. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
If you do return, what are you hoping to expand upon in the next season and as potentially a full-time cast member?
I would definitely love to really give y’all an inside glimpse into my life, into my family life and really see the dynamic between my husband and I. We have an interesting one, it’s great, and our kids are great. And having these little kids and juggling being a professional boss with having little kids has been hectic at times. Women do it every day, but it’s hard, and sometimes we feel guilty and we have mom guilt. There’s always the question of how I can be this successful woman but then also make sure my kids are taken care of. So I definitely want to show you guys more of my family life and give you that inside glimpse that you hadn’t really seen that much this season.