Housewives Offer Some Southern Exposure

Bravo's third installment of its Real Housewives series takes a trip to the Georgia capital

Is this the beginning of a Real Housewives feud?

Kim Zolciak, one of five women starring in Bravo's new The Real Housewives of Atlanta, says she and her pals are ready to take down their Orange County and New York City counterparts.

"Our show rocks," Zolciak (above, in pink) told me earlier today. "I think the personalities and the diversity in the show supersede all of the other Housewives shows."

Zolciak's money-loving costars include the wives of an entrepreneur and NBA and NFL athletes.

Zolciak is a single mother with two young girls and a mystery boyfriend she only identifies as "Big Poppa." But he might as well be called "Big Bucks."

In the premiere episode airing October 7 (a sneak peek had a one-time showing over the summer), cameras follow Zolciak as she calls Big Poppa to ask him for a new Cadillac Escalade. Seconds later she's writing a $68,000 check to buy the souped-up SUV on the spot.

Internet speculation trying to figure out who Big Poppa is has already started. Guesses abound over his possible identity; even media mogul and Atlanta resident Ted Turner has been one of the names idly tossed about.

"For God's sakes, he's none of that stuff," Zolciak said with a laugh, adding, "I'm the queen and I want the king. And that's it…he's mine and I don't want to share him."

Zolciak makes no secret about her expensive tastes. She boasts on the show that she'll probably "die in Dior."

"I've been rich and I've been poor, and it makes me feel good to be in designer labels," she said. "And anybody is an idiot to say anything different. I've always been materialistic and I'm driven. I work hard to have those things. I mean if I had $1000, am I going to save it to make it $2000 so I can buy that Dolce & Gabbana purse, or am I going buy a Guess purse? I'm going to buy that Dolce & Gabbana."

What she does to earn her own money is unclear, because she said her only work right now is trying to record a country music album with hit-making producer Dallas Austin. Zolciak refused to say how or when the album will be released. She laughed, "That's all top secret."

For now, she's living at least one of her lifelong dreams. "I knew I'd be on television," she said. "At 12 years old, I wrote in a journal that I was gonna have my own TV show by the time I turned 30. I turned 30 during the time we were filming."