Claudia Jordan tells the Breakfast Club she's 'still in play' on 'Housewives'

For people who understand how "Housewives" works, the producers will sometimes film more people than they ultimately give full-season status to. They make a final decision later in the production cycle, usually a few weeks before the debut in the fall, based on how story lines progress.

Sometimes, they will give a person "recurring friend of the show" status, as they did last year with Porsha Williams and Demetria McKinney. That means they are not in the main credits and don't necessarily appear in every episode. Sometimes, they'll move someone up that they originally planned to be an occasional guest, which is what happened with Jordan.

"People don't get their peach status until halfway through the year," Jordan said.

As for her current status, she said, "we're talking."

An important component of the show is to have a boo, if possible. Unfortunately, the single Jordan said she just broke up with someone last week.

She also recounted her story about getting severe whiplash from a recent car accident while said boyfriend was driving. She wouldn't say who he was.

Jordan was also recently let go from the Rickey Smiley morning show, heard locally on Hot 107.9, after her one-year contract was not renewed. She sent out what seemed like a pleasant goodbye on Facebook at the time.

But Angela Yee, one of the Breakfast Club hosts, said Jordan's Facebook post was far nicer than what really happened, based on what she heard. "It was a little too classy," Yee said.

She also brought up a rumor that Jordan had been banned from eating breakfast in the room because it annoyed someone. Jordan confirmed this was true but wouldn't say who. Obviously, the who was Smiley. "I thought it was a joke" at first, she said. But it wasn't.

Charlemagne Tha God expressed glee over Smiley's actions, saying he now knows a way to be a complete jerk.

"Some days, he was really nice," Jordan said, in his defense.

Charlemagne then mentioned something I had heard from a source, that Smiley didn't like women funnier than him. "I didn't have a chance to be funnier than him," Jordan said. (Smiley denied to me that he is jealous of anybody else.)

She said she tried at first to be funny but after awhile, she was told just to do the news and then not even to talk during sports. She tried to be the usual female co-host who laughs at the guys' jokes but felt phony doing that.

"Why are guys so insecure when it comes to working with women?" Charlemagne exclaimed. "I hear this all too much on radio."

Yee then repeated what Smiley told me (she clearly had read my story), that research showed Jordan wasn't all that popular with listeners.

"I think the numbers weren't high on me," she acknowledged but that was probably because she wasn't able to showcase her talent. "I'd like to show this audience what I'm capable of."

Yee said women have a hard time on radio, especially those who want to play the leader and try to be funny, as opposed to being the "voice of reason," often the relegated spot for women on morning radio.

"I felt like I was a horse at the Kentucky Derby and the gate's right there and I want to go but the gate never opens," Jordan said.

"So it wasn't a good fit," Yee said.

"It wasn't a good fit," Jordan said. But she did say she was grateful for the opportunity and thankful to Smiley for even giving her the shot. "It changed the trajectory of my life," she said. "He liked me as a person."

Charlamagne noted that it usually takes a year for fans to get used to any radio show. She simply didn't have enough time. "That crew has been there for seven years," Jordan said. "They know how to play off each other. I'm the new one in the mix. It was tough."

Charlamagne said he heard rumors emanating from Smiley's studio that Smiley was talking smack about Jordan, accusing her of messing with Special K, which she said was untrue. "I got calls from people," Jordan said. "Yo, this came out of left field. That's unfortunate. I sent him a letter but he already changed his number."

If anything, she knows how sensitive Smiley is. "Expect the Facebook rant after this," she said. (So far, not yet!)

Other topics:

- She said nice things about Ebony Steele, her predecessor. "Ebony was dope," she said. "I got brought into the mix with very hostile fans."

- She is not impressed with the single men scene in Atlanta.

- She was in New York pitching show ideas earlier this week.

- She thinks Da Brat is a strong, local personality and may fit in better than Jordan.

- She believes Porsha Williams works fine in "Dish Nation," where things can be rehearsed but wouldn't work as well in a live situation.

You can see the 30-minute interview here in full:

"I tried to keep it classy," she texted me afterwards.

She chose the Breakfast Club as a place to talk because she's long-time friends with Charlemagne. She was willing to visit the Breakfast Club to talk "Housewives" while on Rickey's show but Reach Media didn't want her on a rival station. (The Breakfast Club and Rickey Smiley compete in some markets, including Atlanta.)