Kandi Burruss and Tabitha Brown to guest star on CBS’ ‘Beyond The Gates’ as Black-led soap continues to soar

The guest spots aren’t the first time Brown and Burruss have appeared on the same show. Both were recurring characters on the Showtime series, ‘The Chi.’

The drama inside Fairmont Crest is about to welcome two new members.

CBS’s hit soap opera “Beyond The Gates” has already featured the “Grand Dame” of Potomac, Karen Huger, as a guest star, along with other “Potomac” stars, including Gizelle Bryant and Dr. Wendy Osefo. Now the show is prepared to add Kandi Burruss and Tabitha Brown to the swirling tornado that is the Dupree family.

According to Michael Fairman, Burruss will portray Kalisa Kilroy on the show, while Brown will portray Tia Allen. In the early preview for next week’s episodes, Kilroy’s connection to Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett) is already raising eyebrows in his world. At the same time, Brown shows up just as the Duprees will celebrate Dani (Karla Mosley) and her accomplishments, with Brown helping tell her story.

The celebration for Dani & Co. is short-lived when an unexpected guest brings long-buried wounds back to the surface, leaving Naomi (Arielle Prepetit), Chelsea (RhoniRoseMantilla), and Andre (Sean Freeman) to address the fallout.

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Viewers of the hit CBS soap noticed the two ladies’ names in the end credits earlier this week, but neither woman is a stranger to working on television, much less on the same show. Both Burruss and Brown appeared on Showtime’s “The Chi,” with Burruss playing Roselyn Perry, the estranged wife of longtime show antagonist Otis “Douda” Perry. Burruss appeared in 22 episodes of the show, beginning with season 3 and ending at the season 7 finale.

Brown played Octavia on the show, helping Kiesha navigate whether to give up her then-unborn child for Brown to adopt or keep.

Since its launch in 2025, the soap based in the DMV has earned rave reviews and has quickly been renewed for follow-up seasons. And it keeps inviting viewers, both old and new, back to learn the mess, drama and more of Fairmont Crest.

“I think this is the perfect time for this show to land,” Tamara Tunie told PEOPLE in a 2025 interview. “We’re presenting this now because this is a part of Black life and culture that has been a part of the history of this country and the fabric of this country for hundreds and hundreds of years. No, we’re not going away, we’re actually going to be in your living room every day. And in the most fabulous way, and in the most welcoming way. Because this show, though it centers around the Black family, there are universal stories. That’s why people love soap operas.”