Bride-To-Be: Actress Victoria Rowell Gets Engaged

By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com

Looks like actress Victoria Rowell will soon be joining the 'Real Housewives of Atlanta.'

The former 'Young and the Restless' star hasn't been added to the cast of the hit Bravo series, but she will become a part-time Atlanta resident now that she and her fiancé, artist Radcliffe Bailey have gotten engaged.

The couple, who were introduced by actress LaTanya Richardson Jackson at the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta in 2007, had a swank engagement party this past weekend at the home of Coca Cola executive Vicki Palmer and her husband John Palmer.

Splitting their time between Atlanta and Los Angeles, Bailey admitted he and his fiancé have been inseparable since they were introduced.

"Vicki and I have been together ever since," he said.

Rowell, who released the 'New York Times' bestselling book 'The Women Who Raised Me,' said she is anticipating spending more time in the ATL.

"Making Atlanta my second home will be easy for many reasons. The history of the city, the Atlanta Ballet, having filmed movies here with friends," she began. "Atlanta's Spelman College is hosting a lecture and book signing for my book. And then there are my favorite places like The High Museum, Five Corners, Six Feet Under Restaurant, Richters of Atlanta Jewelers, The Beautiful soul food restaurant and especially The Black Arts Festival, which is where I met my fiancé Radcliffe. Finally, Radcliffe and I share a home that allows us to live with nature, create and love our children together!"

The two are planning to jump the broom next June in New Hampshire.

Rowell confessed she's eager to begin planning her wedding.

"I'm looking forward to all of it," she shared. "Bringing friends and family together and wearing a fabulous dress! Then tearing off to the Amalfi Coast with my man for our honeymoon!"

This will be the actress's second marriage.

She was previously married to airline pilot Tom Fahey and the two have a daughter named Maya.

Rowell was also in a long-term relationship with jazz musician Wynton Marsalis and they have a son named Jasper.

The 12-time NAACP Image Award winner is currently penning a novel called 'Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva.'

Her acclaimed tome 'The Women Who Raised Me' is being developed into a series for HBO.

Bailey is a mixed media artist who is represented by the Jack Shainman Gallery of New York and collected by over 25 museums including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, Atlanta's High Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Harvard University Art Museum and Smithsonian Institute and Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, to name a few.

He has two children, Olivia and Coles.

For more information on the couple, visit www.victoriarowell.com.