Phaedra Parks dating Tim Norman from Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s

Phaedra Parks isn’t about to let her ex Apollo Nida steal the spotlight with his behind bars paper towel engagement ring romance with fiancée Sherien Almufti! The Real Housewives of Atlanta star has reportedly moved on as well — with someone quite familiar with the reality TV cameras, and also someone quite familiar with the inside of a jail cell.

According to a new report, Phaedra Parks has been dating Welcome To Sweetie Pie‘s restaurateur Tim Norman for two months. From The Daily Mail:

The couple met when Parks was in St. Louis for a conference and went past the Sweetie Pies Upper Crust restaurant for a meal. Norman made sure she was well taken care of and then asked if he could show her around the city while she was in town.

“Since then, she’s been to St. Louis and Los Angeles several times to spend time with him. He also travels to Atlanta to see her. They haven’t gone public, but its no secret to those who know them that they are together,” a source told DailyMail.com.

As fans of Welcome To Sweetie Pie‘s are probably aware, 37-year-old Tim Norman has more in common with Apollo Nida that just being easy on the eyes as Tim is also a convicted felon.

While a senior at Hazelwood Central High School in north St. Louis, Missouri, 17-year-old Tim and another teen held up a string of fast food restaurants and an auto parts store. He was later sentenced to ten years in prison for armed robbery.

While in prison, Tim took part in the Prison Performing Arts program and discovered a love and talent for acting. His first role was Brutus in a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and he continued to perform on stage after being released while working for his mother’s Sweetie Pie’s restaurant. Certainly, all that acting practiced must have helped out immensely once the OWN cameras started rolling on his “real” life.

Here’s more from Tim Norman’s background from his official OWN bio:

Tim Norman was born and raised in St. Louis, MO by his single mother Robbie Montgomery. His father passed away before he was born, so he and his mother have always been very close. At the age of 17, Tim was arrested for armed robbery and sentenced to serve ten years in prison. Upon his release he vowed to make something positive out of his life so he joined the family business. For more than four years Tim helped his mother manage The Original Sweetie Pie’s and Sweetie Pie’s at the Mangrove, but when Miss Robbie opened The Upper Crust in 2012, Tim took over the management of Sweetie Pie’s at the Mangrove. Tim is always looking for ways to grow the Sweetie Pie’s brand by creating new products and services.

In addition to his work at Sweetie Pie’s, Tim has been pursuing a career in music, producing his own original songs as well as writing music for his mother. He is also very active in his local community where he helps create jobs for newly paroled and homeless residents and provides food to those in need. Tim participates in several youth-oriented organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club, where he works with at-risk youth to help inspire self-confidence and guide them down a positive life path. He has received several state and city awards for assisting his community and for good citizenship. When he’s not working or volunteering, Tim loves spending time with his young son TJ and is enjoying his new role as a dad.

Viewers of Welcome To Sweetie Pie‘s may wonder what happened to Tim’s other reality starlet romance with Basketball Wives star Jennifer Williams, as featured on Season 7 of the show. Well, apparently that fizzled out. “Everybody knows” you can’t compete with Phaedra!

So will we be seeing Tim on RHOA and/or Phaedra on WTSP? Apparently not any time soon. “As of now, neither he nor Phaedra plan to make appearances on each other’s TV shows,” The Daily Mail‘s source reveals. “They’re in the courting phase and they’re happy and they want to take their time and build with each other without introducing the pressure of TV in the mix.”

I give that about another week. 😉

Well, congratulations to Phaedra and Tim! Let’s hope her relationship reformation tactics work a little bit better than they did with Apollo.