Reality television is more or less a window into a star’s life. With cameras following them around 24/7, there’s almost nothing viewers won’t find out. But there was an exception to this rule when it came to “Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta” veteran Karlie Redd, who for the longest time managed to keep her age on the hush-hush. 

During a recent interview with media outlet Madame Noire, the reality star revealed that the driving force behind maintaining the mystery surrounding her age was money. 

“It really did bring checks to the household when nobody knew my age. It was an extra check that came in,” the 47-year-old told the publication. She added, “Honestly! It was one of the highest things on Google, my age. Wanting to know my age was one of the highest trending topics, so I’m kind of mad that I said what my age was. I could have got another check.”

The successful entrepreneur jokingly expressed that she was a bit upset with herself for letting the cat out of the bag two years ago. “I’m really mad that I let everybody know, but it was like, OK, OK! It wasn’t that I was upset about people hounding me about my age,” she said. “I don’t mind telling. But once I saw, it was just so crazy how they were infatuated knowing what my age was. And I see a couple of checks come in about it, I said, ‘Well, shoot, I want to go along with this and keep it a secret!’ But I just said forget it. Let me just tell everybody. It doesn’t even matter.”

The Merci Boutique owner claims that she isn’t the only one hiding her age either. “It’s a lot of our cast members that are even older than me, but they don’t get hounded about their age,” she said. “A lot of actors are older than me, but who cares? Age is just a number.”

Her age might no longer be cutting her a check, but Karlie is still getting paid with multiple other projects she’s a part of, including appearing on Bounce TV’s “Saints and Sinners.” She also recently opened her first restaurant in Atlanta, Johnny’s Chicken & Waffles, which she started alongside singer Ne-Yo and his wife, Crystal Smith. The eatery has only been open for a few months, but the reality star has already secured two locations in Hotlanta, and she is looking to open a third one in the Northeast region.