Did you notice that Ari’s daughter has changed in First Wives Club?

If you were not paying close attention, you may have missed the fact that First Wives Club cast a new actress to play Ari’s daughter in season three.

First Wives Club, the BET+ remake series born from the mind of Tracy Oliver, first started airing more than three years ago on September 19, 2019.

Everyone’s favorite best friend-trio – Dr. Bree Washington (portrayed by Michelle Buteau), Hazel Rachelle (played by Jill Scott) and Ari Montgomery (played by Ryan Michelle Bathe) – have gone through many changes over the course of the show’s subsequent three seasons.

But there is just something about those first few episodes that keeps drawing fans in. This includes fierce lawyer Ari’s even fiercer boarding school-bound daughter, Megan.

The big change

While Megan was already mentioned in First Wives Club’s first episode at one of Ari and David’s many political soirées, the first time that we actually meet the youngest member of the Montgomery family is in the “Storytelling” episode a little later on.

Between a scandalous video, a polyamorous relationship, and reminding Ari that she deserved a life too, the young actress, Rachel Naomi Hilson, certainly had a lot to balance in her brief appearance as Megan in this episode.

But fortunately, her chocked-full acting resume prepared her quite well for this role.

But since we only get to see Megan in a few scenes each season, you may not have noticed that this character was sneakily switched out for the funeral scenes in season three, and it seems like Megan may now be portrayed by another talented young actress named Baily Tippen moving forward.

The First Wives Club producers have never publicized or announced this change, but if we were to guess, we would probably venture that Hilson’s increasingly busy schedule, or perhaps just the actress’s age, is what ultimately prompted this change.

A roundup of the First Wives Club’s kids

The ladies of BET+’s First Wives Club all have very full plates and between balancing their careers and marriages, some of them have even been raising children.

But casting roles for children is always tricky business, as young actors tend to grow out of their roles much faster than adults do.

And as a result, First Wives Club’s kids have all been switched out for different actors at one point or another, as follows:

The other roles that you may know Rachel Naomi Hilson from

While Rachel Naomi Hilson may have simply grown out of her First Wives Club role by the time that season three started airing (when she would have already been in her later 20s), it is also possible that her busy schedule inhibited her from returning to the series.

After all, Hilson landed a series regular role on the Hulu Original series, Love, Victor in 2020, and she also had a main role in American Horror Story: Double Feature (2021) and Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty around this same time.

Moreover, she was slated to play “Nora” in the Amazon Prime film Red, White & Royal Blue, which was officially released in 2023.

Introducing the actor behind the new Megan

Fortunately, First Wives Club has never held back when it comes to its casting choices and the role of Megan was quickly filled by, Atlanta native, Bailey Tippen, for the third season.

Tippen is possibly most well-known for starring in the OWN network original holiday film, Cooking up Christmas in 2020.

Though she has also had notable roles in CW’s DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, NBC’s Constantine, FOX’s Sleepy Hollow and many more.

Will Megan ever return to First Wives Club?

Up to this point in the series, we have only ever seen Megan a few times (spoiler warning for the discussion ahead).

And while it would be great to see Megan taking a more active role in the series after Ari’s death, the writing seems to be on the wall that we may never get to see this character in the show again.

After all, the Montgomerys were already on the outs in season two, and with David deciding he now needs a change of careers; there just may not be much room left for Megan in the series in the future.

However, with that being said, Tippen is still proudly showing off her role as “Megan on First Wives Club” in her Instagram bio currently, so there is still hope.