All the tea on NeNe Leakes leaving ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’
It’s been a summer of drama for the cast & crew behind popular Bravo show The Real Housewives of Atlanta – and they haven’t started filming yet. NeNe Leakes hasn’t signed her contract, but now it’s a moot point since she announced she’ll be leaving the show on her YouTube channel.
Leakes has been a part of The Real Housewives of Atlanta since the very beginning and is one of the last members of the original season 1 cast to leave the show. Leakes’s departure doesn’t mean she can’t return someday. Leakes & fellow season 1 cast members Shereé Whitfield, Lisa Wu, & Kim Zolciak-Biermann have all left & come back to The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast in some capacity.
Leakes’s decision, according to her, was due to “an extremely, extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional negotiation.” A statement made by someone on Leakes’s team reported she was leaving the show a week before her Sept. 17 announcement.
Leakes explained she had no knowledge of the statement, and she didn’t approve of it, explaining, “When something is this important and this near and dear to my heart, I always want to be the person to address you.” Leakes then confirmed finally she will not be returning to The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Fans are sad Leakes is departing from The Real Housewives of Atlanta, and so is Bravo. A spokesperson from the television network thanked Leakes for her involvement in the show and wished her luck in her future endeavors, stating, “She’s been instrumental since the start and will be truly missed, and maybe one day she’ll hold the peach again.”
Bravo’s Vice President of Original Programming Andy Cohen made an emotional statement on Instagram, stating, “Through her whole run, she has always had a serious concern and drive to maintain the success and well-being of [The Real Housewives of Atlanta]. I am going to miss Nene on the show, but I’m hoping we work together again soon and will remain in each other’s orbits forever.”
Leakes leaves behind a legacy as the second-longest tenured cast member and is thankful to her & The Real Housewives fans. She is proud of what she & the show have accomplished stating, “I’m just so happy that I can say that I was a part of a genre that opened doors for Black ensemble reality shows.”
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Leakes will be missed in season 13 & beyond. What is your favorite Leakes moment from The Real Housewives of Atlanta? Let us know down in the comments.
