Nene Leakes Will Not Be Returning To ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’
Nene Leakes will not be returning to Real Housewives of Atlanta for season 13. The “HBIC” of RHOA made the announcement on her YouTube channel. “First I want to start by saying thank you. Thank you to all of you guys who have been showing me a lot of love and support as of late. I feel you. I hear you. I have been on an extremely extremely long exhausting tiring emotional negotiation. There has been a lot of emotion flying from both sides. It has been hard and I have made the very hard and difficult decision to not be apart of Real Housewives of Atlanta season 13,” Leakes said.
“It wasn’t an easy decision for me. It was hard. I started on the RHOA in 2008. We took off like a rocket. I mean we took off. You could have never told me that I would start on this little show and it still would be going strong 13, 14 years later. And it is. I’m just so happy that I can say that I was a part of a genre that opened up doors for Black ensemble reality shows to step up and be a part of what we all now love so much reality TV.”
“I want to thank everybody that has looked up to me over the years. Thank you so much for your love and your support. I want to thank Bravo TV. I want to thank Bravo for all of the memories, the laughs, the tears. Thank you to my production company, truly original. Thank you so very much. You guys are like family to me,” she continued.
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 04: TV personalities Kandi Burruss, Phaedra Parks, Nene Leakes and Cynthia Bailey attend the Bravo Upfront 2012 at Center 548 on April 4, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
“Thank you to the cast for all of the memories. And thank you so much to my team who has stood with me during this team who has supported me and pushed me. Thank you guys so much.”
Leakes then thanked her fans before addressing a previous report that made headlines that the reality TV star said she was not privy to. “It has just been amazing. Thank you guys so much. I also want to say that I think it was last week when a report came out that said that my team or someone from my team had released a statement on my behalf. I have no knowledge of it. I did not approve it. When something is this important and this near and dear to my heart I always want to be the person to address you,” Leakes said before concluding her video. “I will see you again real soon. Love you guys. Love you. I’m going miss you. I love you.”
NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 31: (L-R) Nene Leakes and Andy Cohen attend Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live: Andy’s New Year’s Party” at the Bravo Club House at the Embassy Row Production Offices on December 31, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by John W. Ferguson/Getty Images)
Andy Cohen took to Instagram to share a few words regarding Leakes’ departure from Bravo’s hit reality TV show. “Nene Leakes is an icon of the genre. She is a gif and catchphrase machine. In 11 years of #WWHL, Nene has been our most frequent guest, and she is always A BLAST,” Cohen wrote in the caption of his post of various photos of himself with Leakes.
“Nene nicknamed me ‘Buttercup’ the first day we met, and still calls me that today. Through her whole run, she has always had a serious concern and drive to maintain the success and well-being of #RHOA. 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.”
Watch Nene Leakes’ departure announcement below.
Real Housewives of Atlanta Cast Members Over the Years
