NeNe Leakes Announces She's Not Returning To RHOA

Source: Bravo / Getty

After months of speculation that she wouldn’t be holding a peach this year, NeNe Leakes, one of the founding members of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” franchise finally announced, via her YouTube Channel, that she would not be returning to film the upcoming 13^th season of the show.

In the series for the YouTube series “Life of NeNe,” Leakes shared that after being a part of  long, exhausting, and emotional negotiations, she will not be returning to RHOA.

She said, “I have made the very hard and difficult decision to not be a part of ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ season 13. It wasn’t an easy decision for me. It was hard.”

Leakes started sharing her journey on the show from the beginning in 2008. She said she was happy to have had the opportunity of introducing Black ensemble casts to reality tv.

NeNe repeatedly thanked her fans and warned us that we would see her very soon.

Perhaps that hints to a statement from her attorney Steven Grossman who said that Leakes is in conversation with NBC Universal for other deals.

As you know, this is not the first time Leakes has left RHOA. She left in season seven to focus on her television roles in “Glee,” “The New Normal” and “E!’s Fashion Police.” Then in season 8, she returned as a guest. She was absent throughout season 9 and returned for season 10.

You can listen to NeNe’s full message, complete with a montage from her time on the show, in the video below.