A lot of rumors have been swirling around whether O.G. The Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes would return to the franchise that made her a household name—and now there's fresh intel from inside source Kenya Moore.
The Bravo icon — who parlayed her reality notoriety into runs on Broadway, guest spots on Glee and more than a few spots in the TV soundbite hall of fame ("Close your legs to married men!") — announced she was officially exiting RHOA back in 2020 ahead of the show's 13th season. In the years since, Leakes filed a discrimination lawsuit against Bravo, its parent company NBC and network executives including Andy Cohen. And though she she dropped the suit in 2022, Leakes hasn't been shy about throwing shade at The Real Housewives franchise.
So, Bravo fans haven't exactly been holding their breath with anticipation that NeNe would be making a comeback on RHOA anytime soon, and Leakes' Atlanta co-star Kenya Moore seemingly shared in that sense of dubiousness. Moore recently talked about the possibility of a NeNe return during an appearance on The Tamron Hall Show, and wasn't exactly decorating a "welcome back" poster. In her words:
I don’t know, I can’t answer that. That question has been asked a lot of times but according to our boss, that door is closed. But you know, you never know.
Moore's comments come during a time of uncertainty and change for The Real Housewives of Atlanta. After Season 15 of the series, which concluded in September 2023, RHOA has been inactive due to a prolonged filming hiatus, with rumored cast shake-ups as the cause for the delay.
At least one such shake-up was confirmed when series star Kandi Burruss — who joined the Atlanta franchise in Season 2 in 2009 and held the title of the longest-running housewife on Bravo — announced her exit from the show after 14 seasons. Burruss spoke to ET about her decision while attending the Grammy Awards, saying:
I’ve been going back and forth and I think because they gave us such a long break, I had a lot of time to do other things and I’ve got some big announcements to make coming soon, so yeah. Bravo is my family, I love them as well, but you know.
Over on the Tamron Hall Show, Moore echoed Burruss' reasoning, saying that the hiatus has made each of the Housewives question their respective futures with the franchise:
They were thinking about, after last season, recasting the show, figuring it out and it’s just taken forever. And so, we started making moves. She started doing other projects, I started doing this project. I’m working on Kenya Moore Hair Care… I opened a hair salon in Atlanta [and] I started focusing on other things.
However, as Moore revealed, the powers that be "haven't made any final decisions" yet on casting for RHOA Season 16. So she doesn't know if she herself will be back in the fold, let alone NeNe Leakes.
We'll have our eyes on the 2024 TV schedule to see exactly when The Real Housewives of Atlanta is back for Season 16. And if you don't have Bravo, make sure you have a Peacock subscription ready, so you can see for yourself whether NeNe Leakes, Kenya Burruss and the lot are back on RHOA.
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