The Real Housewives franchise has been around for a long time, producing plenty of spinoffs, including one set in Atlanta. The Real Housewives of Atlanta spawned the career of reality star NeNe Leakes, but now the show’s biggest star says it's time to say adieu to the series that made her a household name. This week, she spoke out to explain why it is the right time to be leaving The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Leakes stated that choosing to leave the popular cable-based reality series was a difficult but necessary decision for herself and her husband.
This was definitely a hard decision for me. Me and my husband [Gregg Leakes] have been going back and forth on it for weeks now. But my contract is up and I just think this is the right time. This is my opportunity to spread my wings and do different things.
That isn’t the end of the story, however. While she is leaving The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the reality star already seems to have another big project in the works. Leakes made the announcement to People, noting that she is about to get involved with a "big legend", although she doesn’t specify exactly what is coming or who she will be working with.
I'm actually going to be doing a new primetime television show with a big legend. All of my fans will get to see me be really happy, witty and funny and tell all of those one liners that I always have said on Housewives.
So, it seems that after seven seasons, Leakes isn’t simply moving away from the spotlight. Instead, she’s simply leaving her Real Housewives companions behind. The move actually makes sense for the star. While most people know her from the Bravo series, she’s actually done plenty of programs outside of the cabler, appearing as a contestant on both Dancing with the Stars and Celebrity Apprentice. She also had actual acting gigs on The New Normal and Glee. We’ll let you know as soon as that new gig is announced.
In the meantime, NeNe Leakes has been pretty active on social media, even retweeting a nice comment from Bravo’s Andy Cohen, who says she is welcome back to the show whenever.
So, NeNe Leakes is definitely leaving Real Housewives of Atlanta but maybe a guest appearance is in the cards for the future. Her fans will probably be happy. One thing’s for certain. Real Housewives of Atlanta will certainly be less feisty once she’s gone.
