NeNe Leakes is dishing about her time on The Actual Housewives of Atlanta — and the toll her profession has taken on her private life.
As we reported on Monday, the 55-year-old TV veteran sat down with producer and podcast host Carlos King for a large two-part interview about her life and profession.
In our Monday night report, we lined fairly a little bit of the unlucky saga involving NeNe’s 33-year-old son Bryson Bryant, who has struggled for years with drug habit and authorized issues. And now, as this week’s full installment of the Actuality With The King podcast has been launched, we’ve received a take a look at every part else.
Associated: NeNe Speaks Out Amid Ugly Fan Trolling Over Son Brentt’s Sexuality
In Tuesday’s podcast episode — the primary of two elements, with the second to be launched subsequent Tuesday — the Bravo vet received actual along with her RHOA producer pal about how the so-called actuality TV sausage was made.
Listed below are the highlights from their almost 90-minute-long chat (beneath)…
Low Salaries For A LONG Time!
Amazingly, regardless that RHOA was a success from the beginning of its run manner again in 2008, NeNe and the remainder of the forged didn’t receives a commission for YEARS.
She informed King in Tuesday’s interview that she solely made “a complete of $10,000” to movie the primary season of the present. Then, when Bravo realized they’d a success on their arms, they supplied NeNe “an additional $5,000” to movie the reunion. That’s all?! After a filming schedule that lasted three months! Oof!
NeNe didn’t keep in mind the Season 2 wage numbers off the highest of her head, however when King queried about it, she estimated she made “round $50,000” to movie that follow-up.
By seasons three and 4, the RHOA girls began to get good. NeNe recalled how she, Shereé Whitfield, Kim Zolciak-Biermann, and different OG stars “received the identical lawyer” to play hardball with Bravo. It ended up working — type of — and the ladies made low six figures within the third season. Then lastly by the fourth season, NeNe and the remainder received big-time paydays.
Nonetheless, it took a very long time (and a LOT of labor) earlier than they got here to that time! Jeez!!
How Actual Was RHOA?
The most important query on most viewers’ minds is all the time how actual RHOA actually is.
For NeNe, she says issues have been actual… at first. She says issues started to vary through the fifth season. That yr, Kenya Moore joined the forged, and alongside along with her addition, Leakes started noticing there have been extra made-up storylines and phony relationships inserted into the collection. She needed to be very clear about one factor, tho: all of the OG Housewives began the run with their “actual husbands” and “actual boyfriends.”
NeNe defined:
“Our tales have been actual. Every part we talked about and did was actual. After we had disagreements, they have been actual. We didn’t faux like we had a boyfriend once we didn’t have one. Then I believe as soon as Kenya got here on the present — I’m not saying that Kenya began it or did it — however at that second, it began to be ‘let’s create our story line.’ Nicely, we didn’t create a narrative line [before that]. We simply confirmed as much as work and was simply filming and being who we’re.”
Inneresting…
Household Fractures
As we famous up high, a giant portion of NeNe’s dialogue with King centered on habit problems with her son Bryson. However that wasn’t the one household downside Leakes needed to make clear with this podcast push.
Throughout Tuesday’s present, she expressed remorse over bringing her sons — Bryson, whom she shares with ex Calvin Bryant, together with 24-year-old Brentt Leakes, whom she shared with late husband Gregg Leakes — onto the present in any respect.
Remembering one pivotal early-season second by which she disciplined Brentt on digital camera when he was only a child, NeNe mentioned:
“I disciplined my son as soon as on digital camera that everyone goes again and, and say, again and again, ‘you misplaced your rattling thoughts.’ You recognize? I felt like that actually damage my son’s emotions. I don’t wanna damage my youngsters within the strategy of doing one thing that I wanna do. So I wanted I might take that second again.”
The Hassle With Gregg
In fact, NeNe and Gregg have been married for just about your entire time she filmed RHOA. They wed in 1997, had Brentt in 1999, after which finally known as it quits in 2010 earlier than reconciling three years later. From there, the Bravo-lebrity remained by Gregg’s aspect till he tragically died from most cancers in 2021.
NeNe recalled how her marriage to Gregg had been completely satisfied… up till the time she started to out-earn him because the present took off:
“Gregg beloved me for me, and he knew me for who I used to be. And in addition my husband was the breadwinner in my case. I wasn’t working and he made the cash. And as soon as I began to earn more money than him, he began me, like, sideways … As a result of I not needed to ask him for cash. I not needed to ask him for something. … And so I believe that I pulled a few of his energy or his energy or one thing.”
Then, concerning their divorce in 2010, NeNe recalled how she was “devastated” over the break up. Nonetheless, she knew she wanted to maneuver ahead with it to “educate him a lesson.”
She defined:
“The one lesson that Gregg was gonna get was for me to divorce him. And I used to be gonna have to hold it all through. And once I carried it all through, I’ll always remember. Gregg known as me on the telephone. He mentioned, ‘you bitch, you divorced me.’”
No less than he received the message, and so they ended up collectively? Powerful love certainly…
Change Comes For All
Now that the present has been a hit for thus a few years, and NeNe was on the heart of that success, she has turn into a actuality TV celebrity. However together with that comes an ego — or no less than what others understand to be an ego.
Explaining how she hates being criticized for having “modified” through the years, NeNe mentioned:
“Folks prefer to say ‘you’ve modified through the years.’ Nicely, the factor is, you’re presupposed to develop. Yearly you become older, you recognize, it’s not like I’m getting youthful. And also you be taught out of your errors and also you turn into increasingly mature.”
And he or she continued:
“I believe folks attempt to say ‘ego’ when the cameras are watching you and all these persons are pulling you aside each single day.”
Not mistaken about that!
You may watch the total first a part of her interview on Actuality With The King (beneath):
Rattling. Positively a wide-ranging interview.
Reactions, Perezcious readers??
[Image via Carlos King/Bravo/YouTube]
