NeNe Leakes: ‘RHOA’ Should Dump ‘Half the Cast’ as Ratings Plummet

As fans wait for word on how the cast will shape up for season 16 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, former housewife NeNe Leakes has some thoughts on how to save the show.

In an interview with TMZ posted online Jan. 20, Leakes said the Bravo series needs major cast changes.

“If they’re going to keep those same girls over and over again, it’s not a good look,” she told the outlet outside LAX.

Leakes then elaborated and said, “Half of the cast should go, at least half.” She added that she doesn’t watch the show, but recently saw clips online and it’s “definitely not the same” as when she served up witty one-liners on the Bravo staple.

Leakes was on RHOA between 2008 and 2020. In April 2022, she sued NBCUniversal, Bravo, the show’s production companies and Real Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen, alleging racism and a problematic workplace culture at RHOA. The case was settled later that year.

Season 15 of RHOA debuted in May 2023, and several outlets reported the premiere brought in a disappointing 834,000 viewers and a 0.28 rating in the key demo. The ratings continued to fall throughout the season.

The season’s cast included Kandi Burruss, Kenya Moore, Shereé Whitfield, Drew Sidora, Marlo Hampton, and Sanya Richards-Ross.

In an July 2023 interview with Carlos King on his “Reality With the King” podcast, Leakes said RHOA is currently “tumbling down.”

King, who was previously a producer on RHOA, noted that during season 6 of the reality series — when NeNe was a peach holder — the show scored its highest ratings and averaged nearly 5 million viewers per episode. As the show’s viewership declines, NeNe said the series has gone from “5 million to five hundred [thousand]” viewers per episode.

Season 15 of RHOA concluded in October 2023, with an explosive cast reunion that saw Drew Sidora shed tears, argue with estranged husband Ralph Pittman, and accuse him of repeatedly cheating. He fired back by saying she wasn’t being honest.

“First and foremost I’ve loved my wife with all my heart, and the reason why I’m here today is because actually, I really want to make sure that my kids have the correct representation of who their father is,” Ralph said. “It’s a lot of things that Drew has said that are actually slanderous. It’s not right.”

The back-and-force between the two caught some of the other cast members off guard. Kenya Moore tried to reason with Ralph and Kandi Burruss said, “That was awkward.”