NeNe Leakes sat down with former Real Housewives of Atlanta producer Carlos King on his “Reality With the King” podcast, for an interview on all-things housewives.
In the first installment of the two-part interview this week, NeNe said she thinks RHOA is crumbling without her.
Carlos 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.
The show’s viewership has since declined, prompting NeNe to quip that the Bravo series has gone from “5 million to five hundred [thousand].”
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During RHOA’s highest-rated season, NeNe was joined in the cast by Kenya Moore, Kandi Burruss, Phaedra Parks, Porsha Williams and Cynthia Bailey. Marlo Hampton was a friend.
King asked NeNe her thoughts on the current crop of housewives.
“I’ve never watched since I left, but I have honestly watched the clips that have come down social media,” she said. “But me turning my TV on and tuning in, is just something I cannot do because as far as I’m concerned, they’re all sitting in my house, the house that I built.”
She then took another jab at the ratings, saying the franchise “seems like it’s tumbling down.”
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Shereé Whitfield, who was an original housewife with NeNe, responded on Twitter, saying RHOA‘s success was a group effort.
“OUR house….The beauty of an ensemble cast #RHOA,” Whitfield tweeted in response to NeNe’s comments.
Whitfield is currently a member of the season 15 cast, alongisde Drew Sidora, Marlo Hampton, Sanya Richards-Ross, Kenya Moore, and Kandi Burruss. The friends are Ne-Yo’s ex Monyetta Shaw-Carter and Courtney Rhodes.
Season 15 debuted in May 2023. Last month, Radar Online reported that the premiere brought in 834,000 viewers and a 0.28 rating in the key demo, and the numbers have continued to fall since then.
During NeNe’s 90-minute interview with Carlos, she said she was underpaid on the first season of RHOA, and she discussed her son Bryson Bryant’s legal troubles and addiction. She revealed several people have reached out, including Lamar Odom, who offered to help Bryson address his addiction issues.
Watch NeNe’s comments about not watching RHOA in the video above from The Neighborhood Talk. The full interview is below:
