Andy Cohen seemingly confirmed that he wouldn’t ask NeNe Leakes to reclaim her peach on The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
The O.G. housewife left the series after Season 12. Although she thanked Cohen and the Bravo team when she announced her exit, Leakes and the Watch What Happens Live host haven’t been on the best terms over the past year. However, she has expressed her willingness to end the drama with her former boss.
Cohen recently shared his take on Leakes’ return during an interview with The Real.
Andy Cohen avoids talking about NeNe Leakes joining RHOA again
The Bravo exec recently appeared on The Real via a video chat. Hosts Loni Love and Garcelle Beauvais spoke to Cohen about his new book, Glitter Every Day, and his other upcoming project throughout the segments.
As the conversation turned to the Housewives franchise, Love mentioned that Leakes said she was open to coming back to RHOA. When asked what his thoughts were on the matter, Cohen decided to shift the focus to the RHOA Season 14 cast.
“You know, we are in the midst of shooting season 14 of the Atlanta housewives, and it’s great and Marlo has her peach and Shereé [Whitfield] is back,” he explained.
“And we have some new faces and some great faces and Kenya Moore is on fire, and so I am really focused right now on Season 14 of the Housewives of Atlanta and not really looking beyond that right now,” Cohen continued.
What happened between Andy Cohen and NeNe Leakes?
Cohen and Leakes first met in the early 2000s when he developed RHOA. At the time, Leakes, Whitfield, Lisa Wu, Kim Zolciak-Biermann, and DeShawn Snow became the show’s original cast. Since then, the former Glee star has left and rejoined the RHOA cast. However, Leakes’ latest departure happened after she abruptly exited the show’s Season 12 reunion.
Although her decision to leave RHOA seemed amicable, things soon turned sour between her and Cohen. In September 2020, Leakes accused Bravo of being discriminatory against her and the other Black Housewives cast members. Additionally, in a series of tweets, she claimed that Cohen owed her his career and threatened to expose him online.
In a November 2021 episode of The Real, Leakes said that she was willing to talk to Cohen about their issue despite their fallout.
“I think Andy and I were really close for a really, really long time and I love [his son, Ben] Benny Boo,” Leakes said. “I helped pay for his baby shower and all those things. I think that Andy and I need to have a sit-down and talk, and then we’re off to the races.”
The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 14 cast started shooting in October 2021.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta is currently on hiatus.