Real Housewives of Atlanta fans were stunned by the news that Nene Leakes would not be returning for the show’s 13th series after finding herself in conflict with producers regarding contract negotiations.
Nene claimed that she’d been demoted and was only expected to star in six episodes, which she argued was unfair since her cast members were signing deals to appear in at least 15-20 episodes. She claimed that executive producer Andy Cohen had done her dirty for years, and while she accepted the fact that she wouldn’t be back, the TV personality threatened to sue Bravo for discrimination.
Well, since season 13 kicked off at the end of last year with two new cast members, Drew Sidora and LaToya Ali, RHOA has not been doing well as far as its ratings are concerned. The show’s viewership has drastically dropped, leading many to wonder whether Nene’s exit could have had something to do with it.
‘RHOA’ Ratings Are Falling
Season 13 was off to a shaky start when its premiere episode only amassed 1.4 million viewers, which is 489,000 less than what its 12th season premiere pulled in the year prior.
The second episode, however, performed even worse, accumulating no more than 1.189 million in viewership, which are numbers that are sure to have shocked producers given that RHOA remained the franchise’s highest-rated show for well over seven years.
One can’t help but think that with ratings falling like dominos, season 14 will undoubtedly bring along some major salary cuts, that’s for sure.
In the midst of reports revealing how bad RHOA was doing on a week-to-week basis, Nene decided to hop onto her Twitter account to give fans her reaction to the news.
She tweeted, “Is that the number?” A gif of the mother of one was attached to the tweet, showing a shady facial expressions as her way of laughing at the ratings fiasco over at Bravo.
Series 13 has been one of the lowest-rated seasons in the history of the popular franchise and fans are eager to know whether this could mean Nene will be back later this year when filming commences for its 14th run.
Back in October 2020, during her appearance on The Tampon Hall Show, the former Glee actress was very vocal in saying how hurt she felt by the offer Bravo made to her for her to reprise her position on RHOA with no more than six episodes offered in her contract.
“Basically, what happened is over the past four years I have felt very forced out. I have felt my role was being diminished. Every year they would give me less and less and less episodes.
“And every year, people would say, ‘Nene’s holding out…’ It wasn’t me that was holding out. I was just trying to understand why I was being given less and less and less every season from a show that I helped to become successful.”
Nene had been part of the show since its first season premiered back in 2008. Because of her lengthy run, she was also believed to have been the highest-paid star, along with Kandi Burruss, who has now taken that title since her ex-cast member’s departure.
While breaking out into tears about the situation, Nene continued to stress that she was hesitant on filing a lawsuit against Bravo since the network was practically her meal ticket into Hollywood, having amassed a multi-million dollar fortune along the way and endless opportunities both on TV and with business.
But Nene also said that she wasn’t going to stand back and let people take advantage of her, particularly when she played a big role in turning RHOA into a staple reality show.
“I hope that we don’t have to go to that extent. I’m hoping that there will be some sort of sit-down and something that we can work out behind the scenes.
“I’ve worked with these people for many years. I’ve loved them like they were my own family members. Sometimes, when people are watching these shows, you’re only seeing what’s happening on the surface and not really things that are happening behind the scenes.”
So far, Nene has made no mention of a potential return to the franchise, and quite frankly, it’s still too early to tell whether producers would approach her with an invite to come back for a full run when season 14 begins filming over the summer.
But, as always, negotiations will not happen for another few months, which is when fans will know who is back, who’s been given the boot, and who could potentially be returning.