NeNe Leakes Claims Producers ‘Never Offered' Her Chance for 'RHOA' Return

Sorry, Real Housewives of Atlanta fans, but NeNe Leakes isn’t coming back for season 17 — and it’s not because of her own reservations.

NeNe, 57, set the record straight about her possible return to the Bravo series via an Instagram comment on Tuesday, August 12, putting the blame on the show’s producers.

“They have NEVER offered me to return!” she claimed in a comment written on RealityBlurb’s Instagram story about next season.

NeNe hinted that she had no hard feelings about the alleged slight, adding, “Good luck to season 17 cast. We will be watching .”

NeNe Leakes Open to ‘RHOA’ Return If ‘Check Was on Point’

Us Weekly reached out to Bravo for comment.

NeNe’s remarks came shortly after RealityBlurb reported on Tuesday that Kim Zolciak-Biermann and Shereé Whitfield are allegedly returning to RHOA for the upcoming season.

The outlet cited Michelle “ATLien” Brown, who runs the Atlanta-based website StraightFromTheA.com, as the source, after Brown claimed on her YouTube series she has the inside scoop on the season 17 cast.

Kenya Moore, Cynthia Bailey, NeNe Leakes and Porsha Stewart. Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

“It ain’t happening. Not season 17,” Brown alleged on Monday, August 11, telling her listeners that NeNe was not part of the new cast.

She went on to claim, “Shereé Whitfield has signed her contract, and she will be on as a peach-holding Housewife. She is definitely coming back.”

Brown further alleged, “As far as I know, she won’t be a peach holder. I’m thinking that KKKKim will be back in a friend capacity.”

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The rumored casting shakeup comes after Kenya Moore exited the series in the middle of season 16 and Brittany “Brit” Eady left the show in July after one season.

Bravo has not publicly announced the RHOA season 17 cast, but fans have been clamoring for NeNe to return for years.

NeNe was one of the show’s original cast members in 2008. She was a pivotal part of the series for seven seasons before choosing to forgo season 8. NeNe later made a cameo on seasons 10 and 12 before exiting for good — at least for now — in 2020.

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Earlier this year, NeNe teased that she might consider a comeback depending on the money. “I don’t know, if the opportunity was right and the check was on point, why not?” she told TMZ in January when responding to superfan Cynthia Erivo’s plea for her to return.

NeNe noted that she had “too many things” going on from a professional standpoint to work on RHOA, including the launch of her podcast “Me & My Homegirl.”

‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ season 16 cast. Parrish Lewis/Bravo

NeNe later commented on the idea of returning to the franchise as a “friend,” shutting down the thought because of her clout.

“If I were to ever step back on that platform, would I be friend? I really kind of feel like I don’t know that I would be a friend,” NeNe said on the July 7 episode of Cynthia Bailey and Crystal Kung Minkoff’s “Humble Brag” podcast. “I just would think, NeNe, season 1, the first Housewife, and I’m a friend? I don’t know.”