No means no. Andy Cohen is on the promo trail for his new book celebrating 20 years of The Real Housewives, and at every stop somebody asks him about NeNe Leakes coming back to The Real Housewives of Atlanta. On the Today Show and in his sit-down with Carlos King, he found a new, polite, PR-trained way to say the same thing. I’m in Los Angeles for work, and a lot of y’all asked in yesterday’s RHOP comments if I’d watched the Carlos interview. I did. Let’s get into it.
All She Asked For Was a Sit-Down
Let’s back up. A few weeks ago, Andy said NeNe was an important part of Ultimate Girls Trip, but Atlanta is good because they have a stacked cast. NeNe went on V103 and basically said they said what they said, she’s good, but she wouldn’t mind hosting the girls on a trip. Y’all know I’ve been asking for an RHOA Legacy Ultimate Girls Trip for a long time. I told my Patreon baddies that NeNe wanted a bigger role on UGT, and she’s since said herself that she would have loved to be at the finale. Andy was at that finale. He was at the premiere party too, and NeNe wasn’t. No word on whether she was even invited, but I can almost 100% say that if she had been, she would have shown up. Then last weekend, NeNe was on the blue carpet at an event here in Los Angeles, and when she was asked what it would take to come back, she had a different energy than she did on V103. Her answer was simple: a sit-down conversation. And let me be clear about who that conversation is with. It’s not the network. It’s Andy.
“I think it would be very easy to just have a sit-down conversation. That’s it.”
The Network Isn’t the Problem
NeNe dismissed her lawsuit against the network. People have speculated she got a settlement, but I’m not hearing that from my sources. What I am hearing is that she has a contract with NBCUniversal, and she was offered this latest season of The Traitors, but allegedly the money wasn’t right. Executives have said publicly that they’re open to working with her. So the door that’s closed is Andy’s. And I’m going to be fair here, because I understand why. She sued, she named him specifically, and she said things about him online that he’d consider defamatory, even if parts of her discrimination complaint raised real points. I’d hold a grudge too. But Andy also says he doesn’t have the power to hire and fire anymore, and come on. He’s still the face of this franchise, and he still has influence. This is my conspiracy theory, so take it as just that: I think the network gave him a choice between rebooting New York again and bringing back Miami, because neither was delivering the numbers, and he chose New York. He lives there. Am I surprised? No.
He Can Talk About Greg, but Not About NeNe
On the Today Show, when they told him NeNe said she’d come back if he called and sat down with her, Andy said he was so excited she joined the 20th celebration on UGT, that he sent her a copy of the book last week, and that they’re in production on the new season of Atlanta right now. A book. With Carlos, it was the same. “I think you’re trying to ask me about NeNe,” and then the speech about how happy he was to celebrate her and how it would have been really hard to do that show without her. Okay, Andy. If you couldn’t do it without her, why wasn’t she a full-time cast member on a trip built around OGs? Why wasn’t she at the premiere or the finale? I’ve heard from very reliable sources that her appearance was watered down intentionally, allegedly. And notice that when Carlos brought up the two of them texting again after Andy reached out when something was going on with her son, he pivoted to Greg. “Pastor Greg” at the reunions, how he neutralized things, how sad he was when Greg passed. That was sweet. But he talked about Greg, not about NeNe.
Andy Has Found Every Way to Say No Without Saying No
Then Carlos asked the question I wanted asked. NeNe says she doesn’t want a peach and doesn’t want to be full-time. She’d love to host the girls on a trip for about three days and go back home. Is Andy open to that? “Who knows.” Then straight into how much work it took to get her on UGT, the brick-by-brick rebuild of Atlanta with Truly Original, and how happy he is with where the show is right now. I have to give him his credit. He’s very good at redirecting. But a seasoned interviewer brings it back around, and that didn’t happen. Honestly, I listened at 1.25 speed and felt like it was much about nothing. Carlos even pitched Joselyn Hernandez for a Miami return, and from what reliable sources tell me, Miami isn’t coming back this year or next. I’ll also say this: no matter how critical we are of Andy, you can’t deny what 20 years of Housewives has done for pop culture. But for me, NeNe Leakes is an easy yes. The door is closed. Is there any chance NeNe hosts a trip, or should we stop asking? Let me know. Here we go.
Disclaimer: This post is based on publicly available information and credited sources. All allegations are unproven
