NeNe Leakes Receives Massive Raise To Stay On RHOA After Hinting Departure From Show
April 7 2015, Updated 5:12 p.m. ET
She’s isn’t going anywhere! After hinting that she may be parting ways with the The Real Housewives of Atlanta, NeNe Leakes’ pockets are now thanking her for deciding to stay around for another season.
Leakes has been very open about her issues with her castmates during the show's current season, and she appeared to be considering leaving the show to pursue other opportunities.
But according to a source speaking to RadarOnline.com, Bravo persuaded Leakes to stay by offering her a new spinoff show and one major pay raise! “NeNe absolutely hated Housewives this season. She hated almost all of the other women and wanted off the show entirely,” the source said. “But she is the most valuable person in the entire franchise and Bravo was going to do whatever she wanted to keep her. So they offered her the spin-off, which she gladly took.”
The insider added, “They want NeNe and so they offered her a HUGE raise. She already makes the most and now they’re giving her even more money per episode and her bonuses will be bigger too.”
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Leakes will be joining Kim Zolciak for the spinoff show, which they announced on Mar. 30. It is tentatively called NeNe and Kim: The Road to Riches and will follow the pair as they travel from Atlanta, Georgia, to Los Angeles, California. Leakes, who is the only remaining original cast member from RHOA’s first season, is the highest paid cast member on any of the Housewives franchises. She made $1.5 million for the show’s seventh season and is now boasting an even bigger paycheck as she prepares for the show’s eighth season.
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Speaking to BuzzFeed about the departure rumors, Leakes recently said that she would eventually leave the show, but that time isn’t now. “When you do a show by yourself, that’s a lot of pressure. You are the entertainment. I’ve been offered my own show. But I don’t want the pressure. You need people around you to balance off of and play off of,” Leakes said.
She added, “Housewives is an amazing platform. We have millions of viewers. I’m known from that show. I started there. I can’t say that I will remain full time all the time. I feel like I always want to be able to play. I always want to see the show do well. So, in order for the show to do well, I feel like I can’t… I don’t want to abandon the show. When the time comes for me to totally step away, I’m sure I will. I just don’t know when.” Are you glad that NeNe will be staying for another season of RHOA? Tweet us @OKMagazine or let us know in the comments section below.
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