NeNe Leakes Talks Gay Fans, Ryan Murphy, and Leaving 'Real Housewives'

NeNe Leakes (Getty Images)

Since its premiere in 2006, Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise has provided representation of gay (specifically male) voices on television. In particular, The Real Housewives of Atlanta has put the spotlight on gender-fluid, non-white LGBTQ men not frequently seen elsewhere in media. Original RHOA cast-member NeNe Leakes says the LGBT community has supported her “so much” and, since breaking out as the outspoken stripper-turned-housewife, Leakes has gone on to star in The New Normal, one of the first network comedies centered around a gay couple. So it made perfect sense that Leakes was hosting a party with Barefoot Wine at The Piedmont Room to get Atlanta’s world famous Pride Festival started. Yahoo caught up with her before the bash to talk about her love for the LGBT community and leaving the Housewives franchise.

Tell me a little about this party you’re hosting.
We’re gonna get down tonight. [laughs] Anyway, I am hosting the first ever Barefoot Wines Bear Garten in Atlanta, Georgia, to kick of the LGBT Pride Week for gay pride. We’re gonna have a lot of performances, we’ll have some drag queens, we’ll be having bubbly, and we’ll be sampling the wine. … This is our second pride — we have two — and this is really off the chain.

Have you been to pride events before?
Oh yeah, I’ve done pride a lot. I’ve done it in Georgia, I’ve also done it in Texas, and I’ve done it in one year in Los Angeles. I’ve always loved the LGBT community, I really do. I’ve always liked them because I feel like they get to live their lives as who they really are. Some of them are really outspoken, and it doesn’t hurt that a few of them are extra because I like being extra. [laughs] I love that about them, I really do.

NeNe Leakes hosting the Barefoot Wine Bear Garten (Startraks)

You mention that you’ve been friendly with the LGBT community for a long time — do you feel like they’ve supported you?
Oh my God, they have supported me so much, like you have no idea. Wherever I go they’re the first ones there supporting me, saying, “Oh my God, can you sign this? Oh my God, can you take a picture with me?” I was just talking tonight about Halloween… I can’t say how many people dress up as me and Kim [Zolciak, also of The Real Housewives of Atlanta] together with wine in their hand, all that kind of stuff. So they’re very supportive of me, yes.

When did you first start meeting gay people and making gay friends?
Well, for me it happened in high school. I had a couple gay guys in high school that I hung out with and then I cheered in high school, so we had a couple guys on our cheerleading squad. So I’ve always had gay guys in my life.

On the Real Housewives franchise, the main characters are obviously all women, but gay men have always had a visible presence. Are you proud of that?
When we first opened up the show, Real Housewives of Atlanta, we were really over the top in heels and makeup and we even had a couple of our hairstylists on who were also in heels right along with us. They also had on their makeup as well, and I think it appealed to a lot of the gay audience because then people start to think of Atlanta as a big gay city because we have these guys walking around in heels and so we became very popular with the gay community. The Real Housewives franchise is very popular with the gay community, like very. They love the Housewives, they really do. I really think they live through us, especially me, because a lot of them have called me a man before, so… [laughs]

Tonight you have some performers from RuPaul’s Drag Race, are you a fan of the show?
I have been a fan of the show for a very long time. Actually they asked me to come on and judge, just to be a guest on the panel once, and I actually couldn’t do it because we had a scheduling conflict…

Hand to God, my next question was going to be, “Why haven’t you been a judge?”
Yeah, they actually called me and asked me to be a judge and we had a scheduling conflict so I couldn’t do it, but I really, really was trying to work it out, I wanted to go on so freakin’ bad. I really, really love the show. In fact, I was flying home about two weeks ago and there was a guy sitting in first class with me and he leaned over, he was like, “I’m on RuPaul’s Drag Race, I love you, oh my God.” And I was like, Oh my goodness. I couldn’t tell who he was because he wasn’t in his drag. The transformation is incredible. He’s just another man sitting in first class, [but] when he got dressed in his drag he looked gorgeous on that show.

So we’ll look forward to maybe next season seeing NeNe as a judge on Drag Race.
Yeah I’d love to do it.

You won’t be on this coming season of Real Housewives. The trailer recently came out, have you seen it?
I’ve not seen the trailer, but I’ve seen little clips of it on social media and I’ve also seen the cast photo. I don’t know how the show is going to be. From everything I’ve heard or saw on social media, it seems like a lot of people. They’re going to have lots of stories. And that’s different than what we’ve ever done. They brought, like, a gajillion girls on.

Well, it takes a lot of people to make up for NeNe’s absence…
Yeah, it’s like, seriously, you need 10 people? Really? That’s a lot of people, so, you know, hopefully it’s a success. We’ll see.

As the season gets ready to premiere do you feel a little bit sad that you’re not a part of it, or a little bit relieved that you’re not about to have your personal life on television?
Well, when I heard they’ve had a couple of fights, like I think somebody was saying Cynthia [Bailey] kicked Porsha [Williams] in the stomach. I’m so glad I’m not a part of that. I’m so glad I’m not there because if I were there, somehow they would have made me be a part of it, like, “Oh it was NeNe’s fault, the reason that my leg came up and hit her in the stomach…” They’re having their fights without me there. So who are they gonna blame the fight on now?

Will you be watching this season?
You know, if I get some time I will see edits here and there, I’m still very close to Bravo and Andy [Cohen] and my production company, so I’m always talking to them and so you never know what could happen.

NeNe Leakes and Ryan Murphy (Instagram)

So now that you’re not on the Housewives, what are you working on these days?
Well, I just finished… I’m recurring on Fashion Police and I just finished my show, To Tell the Truth, [a reboot of the ‘50s game show starring Betty White and Anthony Anderson] and it will come out the first of the year on ABC. And I just launched my new collection for HSN. … I’ve had a couple of meetings with Ryan Murphy, so we’ll see what happens. You know, that’s my fairy godmother, I’ve done some series for him [Glee and The New Normal].

Has anything concrete come from that?
Not that I can tell you.