NeNe Leakes Shuts Down Rumors She's Returning To 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta' For Season 17

NeNe Leakes seems eager to return to Bravo for another season of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." However, it looks like producers aren't ready to take that risk.

Days after reports began surfacing that NeNe Leakes was returning to the series for its 17th season, the iconic reality star responded to the claims and shared a pointed message.

Earlier this week, @RealityBlurb on Instagram sparked a bunch of excitement across the Bravoverse when they alleged that Leakes, along with other heavy hitters, Shereé Whitfield and Kim Zolciak, were set to return to "RHOA" for the 17th season.

Shortly after the post began going viral, however, Leakes fired back and denied the claims, writing, "They have NEVER offered me to return." The legendary reality star went on, "Good luck to season 17 cast. We will be watching."

According to a report from Us Weekly, @RealityBlurb cited the popular YouTuber, Michelle "ATLien" Brown, as their source for the tea regarding the upcoming season.

“It ain’t happening. Not season 17,” Brown said in a recent video about Leakes' return before claiming she knew that other OGs were in talks to spin the block.

“Shereé Whitfield has signed her contract, and she will be on as a peach-holding Housewife. She is definitely coming back," Brown alleged.

She also spoke about Zolciak, who is currently in the midst of a contentious divorce from her husband, former NFL player Kroy Biermann, and her potential spot on the show.

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

The allegations about Leakes' grand return to the series come months after the "Chicago" star began soft-launching her working relationship with NBC Universal in September 2024.

"Back to business," she captioned an Instagram post, later informing her followers that she'd reconnected with the TV company to host the after-party red carpet for the Emmys. "Glad to be back with my NBC Uni family," she concluded.

Leakes initially sued Bravo in April 2022, alleging the network fostered a racist and hostile environment. The lawsuit was dismissed in August 2022. Since then, Leakes hasn't appeared on any Bravo shows, but her work on the red carpet with another NBC network had fans feeling hopeful.

Whitfield, on the other hand, has been on and off with Bravo since 2008. After joining the series in season 1, she left after season 4, but returned for seasons 8-10. She made another return in 2022 before exiting in 2023.

Zolciak, meanwhile, left the show after season 5 in 2013 before returning as a friend in season 10. During the years she was off the show, Zolciak filmed another series with her family, "Don't Be Tardy."

In 2023, Leakes appeared on Carlos King's podcast, "Reality With the King," where she discussed all things Bravo and filming the iconic reality show from 2008 to 2020.

Not only did the quote-worthy reality star speak about Zolciak's scandalous relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Big Poppa, but Leakes also opened up about Kenya Moore's presence on the show.

According to Leakes, when Moore joined the cast in season 5, things changed because the former Miss USA brought a lot of "foolery" to the table.

Later, in the episode, Leakes, who starred in the show when it was pulling in around "five million viewers," threw a little shade at the current cast's viewer count, which has experienced a significant dip over the years.

“This is season what? They got 500?” she asked. "That's a difference, isn't it?"

In another interview, covered by The Blast, Leakes also showed a little love to Zolciak, despite their rocky relationship, while she navigates her challenging divorce from her husband, Biermann.

Leakes opened up about seeing Zolciak while out in Atlanta and said the latter admitted to having a difficult time. Despite that, however, Leakes stated that the mother of six looked phenomenal and that they exchanged words of encouragement.

"Other than that, we just kept it positive. Nobody ever wants to see a family breakup. There are kids involved," she said.