NeNe Leakes

NeNe Leakes (born Linnethia Monique Johnson) is a television personality and actress best known for her time as an original cast member on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta and for her roles on Glee and The New Normal. Leakes was born in Queens, New York, though she spent her childhood in Athens, Georgia. She graduated from Clarke Central High School and went on to attend Atlanta’s Morris Brown College. She was enrolled in college for two years before she dropped out after becoming pregnant.

Leakes began pursuing entertainment work in the late 1990s and had early television appearances before joining The Real Housewives of Atlanta as an original cast member in 2008. She became one of the franchise’s most recognizable personalities and remained a main cast member through the show’s first seven seasons. She then left the show before returning for Seasons 10 through 12. She has also competed on shows like Dancing With the Stars, during which she was paired with Tony Dovolani, and The Celebrity Apprentice.

Leakes expanded into scripted television with a recurring role as Roz Washington on Glee. In 2012, she landed a starring role as Rocky Rhoades on The New Normal. She made her Broadway debut as Madame in Cinderella in 2014 and later played Mama Morton in Chicago. The reality TV star is also a published author and cowrote the memoir Never Make the Same Mistake Twice (2009) with Denene Millner.

NeNe married real estate investor Gregg Leakes in 1997. They share a son, Brentt (born in 1999). She also has a son, Bryson (born in 1989), from a previous relationship. NeNe and Gregg divorced in 2011 before remarrying in 2013. Gregg died in September 2021 at age 66 after battling colon cancer. She was later briefly linked to Arthur Horne III.