‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’: Andy Cohen Seemingly Crushes Hopes for Nene Leakes’ Return

Nene Leakes has made it known that she’s open to returning to The Real Housewives of Atlanta but Bravo honcho Andy Cohen isn’t necessarily welcoming her back with open arms. Leakes left the show acrimoniously following the conclusion of the 12th season. She accused producers of phasing her out of the show. Leakes also claimed she’d been a victim of the network’s discriminatory practices and threw shots at Cohen, claiming she’s responsible for his success. But recently, Leakes began speaking more kindly about her time on the show and expressed interest in making a comeback. However, Cohen isn’t cheering for the OG.

During a recent appearance on the FOX daytime talk show The Real, Cohen said in more words than many that he’s not worried about Leakes. “You know, we are in the midst of shooting season 14 of the Atlanta housewives, and it’s great and Marlo has her peach and Shereé is back, and we have some new faces and some great faces and Kenya Moore is on fire, and so I am really focused right now on season 14 of the Housewives of Atlanta and not really looking beyond that right now,” he said.

His comments come weeks after Leakes appeared on the same show and told the hosts that she wouldn’t mind returning but would have to speak with Cohen first. “I’m OK with returning to the show, as long as, you know, we can work through a few things,” she said at the time. “I’m happy to return to the show and besides, I have a lot of unfinished business with a couple of them they confirmed on the show…I think Andy and I were really close for a really, really long time and I love [his son, Ben] Benny Boo,” she added. “I helped pay for his baby shower and all those things. I think that Andy and I need to have a sit-down and talk, and then we’re off to the races.”

Cohen previously spoke on Leakes’ comments, refusing to get into detail about her remarks. “What I don’t want to do is get into a public thing with her,” Cohen said on her SiriusXM radio show Andy Cohen Live. “I think she would probably prefer that I keep her name out of my mouth and that is what I’m going to honor.”