Leakes recently returned to the franchise for an appearance on ‘The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th’
Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo; Jerod Harris/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Andy Cohen opened up to PEOPLE about NeNe Leakes’ recent return to the Real Housewives franchise for The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th
- Leakes left The Real Housewives of Atlanta in 2020 and later sued Bravo, Cohen and others in 2022; the lawsuit was mutually dismissed four months later
- The longtime reality star has said she would be open to hearing from Bravo about a more substantial return to the franchise
Andy Cohen is praising former Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member NeNe Leakes — and said the franchise couldn’t have celebrated 20 years on the air without her.
Cohen shared his thoughts on Leakes — who recently made a cameo in the premiere episode of the franchise’s latest installment — The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th — exclusively with PEOPLE at the show’s premiere celebration in New York City.
“We couldn’t have celebrated 20 years without her,” Cohen, 58, told PEOPLE. “She’s such an important part of the franchise, and it was really fun.”
“And the response has been great,” he added.
The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th is a special season celebrating 20 years of the franchise. It follows seven veteran Housewives — Vicki Gunvalson, Luann de Lesseps, Porsha Williams, Teresa Giudice, Kyle Richards, Gizelle Bryant and Lisa Barlow— on a cross-country trip through several iconic franchise cities.
Credit: Chris Haston/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Leakes, 58, famously departed RHOA in 2020 after appearing in 10 seasons.
At the time, her exit seemed amicable with the network. However, Leakes later filed a lawsuit against Bravo, RHOA, Cohen and several other parties in 2022 alleging racism and a hostile work environment.
However, the lawsuit was mutually dismissed by all parties four months later.
Cohen later said that he considered the lawsuit “in the past” while speaking to Vulture in May 2026.
He added that reuniting with Leakes for the latest show was “a very positive” experience.
Credit: Wilford Harewood/Bravo
“As we looked back on 20 years, it felt like doing something with her would be really nice for the fans, and she really wanted to do it,” he added.
For her part, Leakes seemingly hasn’t closed the door on returning to the franchise in more than cameo capacity at some point.
“If they called, I would answer,” she said during an appearance on The Tamron Hall Show in January. “I would need to hear what they have to say.”
“We have put a lot of things behind us that some people know, some people don’t know,” she continued, seemingly referring to the 2022 lawsuit.
“We’ve ended all of those things. We’ve moved forward,” Leakes added.
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The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th airs on Bravo on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET, and new episodes are available for streaming the following day on Peacock.
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