NeNe Leakes - Biography

Who is NeNe Leakes?

NeNe Leakes is an actress, author, fashion designer, and reality TV star by profession and American by nationality. She is best known for appearing in The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Glee, The New Normal, etc.

NeNe Leakes on The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Image: eonline)

NeNe Leakes – Age, Parents, Siblings

NeNe Leakes’ birth took place on December 13, 1967, in Queens, New York, USA. She was born Linnethia Monique Johnson and is one of five children of her parents. She and one of her brothers were sent to live with their aunt in Athens, Georgia while the remaining of her siblings were raised by their mother.

Biological father

Leakes has a strained relationship with her family. In a 2015 interview with Radar Online, she shared, “My mother didn’t raise me. My father never claimed me. I have been lied to; I have been cheated on; I have been in an abusive relationship.”

She later learned that her father figure Curtis was not her biological father and her father's close friend was her actual father. She had been born of an affair between her mother and father's close friend. Her biological father never acknowledged her.

Education, Ethnicity

For education, NeNe Leakes attended and graduated from Clarke Central High School. She went on to study at Morris Brown College for the next two years before dropping out.

Her ethnicity is African-American.

NeNe Leakes – Boyfriend, Husband, Children, Divorce

Leakes gave birth to son Bryson Rashard Bryant on December 26, 1989. The father of her child is her ex-boyfriend Calvin Bryant. The couple did not stay together and soon split.

NeNe Leakes married her longtime boyfriend Gregg Leakes in 1997. She and her husband welcomed a child together- son Brentt Ahmad Leakes on February 22, 1999. However, after 14 years of marriage the couple divorce, which was finalized on 29 September 2011.

She remarried her ex-husband Gregg Leakes on 22 June 2013 at the InterContinental Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta. They had gotten together in 2012 and had gotten engaged in January 2013. 

In September 2021, Leakes revealed that her husband Gregg Leakes has passed away amid stage III colon cancer.

It was reported in December 2021 that she has been spotted holding hands with a mystery man. Her new boyfriend was later identified as Nyonisela Sioh.

NeNe Leakes, Nyonisela Sioh (Image: Essence)

NeNe Leakes – Career

Early Days

Leakes’ professional life before starting her career as an actress is not well known. She began her career as an actress in early 2000 while also working as an exotic dancer named Silk.

Her first role in a mainstream movie was in the 2003 film The Fighting Temptations as a stripper. However, her scenes were deleted and she was not credited for her work. In 2004 NeNe Leakes landed a minor role in an episode of The Parkers (2004).

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Films, Series

Finally in 2003 NeNe Leakes was cast in Bravo TV’s reality show The Real Housewives of Atlanta. She made an appearance in seasons 1-7 before quitting the show for the next few seasons. Leaks did return to season 8 as a guest and returned as a cast in season 10 of the reality TV show.

Since then NeNe Leakes has had a recurring role in Glee (2012-2015) as Roz Washington, I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding (2013), The New Normal (2012-2013) as Rocky Rhoades, and in the film Uncle Drew (2018). 

Moreover, she has appearances on Fashion Police (2013-2017), Larry King Now (2016), and How High 2 (2019), among many others. Leaks have also competed in The Celebrity Apprentice 4 (2011), Cupcake Wars (2016), Lip Sync Battle (2016), MasterChef Celebrity Showdown (2017), etc.

Also read: Phaedra Parks - Actress, Author, Lawyer, Reality TV star 

Co-stars

NeNe Leakes’ fellow The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast includes Kandi Burruss, Porsha Williams, Kenya Moore, Cynthia Bailey, and Eva Marcille.

Others

In addition, Leakes has worked in theatre- the Broadway production of Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, among others.

She also founded a television production company NeNe Leakes Entertainment, a clothing line Nene Leakes Collection and began her comedy tour So Nasty, So Rude in March 2016.

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NeNe Leakes – Net Worth, Salary

Her net worth has been estimated at around $14 million while her salary is known to be $1 million per season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta.

NeNe Leakes – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

On social media handles including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, NeNe Leakes is active with more than a million followers and counting. She also has a self-titled YouTube channel with around 50k subscribers.

Also read: Claudia Jordan - Model, Actress, Reality TV star