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'RHOA': NeNe Leakes will not return to Season 13, fans say 'show will not live up to standards' without her

The longtime reality TV star posted a video on Youtube on September 17 mentioning how she has made the difficult decision after an 'extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional' contract negotiation

Reality television series 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ star NeNe Leakes will not be returning to the show in its upcoming Season 13.The longtime 'RHOA' star posted a video on Youtube on September 17 mentioning how she made the difficult decision after an "extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional" contract negotiation.

The video titled 'Listen Closely, I got something to tell you!' on her channel had her saying, "There's been a lot of emotions on both sides. It's been hard and I have made a hard, difficult decision to not be part of 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta' Season 13." She continued, "It wasn't an easy decision for me. It was hard." A fan shared her video on Twitter. 

NeNe expressed her satisfaction at the show's diversity. "I'm just so happy that I can say that I was part of a genre that opened up a door for Black ensemble reality shows to step up and be a part of what we all now love so much: reality TV." Being gracious in her video, she said, "I want to thank everybody that has looked up to me over the years... I want to thank Bravo TV for all the memories... Thank you to the cast for all of the memories."

The reality TV star also addressed a false report of someone from her team releasing a statement on her behalf last week that she did not know about. She said, "I had no knowledge of it and I did not approve of it." She ended her video message by promising, "I will see you again. Real soon."

Leakes was an original cast member of 'RHOA' which premiered on Bravo TV in 2008 and has always been the top-rated show. Leakes was one of the highest-paid housewives on the show, as reported by People. She is most known for her friendship, falling out and again reconciliation with co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann, confrontations with Kandi Burruss and Cynthia Bailey and her famous rivalry with Kenya Moore who starred in the series from 2012 onwards. 

As the sad news about Leakes leaving the show dropped, the show's fans had a lot of opinions. Many alleged that her co-stars Kandi, Kenya and Cynthia will not live up to the standards of the show and that she was the real star. Some said they only wanted to watch the show because of NeNe and that Kandi and Cynthia should leave too if Leakes is leaving.

Some had questions about whether Cynthia, Kandi, Kenya would be able to entertain which many felt won't. Many fans wrote that the show must have a whole new cast now that NeNe has left.

A fan wrote, "YES RHOA is an ensemble show but NeNe Leakes WAS the STAR who CARRIED the show! The Kandi Kenya & Cynthia clique will not I repeat will NOT live up to the standards that we are accustomed to! They’re probably so hype right now but little did they know they on a sinking ship." Another, in praise of NeNe, wrote, “I only watched RHOA for NeNe, Phaedra, & Sheree. If none of them are on the show anymore I don’t see myself watching lol. Don’t nobody want to watch Kandi eat while Kenya & Cynthia bully Porsha.” 

Many called other stars of the show as boring. "So NeNe won’t be on the upcoming season of RHOA? So now boring Cynthia, goat singing Kandi, and miserable Kenya gotta entertain us? Yeah they can keep this season in the vault." Another said that Kandi and Cynthia must leave. "I don't know half these people. I do know that if Nene is gone then Kandi and Cynthia should go too. Kenya because she's miserable. All the ladies that came in before Porsha should go. Let Porsha be the OG for this new wave."

Some trashed the upcoming season 13 after NeNe leaves. "Season 13 will be trash. There's no leader on that show. Who will lead the show? Please don't tell me Kenya with her lies and Kandi with her boredom. Cynthia is an absolute snoozefest. BravoTV & BravoWWHL  will beg NeNe to come back"

Others felt the show must have fought for NeNe. "RHOA should have fought harder for NeNe. Kenya Kandi & company just ain't it. Porsha is cool but not enough for me to sit through & Cynthia should have been gotten her pink slip." A fan wrote, "All imma say is real housewives will not be nearly as entertaining without NeNe and imma leave it at that." One urged to get a new cast. "With NeNe gone, they honestly need a whole new cast because the rest of the girls are so damn boring. Like Kandi and Cynthia bring nothing to the table as far as entertainment goes. Kenya is pretty stale and I can take or leave Porscha."