Kandi Burruss supports NeNe Leakes rejoining “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” — even if she (allegedly) said what she said.
Before claiming that Leakes, 54, called her a racial slur, Burruss, 45, told Page Six in an exclusive interview that her longtime frenemy makes for “good TV.”
“She don’t really like me half the time and it’s OK. I still think she’s good TV, so if she ever came back, I’m fine,” Burruss said while promoting her latest Bravo spin-off, “Kandi & the Gang.”
“But I don’t really think it’s our decision. I think she and Andy [Cohen] should talk if that’s something she wants to try to make happen.”
Shortly after her departure from the reality show, though, Leakes tweeted several mysterious messages alluding to mistreatment by Bravo.
Kandi Burruss might be ready to reunite with NeNe Leakes on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” — even after her former co-star allegedly called her a racial slur. Getty ImagesBut in November 2021, the former actress told “The Real” co-hosts that she was interested in reprising her role on “RHOA” and had “unfinished business” to take care of with cast.
Burruss told Page Six that she nor any of the current “RHOA” cast members — also including Drew Sidora, Kenya Moore, Marlo Hampton, Shereé Whitfield and newbie Sanya Richards-Ross — have “anything against” Leakes potentially reclaiming her peach.
“I mean, we all have our drama with her. I think people would think just because you’ve had beef with somebody that you don’t want to see them be on the show and that’s not the case with NeNe,” the Xscape singer explained.
“We’ve all had our arguments or our back-and-forth. But I don’t think anybody is saying, ‘Oh, she doesn’t deserve to be on the TV show.’”
Though she might be down to film with Leakes, Burruss recently shared on TMZ’s “It’s Tricky with Raquel Harper” podcast that she no longer keeps in contact with the “Glee” alum because of an alleged racist insult lobbed her way.
Leakes and Burruss’ friendship has faced many highs and lows throughout their time together on the long-running reality show. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images“I don’t know what her problem is with me. I’ve seen her say all kinds of stuff,” Burruss said, later claiming, “This right here pissed me the f–k off … when she said somewhere calling me a ‘c–n’ or something,” she claimed. “That right there, that’s when I was like, ‘OK, you know what …’”
When asked by Harper, 39, what might elicit such an offensive remark, Burruss suggested that her success on Bravo — “Kandi & the Gang” marks her seventh series on the network — has made Leakes jealous.
“If we don’t communicate and those are the type of things that you put out in the atmosphere, I don’t need to waste my time talking to you anymore. That’s just how I feel about it,” Burruss said of her former co-star.
“I didn’t do nothing to her, and that’s the crazy thing. I think she was having her own issues with the network, right?” Burruss continued on “It’s Tricky.” “And that was very public or whatever. But I don’t know if because I have a better relationship with them she had negative things to say about me.”
Burruss and Leakes’ friendship went through many highs and lows on “RHOA,” with one of their most memorable onscreen scuffles taking place at the Season 7 reunion in 2015 when the “We see each other”-meme was born.
Burruss latest Bravo spin-off, “Kandi & the Gang,” recently premiered. Getty ImagesBurruss has hardly discussed her relationship with Leakes in the press after the latter “Housewife” exited “Atlanta” in 2020’s Season 12.
“I normally don’t even address it,” Burruss said Thursday. “Like, realistically, I think [this is] the only time publicly I’ve talked about that, but it’s annoying. It’s annoying as f–k, especially when you say things like using the ‘c–n’ term toward me, because if nothing else, like, realistically, I am the only one out of [the cast] that even still lives in a majority black community.”
A rep for Leakes has not returned Page Six’s request for comment.
“Kandi & the Gang” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
