Is the door still closed?
Andy Cohen revealed whether NeNe Leakes could ever return to “Real Housewives of Atlanta” after saying the show currently has a “growth opportunity.”
“I’m a nostalgic guy. She and I came up together and there’s always room in my heart for, you know, everybody,” he told a fan at BravoCon Saturday, per video footage shared online.
When the fan asked whether Leakes could get to hold a peach again, Cohen, 55, replied, “Who knows? I mean, she asked me a few years ago to keep her name out of my mouth, so I try to respect that.”
Things between Bravo and the former “RHOA” star, also 55, have been tense since she accused the network and the “Watch What Happens Live” host of racial discrimination.
In April 2022, Leakes filed a lawsuit against Cohen, NBCUniversal, Bravo, production companies True Entertainment and Truly Original and other executives, alleging they encouraged and allowed a racist and hostile work environment.
The mom of two, who is black, said in the suit that she complained to execs for years about racist comments made by her former “RHOA” co-star Kim Zolciak, who denied any wrongdoing.
The following month, Leakes — who was on “RHOA” from Seasons 1 to 7 and 10 to 12 before announcing her departure from the reality show in 2020 — accused Bravo of blacklisting her for speaking out against the network.
In August 2022, she seemingly took aim at Cohen in a series of tweets.
“I am happy I was able to help all the other black women get job opportunities that are working for them,” she wrote in August, claiming Cohen had stopped her from working “because I was a threat to his career.”
Later that month, Leakes dropped her discrimination lawsuit against the defendants “without prejudice” — meaning she can reopen it at a later time.
Although fans may never get to see the Linnethia Lounge owner return to “RHOA,” they have been asking for the show to get rebooted like “The Real Housewives of New York City” did, following its thirteenth season.
During BravoCon Saturday, Cohen teased that the show — which currently stars Kandi Burruss, Shereé Whitfield, Marlo Hampton, Drew Sidora, Sanya Richards-Ross and Kenya Moore — won’t get a full reboot, but could get a partial one, as they want to build on what they have.
“I mean, I think that [‘RHONY’s reboot] showed us that it can be done and done well. … Which is really a strong thing to see,” the executive producer said.
“I always love building with what we have … I think ‘Atlanta’ has some really strong building blocks that are already there and we’re in a growth area. We have a growth opportunity for ‘Atlanta.'”
