NeNe Leakes
“Just like you put anything else on the schedule, you put your husband and your family on the schedule.”
Growing on reality TV Besides raising sons with a considerable age gap, Leakes has also had to learn about life in the public eye. But surprisingly, she feels that her time on Real
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Left: NeNe with her son, Brentt Right: NeNe with her husband, Gregg
Housewives of Atlanta has helped her grow and mature. “When you are doing something like this show, you evolve,” she says. “I cannot tell you how much I have evolved and how much I have grown as a woman. This whole experience has changed who I am as a woman, as a mother, as a wife, as a girlfriend. I am just proud of myself for who I have become.” That growth has included new projects and passions. In July, for example, Leakes launched the NeNe Leakes Collection on the Home Shopping Network. It’s a
clothing line that provides “amazing sexy, comfy and affordable luxury” to women from size two to 24. “I love making women feel good,” says Leakes. “One of the big issues I faced were a lot of full-figured women came to me saying, ‘We want to look good too. Where do you buy your clothes?’ So I decided I wanted this line to cover curvy girls.” Leakes is also pursing her dream of performing on stage. This November, she stars as the first African-American evil stepmother in the Broadway musical Cinderella. The role, she
Photos by Drexina Nelson AND candiD SHOTS COURTESY OF NENE LEAKeS
college. “Bryson is the reason why I work so hard,” she says. “When he was young I would do whatever I had to do to provide for him. The moment they put that baby in my arms and I looked in his eyes I was like, ‘I have to give him a good life. I have to give him everything.’” That same feeling of maternal love happened again, 10 years later, with the birth of Brentt. “Having two kids that are that far apart in age is good and bad,” says Leakes. “One thing that is bad is that they both grew up as if they were the only child. When Bryson was 18, Brentt was nine. He and his little brother never got to share things. They didn’t get to play together. They won’t have memories saying, ‘We were brothers playing together.’” On the other hand, Leakes points out: “My eldest son could always help me out a lot when Brentt was a baby.”