An original of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” franchise in its 11th season, Nene Leakes is a household name in reality TV.
The show has allowed her to expand her brand into fashion, acting and writing.
Here are five things you might not know about Leakes.
She Has Four Siblings.
The 51-year-old woman originally given the name Linnethia Monique Johnson was born in Queens, New York, on December 13, 1967, into a family with five children, according to the Fame 10 entertainment news site.
Her mother, who birthed her children at a young age, reportedly couldn’t afford to provide for them and sent Nene and her brother Anthony Thomas to live with her aunt in Georgia when Nene was 4.
Nene later appeared on the game show “Family Feud” with Thomas, but she reportedly got into a Twitter beef years ago with her half-sister Kendle Kenya Sparks Davis, according to Gossip On This.
She Has a Mugshot.
Leakes revealed in her autobiography “Never Make the Same Mistake Twice: Lessons on Love and Life Learned the Hard Way” that she was arrested in her early 20s when police pulled over a vehicle she was riding in with a friend who had shoplifted from a mall.
“From MUGSHOTS to MILLIONS t-shirts go on sale this week so look out for that #ownit #swagg #growingpains #cantbebroken Exclusively at Swagg Boutique ATL,” Leakes captioned Jan. 16, 2018 on an Instagram photo of her sporting her mugshots on a sweatshirt.
Fans ate it up.
“Yes hunni own it”
“Keeping it real . Some of us like to hide. Too cute.”
“Killem…Show them how it’s done ❤️❤️❤️❤️”
She Launched a Production Company.
Leakes launched an eponymous production company, Nene Leakes Production True Entertainment, in 2013.
The company’s first show was none other than “I Dream of Nene: The Wedding” on Bravo, which chronicled the star’s second wedding to husband Gregg Leakes following their divorce in 2011.
She Acted on Broadway.
That’s right. The reality TV star appeared in the Broadway show “Chicago,” in 2015, and her acting career didn’t stop there.
She also played Roz Washington in a recurring role on “Glee” from 2012 to 2015, and she played the evil stepmother in the stage production “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella.”
She’s Had Two Nose Jobs.
Leakes admitted on a summer 2016 episode of “Watch What Happens Live” she’s had two nose jobs and she’d do it again.
“Yes, I had my nose done again. Yes I did. Yes, because it was a real medical reason why I had to get it done again,” she said on the show. “My cartilage was growing in my nose and my tip was touching the top of my lip.”
She said she didn’t get a full rhinoplasty the first time and only had her nostrils taken in on the sides.
“This time I had more of cartilage moved around in my nose,” she said.
She added, “I got my nose done first of all because I can and I will, and I’d get it done again if I want to, OK!”
