The Ratings Are In: Nene Leakes’ Return to ‘RHOA’ Shows Boost in Viewership, But Did She Outdo Kenya Moore?

Sunday night’s episode of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” saw an uptick in viewership as Nene Leakes made her first appearance on the show since season 12 bowed. But did it outdo the premiere that welcomed back Kenya Moore following her season 11 absence?

“RHOA” fans tuned in to see the lives of the cast continue to unfold, including the state of Leakes’ marriage and her friendship with Cynthia Bailey. According to Showbuzz Daily, the Bravo series drew had 1.860 million viewers up from 1.85 million a week earlier. However, the debut episode of “RHOA” that marked Moore’s first time as a mom and wife on-screen garnered 1.91 million pairs of eyeballs locked into the drama.

Related: Kenya Moore’s TV Cameos

Fans online made their feelings on the ratings known.

“Team Twirl always prevails! The people are here for Kenya & Porsha tbh.”

“So the REAL PREMIER was when?!! 😂 Y’all gone learn one of these days.”

“The way how you were hyping up Nene’s return, I thought the ratings would be way better, even episode 1 was more. GOD DOES NOT LIKE UGLY. All these ladies are QUEEN. Talking about she’s the Queen and the other ladies are Princesses…SELF PROCLAIMED.”

“Viewers still tune in to see Nene, and that is going to make Kenya really mad,” an alleged source close to the show told Radar Online Nov. 20 before adding, “Nene doesn’t care about Kenya’s trash talking.”

Moore hasn’t exactly been kind to Leakes in the press. When she spoke to “Extra” at BravoCon last weekend, she said of Leakes’ two-show absence, “Isn’t it nice?” As for what was going on behind her co-star’s vacancy, Moore said, “I don’t know and I don’t care.” Moore also claimed Leakes is not the highest earner on “RHOA” during a stop at “The Wendy Williams Show” earlier this month, where she also claimed Leakes tried to spit on her.

nene leakes
Nene Leakes (left) and Kenya Moore (right). (Photos:Noel Vasquez/Getty Images, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

While Leakes has been lying low off the show she’s caught wind of the trash talk.

“Hey ladies, i was here for all the shade! Now when i give it back, don’t be too sensitive and have amnesia! You know how y’all like to play victim 🙄 #confessional #rhoa #og #hbic #the1,” she wrote on Instagram ahead of her season 12 debut. Or as she called it, “the real premiere.”

“Now that the pre-show has ended, The REAL PREMIERE starts SUNDAY at 8pm on @bravotv…..” Leakes wrote in a shady caption two days before her return to the show.

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