Nene Leakes stunned everyone on Saturday, Aug. 28, after revealing that her husband Gregg Leakes is dying from colon cancer. Leakes opened up while making an appearance at The Linnethia Lounge.
This announcement comes months after the former reality star shared that Gregg was hospitalized because his cancer had returned. The 66-year-old was initially diagnosed with stage-three colon cancer in 2018 and went into remission a year later following treatment.
Leakes disclosed the details of her husband’s current state after an unidentified fan called out the former “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” star for not wishing them a happy birthday. She said while addressing the crowd, “I had a few people too, who approached me about a birthday right… Listen, happy birthday. I’m asking everyone in this lounge I had no idea I was going to walk in here and grab this microphone and make an announcement… I want to be at peace, if you see me and you see my son give us a lot of love okay; my husband is transitioning to the other side.”
She added, “You guys approached me and said I was rude… You don’t know what we are dealing with right now. We walked in this lounge because we have to walk here because this is our business. So when people approach us and say we are rude because you don’t want to say happy birthday, my husband is at home dying and I don’t want to say happy birthday, okay. So please give us some respect and give us some love okay. That’s what we ask you to do. You see my son right here, he’s hurting; I’m hurting.”
Leakes wrapped up her statement by reiterating the sole reason why she and her son were at the establishment was because they own the business. The 53-year-old also emotionally explained why that “rude” comment initially made her upset: “My husband is losing his life at this very moment. So when you stepped to me and said that I was rude I really was upset by that because sometimes you don’t know what people are dealing with, what people are going through. My husband is not going to be here in the next couple of days. I’m really upset I have to grab this microphone and put that out in the atmosphere.”
Shortly after the clip of Leakes’ admission went viral the following day on Aug. 29, she posted on her Instagram page. The captionless upload read the word “broken” with prayer hands and a broken heart emoji. Throughout the course of the day following the tragic news fans, friends and Leakes’ former “RHOA” castmates, including Kenya Moore, sent their prayers to the family.
Moore shared a throwback photo of the couple embracing on her Instagram story as she wrote alongside the hashtag “A Good Man,” “Praying for Gregg, @neneleakes and their family. Even through our ups and downs, Gregg never treated me differently. He was always kind and respectful.”
Other former “RHOA” co-stars flooded Leakes’ comments section with love. Marlo Hampton, Shamea Morton, Shamari Devoe and Phaedra Parks all expressed their respects by using praying hands emojis. Porsha Williams wrote, “Praying for you all during this difficult time,” and”Kim Zolciak-Biermann wrote, “Praying for you and your family. Sending you lots of love ❤️.” Additionally, Cynthia Bailey sent virtual prayer hands after viewing the news on The Peach Report Daily.
