I know y’all have been asking about the RHOA reunion for couple of days now. To be honest, I’ve stopped pestering my sources about reunions because the very hot tea I am able to get on them often doesn’t get enough attention her to warrant the effort. Especially with this season that most of us have not really enjoyed. But then Nene apparently made a commotion on social media somewhere and has unfollowed a lot of her castmates. So I have had multiple conversations with Tamara Tattles exclusive source about what went down at the RHOA reunion.
The first thing I heard was that the reunion was unexpected in a crazy way. That said, the ensuing discussions didn’t really seem unexpected to me based on all the information I already had about the Bravo suits feelings about RHOA season 11.
I’m going to break things down by housewives since that is the way our conversations flowed.
All The RHOA EXCEPT NENE
The majority of the reunion was The Nene Show, but not quite in the way you might expect. I’ll get to that in just a minute. First let’s do a quick rundown on the others before everyone gets riled up one way or another.
Kandi Burruss
Kandi was doing her thing. Chiming in when she felt like it and promoting herself during her segments. “Kandi handles reunions as if she has a guaranteed lifetime peach,” said Tamara Tattles source. And she probably does. The Bravo suits have given her more spin-offs than any other salary. She has a contract that is as favorable as Bethenny Frankel’s when it comes to her businesses and product placed. Bravo has first right of refusal on any of her own productions. And they gave her a lot of incentive to cancel her show focusing on Marlo on WeTv (I think it was We).
The suits love her. Her role on the reunion was “very genuine.” You can’t say that about any of the others.
Eva Marcillle and Tanya Sam
Other than Kandi, who the suits always like, Eva Marcille and Tanya Sam got rave reviews by the Bravo suits. Eva needs her peach the most so she was on fire most of the time. She came in fired up against Nene Leakes. Apparently, in an episode we haven’t seen yet, Nene mocks Eva’s finances in some way. Her husband isn’t as wealthy as some of the husbands and apparently Nene caught wind of some financial issues. Eva came in with a score to settle about that. She didn’t back down and was impressive to those who matter.
I recently asked my source about the compelling things the suits saw in Tanya Sam on the Tokyo trip. Just before filming they considered giving her Shamari Devoe’s peach and demoting Shamari Devoe to friend. In the end they did not follow through with that. One of the things that was mentioned about Tanya Sam is that she doesn’t back down from Nene Leakes. I think Tanya will seriously be considered for full-time. But someone, most likely Shamari would be moved to a friend position. Tanya Sam and Eva Marcille could be formidable allies on RHOA Season 12.
And The Rest…
Cynthia Bailey didn’t defend Nene. She didn’t want to lose any friendships with the other women. She doesn’t have Nene in her corner after the reunion and can’t afford to rock the boat with the others. She’s what Big Brother fans call a floater. Sometimes that works out well. I think Andy really likes Cynthia.
My sources are not big fans of Marlo Hampton. All I got was, “She was loud.” That sounds about right and didn’t surprised me. What did sort of surprise me was the two words used to describe Shamari Devoe. She was,”basically useless.” This is a huge downgrade from the buzz I heard about her at the beginning of the season. It seems Bravo suits just sort of fizzled out on her.
Nene Leakes
Prior to the reunion filming, I’d had a couple of conversations with a source about Nene Leakes concerning one of her recent meltdowns (Blind Item Reveal) where she was accusing two people who of trying to sabotage her employment opportunities outside of Bravo. It was clear in that conversation that the days of Nene Leakes special treatment by Bravo suits was over. Nene Leakes performance on the reunion would be important to her future with Bravo. Based on conversations after the reunion, it seems she didn’t improve her standing.
I still do not understand a couple of things that were planned for the reunion regarding Nene. Nene was asked by production if they could show a package… that if I understand correctly shows her arguing with Gregg. I’m not sure if it is the usual montage or new footage, but either way it seemed like a package that would make her look bad. I’m told she needed to approve it as sort of a proxy for Gregg. None of that makes sense to me. However, the important thing is she agreed to it.
Nene’s Treatment of Gregg
So the played the footage and apparently, Nene sat back waiting for the other RHOA to comfort her. Nene sincerely feels like she is being attacked while she is down. She doesn’t understand why everyone’s perspective take’s Gregg into account. She honestly doesn’t get it. Andy Cohen also came down on the side of Gregg Leakes and “grilled Nene.”
So when the sympathy she was expecting about what was a really hard year for her didn’t materialize, she was pissed. At everyone. Nearly everyone pointed out that her treatment of Gregg was completely uncalled for. In the footage she called him names, she said he was a grouch. And, she called him evil. That last one they really took issue with. Even Kandi weighed in on that one.
Porsha Williams #ClosetGate
Nene was also pissed at Porsha Williams. Porsha Williams came for Nene Leakes at the reunion. She said that Nene Leakes behavior regarding #ClosetGate was way too aggressive. Especially considering she was pregnant. This was perhaps the most heated fight of the reunion. Nene Leakes is pissed at everyone, but Porsha Williams is enemy number one.
Porsha Williams got a lot of screen time. Has Nene Leakes noticed that the THOT has replaced the Grifter? This reunion should make that obvious. She talked about Dennis McKinley moving into her house. There was a lot about the engagement. And of course talk about the wedding.
Perhaps the most interesting thing I heard from Tamara Tattles exclusive source was that Andy Cohen really stood up to the plate this season. He asked Nene Leakes follow-up questions and gave examples that discredited things she said. I don’t usually quote sources directly. But I was told Andy Cohen treated Nene “pretty much in the way he treated Kenya Moore on past reunions.” This is huge.
Will Nene Leakes Be Asked Back For Season 12?
Here’s another quote, “Nene basically left the reunion like Phaedra did. No one gives two fucks about her.”
Tamara Tattles exclusive source reports that the future looks bleak for her. She literally burned her bridges with everyone during the reunion. The other RHOA feel about Nene the same way they did about Phaedra when she was not renewed. No one wants to film with Nene anymore. Also, this is a great excuse to push further in the direction of the younger cast members. Even Cynthia is keeping her distance.
TAMARA TATTLES EXCLUSIVE: WHY THE BRAVO SUITS LOVED THE RATINGS OF RHOA SEASON 11
Tamara Tattles exclusive source has “no clue the Bravo suits are going to do.” However, her pay per episode goes just over the 100K mark for season twelve. If she doesn’t have anyone to film with, there is not point in just having her film with Gregg. Marlo would probably still film with her. But as of now, that’s it.
Some Unsettling SPECULATION
So before we all start clutching our pearls and ranting about how we will never watch RHOA again, this is only speculation. However, it is speculation by someone who know a lot about how the Bravo suits think. So I admit I am a little nauseated.
The worst quote of the conversation was, ” This is good news for Phaedra fans.” If Bravo decides to keep Nene, then she needs someone to film with. As of now, Nene Leakes and Phaedra are friends. Phaedra Parks would be friends with Satan if it got her back on the show. This was just an idea that was tossed around between two friends having a conversation. I think it is an unlikely situation because Bravo suits don’t want to piss of Kandi Burruss. However, Kandi tends to get over things with a bit of time and it’s been two seasons now. Still, I’m not getting my panties in a twist just yet. Because…
Some Encouraging Speculation
The good news is, if they don’t keep Nene Leakes the Bravo suits will need someone who is already known to the fans. That could be Kenya Moore. And with Nene Leakes gone, they could afford to pay Kenya Moore what she is worth. If you are like me you may be wondering why Kenya Moore couldn’t come back as Nene’s much-needed friend. I didn’t ask. Maybe it is because Kenya is also friends with Cynthia and Porsha and Kandi and would be friends with everyone. Phaedra Parks would sort of have to stick with Nene Leakes.
Kenya Moore and Marc Daly just went out on a triple date with Kandi Burruss, Todd Tucker, Cynthia Bailey and Mike Hill last night though. I think Bravo will like a replacement that has established relationships with many of the cast members. If Nene Leakes is gone, Kenya Moore would be the perfect replacement. Especially, if Marc can be enticed to film.
My source also reminded me that Nene Leakes was on the outs with everyone during RHOA Season 7. And ended with, “So who knows?” She also left in season eight. Ratings started dropping then.
So that’s the tea! I’ll keep y’all informed if I hear anything. They should start talking about season twelve contracts in the next week or so.
Thank you for this wonderful Sunday read, gosh a season later now Nene knows how Kim and Shereè felt after last year…. Karma ?
So you mean to tell me that there aren’t any other loud mouth entertaining black women in Atlanta who can draw ratings and not exhaust me and I’m sure others ? Nene needs a permanent time out, her behavior is so ugly,and the things she’s said regarding her sick husband this far shows how vile she is . How can a cast member attack a camera man and keep their job ? Ridiculous !
I agree. Nene is disgusting and needs to go.
TT I really don’t know why you like Kenya so much. She is fake and obsessed with her image like Lisa Vanderpump and she is down deep mean and self-serving like both Lisa and NeNe. But motherhood can change people for the better and soften their hearts so here’s hoping, I guess. I personally cannot stand someone with a falsely inflated ego always desperate to put on airs and look down on somebody else. She makes my skin crawl. Also like Lisa you will never see her really let down her guard let loose and laugh a real honest laugh and actually enjoy herself. Erika also falls into this too uptight to live category.
Ditto ?
Spot on
I agree with your comment. You took a risk saying that on this site.
Oh hush.
We mall have different opinions here and no one is going to attack you for having them.
Thank you for sharing though!
????
Sure, Jan.
Thanks for the laugh, much needed.
Quadruple that emotion.
100% agree.
Thank goodness we can all have opinions here. If you really want to witness brutal attacks go to other sites and see what happens if you are not an LVP fan.
I mean we all know that all of the Housewives are narcissists right? We love them and love to hate on them.
Lol. Kenya Moore Daly is winning with her new baby and hubby. You sound petty, hateful and pathethic. Bye Felicia.
Agreed!!
Agreed with Overeducated. Pkati your comments about our opinions regarding Kenya are mean. Only time will tell whether kids will be well adjusted and marriages will last. I do hope for ths baby’s sake thar Kenya has changed.
I would rather have anyone but Nene, she is horrible and I hope after she loses her peach that Gregg leaves her ass. He doesnt deserve this.
She won’t care
I had high hopes for Nene after season 8 end of cameo. She seemed refreshed and in a better mindset. But here we are again and her nastiness to everyone and “I’m the og bowdown” attitude has me turned off completely now. Her being knocked down a few notches for season 12 or bravo moving on with her is quite alright with me.
No NeNe = no show!!
False she left before and the show was just fine without her. It had its highest ratings actually
NeNe has no compassion for her husband and what he’s going through. If she did, she wouldn’t be so mean and nasty. I stopped watching RHOA because of the nastiness.
I loved Kandi and Porsha FINALLY interacting and Porsha has been mommy bonding with Kenya so I think we can bring back Kenya and Phaedra, who have personal storylines and kick Nene to the curb. Before, she was center peach but she’s rotted. Her nastiness and manipulation is wearing on everyone. ATL have so much personality and actual interesting lives, we can watch them without the extra. They dont even have to film with each other and are still watchable. NY is like this too but all other franchises have their cast acting like Executive producers trying to guide the storyline, usually to deflect from their actual drama (Looking at BH and Dallas) or the fact that they’re boring if they arent abusing each other (OC). ATL has little legal drama and doesnt hide much. Kenya, Kandi, Porsha, Eva, Tanya, Shamari, Phaedra would be great. Cynthia needs to be a floater friend. Nene can have all the time to throw lingerie and wig parties with the mannequins and Yovanna at her store.
I haven’t been feeling NeNe for a long time (since season 3). She has been put on a pedestal by Bravo and Hollywood and unfortunately she really needs a reality check. On WWHL Andy announced that Nene just unfollowed Andy on Instagram but is still following him on Twitter. She really is biting the hand that feeds her. #ByeWig
Not feeling how mean she is being towards Greg. I lost 3 family members to cancer and to see what they go through is very heartbreaking. She needs to have more compassion for him and stop making it about herself.
this is how i imagined it went down
Ahhh man. I really like Shamari, I’m disappointed that she may be demoted. I’m so over all the other HWs except for Kandi
I really like Shamari too! She is a great addition to the show!
I first saw NeNe the first season I watched Celebrity Apprentice. I had never seen a RH show and did not get why she had such an overinflated ego. I hope she is gone. Bringing back Phaedra would be a bad move. Accusing someone of planning to rape, kidnap and drug someone is reprehensible.
I hadn’t discovered TT at the time Phaedra turned on Kandi. I will search the archives to see if there is anything about her motive. I think it was an aggressively offensive move to discredit Todd and Kandi because she feared when Apollo got out they would be character witnesses for him in the custody battle. There is NO WAY she won’t fight Apollo to severely limit his time with the boys.
I wish NeNe would go and they would bring back Kenya. Ditch Shamari and bring in Quad Lunceford from Married to Medicine. She is not a doctor and is divorcing her doctor husband. I would like to see crossover of the two shows.
Kenya would be a great welcome to this crew. She is smart and has a new husband and baby so alot to cover there. A BIG no to the felon Phaedra-she’s all fake drama and lies. But really, loud, dumb Porsha, in addition to Nene, is keeping me from watching. Really, time for new blood all around-time to take out all the dumb trash. There has to be interesting, quality women in Atlanta-Bravo is just not looking for them.
Kandi would be cool with Phonydra’s return if the $$$ was right.
My bad TT, Phaedra…’s return
I first saw NeNe the first season I watched Celebrity Apprentice. I had never seen an RH show and did not get why she had such an overinflated ego. I hope she is gone. Bringing back Phaedra would be a bad move. Accusing someone of planning to rape, kidnap and drug someone is reprehensible.
I hadn’t discovered TT at the time Phaedra turned on Kandi. I will search the archives to see if there is anything about her motive. I think it was an aggressively offensive move to discredit Todd and Kandi because she feared when Apollo got out they would be character witnesses for him in the custody battle. There is NO WAY she won’t fight Apollo to severely limit his time with the boys.
I wish NeNe would go and they would bring back Kenya. Keep Shamari and ditch boring Cynthia (sorry, I like you 52Cynt, but Tanya is a more interesting straight man) and bring in Quad Lunceford from Married to Medicine. She is not a doctor and is divorcing her doctor husband. More crossover of the two shows could be fun. Too bad Little Women of Atlanta is on Lifetime. A couple of those little ladies could stand up to not-little NeNe.
Talls and the Smalls
Yea I call BS. Everyone has been talking about the low ratings….so I just don’t believe any of it.
I am glad Kenya Moore skipped this season. I do not think it would have been good for her emotionally or physically to be around this mess of a season while pregnant. Also I am no Kenya Moore fan, I really don’t want to see her return at all. I am starting to feel like RHOA has become a 1 hour advertisement show for whatever Kandi Burris business ventures are. I quit watching this show once because it wasn’t entertaining to me anymore. It may be time to stop watching RHOA again. FYI I would rather watch Nene with anyone, other than Kenya Moore. Kenya Moore needs a bigger project than RHOA to have room for her ego.
I don’t really care who is hired or fired for next season as long as Kenya Moore doesn’t return.
I wish someone could step in as Greg’s primary caregiver or at least as a health advocate. Nene is too into herself to care for Greg’s needs effectively
He’s got several adult children. If they have concerns, they can step in.
Also, NeNe could hire someone to be in the home when she’s away, to make sure he takes his medicine, prepare his meals, and call 911 if he has an emergency. But Greg said he didn’t want anybody in the home.
Nene prancing, swanning, irritating over pronunciation speech patterns, constant smirk…is not fun. So I don’t tune in. I miss Kenya. Her eventual authenticity won me over. Hope she is well, would like to see her return.
Porsha is Nene. I was watching the same irritating affectations. Also I’ve never given her a break for the Underground Railroad and the subordinate wife role.
I hate watching horrible people, gutless liars like Phaedra, NeNe and Kenya (have you forgotten her lying ways with her fake boyfriend Walter), mean girls like Nene and Kenya (who was atrocious to Kim Fields, who, while boring, did not deserve Kenya’s lies and innuendos.) Watching RHOA leaves me feeling badly about myself, like I watched someone being bullied and didn’t say anything to defend them. Cynthia is barely interesting. She’s beautiful but she rarely takes a stand or forms an opinion. I like Kandi, she feels good about herself and knows what it takes to make herself happy. I don’t like watching desperation in others. No suggestions to offer RHOA. I’m over them.
Back in September, I went through a major cancer operation. When I got home, I was so weak. My husband had to do everything. Getting myself a glass of water was too much for me. He never once grumbled or complained. When he managed to escape caring duties and went to the pub he was bombarded with people asking after me. He was gracious and kind throughout. Seeing Nene behave so poorly made me angry. Emotional support is a huge part of recovery. Poor Gregg. He deserves much better than this. Nene can fuck right off, in my opinion. Rant over!
Glad you are better. It sounds like you have a great husband. It sounds like Nene blacked out when she was renewing her vows, “in sickness and in health”. Her behavior has been vile.
Nene unfollowed Andy bwahahaha
Right? That’ll teach him!!!
Get rid of NeNe and bring in new blood.
No returns. Seasons 5-9 are a blur, you can watch scrambled episodes and never know they are from different seasons.
I couldn’t stand another season of fake Kenya. Do you know how annoying she would be fawning over that baby? Remember how she was with the dogs ? They need to reboot the franchise. None of these desperate attention seeking woman are interesting. They are more scripted than ever. Fire them all and then have a RHOA-where are they now reunion in 2 yrs. That would be the real story ?
Omg I could watch Kenya love on her dogs all day long. I miss those dogs. And when her dog died OMG I cried so hard. Like the ugliest cry ever. I couldn’t stop.
Whatever. Wake me when Kenya returns.
I love these behind-the-scenes posts about what production is thinking. Even if they’re not the most viewed posts on the site, they are so insightful and full of intel. Tamara, thanks for posting this and for the work that went into getting all this info.
Thanks, TT for the scoop on the RHOA reunion filmed last week. I really liked watching Marlo this season. Enjoyed seeing her and Cynthia on WWHL last night. Cynthia is a beautiful woman and I am happy for her new romantic relationship . Love Kandi and all her talent. Don’t like Porsha or Nene. Was so happy when Phaedra was fired, please don’t bring her back! Replace Shamari with Tonya. and Please bring Kenya back!
So Nene unfollowed Andy Cohen tooo!!
Also what do you think is reason for new YouTube channel she started after closet gate?
If Nene goes then maybe we can also be rid of Marlo. She really only has a connection with Nene.
I found Shamari boring. Her scenes with her husband and twins lacked any personality. There wasn’t anything eccentric or personal in her home life. It didn’t seem like they had fun as a family. Contrast that to Phaedra’s wonderful scenes in her home with her two little boys and with her mom; or Kandi and Todd with their son, etc.
She started out a bit shocking, talking about her prior open marriage and it was interesting to see her husband react to her having spilled the beans on that…although I would think he knew that was going to be her spotlight-moment topic. Then they coasted.
After that, all her scenes were just a snooze . For example, she’s a better dancer/performer than Cynthia obviously, yet Cynthia auditioning for Kandi’s show and her awkward performance was fun to watch, whereas Shamari’s performance wasn’t.
Marlo’s big compensation surge was attached to Kandi over the WeTV thing. So we are stuck with Marlo for a while.
IMO, seasons 5 and 6 are/were the best ever for this show. Not only was there the right amount of friendships and controversy between the women but also between the husbands who got a decent amount of camera time themselves.
Everyone still hating on Kenya. Women are so insecure about other women
What a weird, rude comment. Everyone has their own opinion and who they like/dislike. I absolutely adore Lisa Vanderpump. TT can’t stand her. But I’m not going to tell TT she’s ‘insecure about other women’ bc she doesn’t like LVP. Childish. You don’t have to insult other commenters to make a point.