These days, NeNe Leakes talks about how much money she has almost as much as she shades Kenya Moore and Cynthia Bailey while pretending to be unbothered by their existence. However, that wasn’t always the case. During the beginning seasons of Real Housewives of Atlanta, NeNe’s husband Gregg Leakes was the breadwinner in their relationship. However, that changed when RHOA’s popularity skyrocketed. NeNe’s one-liners and her feuds with Kim Zolciak and Sheree Whitfield gave her a lot of notoriety…. and the paycheck to buy much better wigs. Well, sometimes anyway. We all know that wig selection isn’t exactly NeNe’s biggest strength, no matter how high her budget is.
Anyway, in a recent interview, NeNe spilled some of the details about the start of the Real Housewives of Atlanta. I will never forget Kim texting NeNe “you are a low budget bitch” back in Season 1. But, you know what: Kim wasn’t too far off about the financial situation. The salaries on the show were not nearly as high as they are today.
In an interview with Enterainment Tonight, NeNe revealed that the Real Housewives of Atlanta cast members made $5,000 to shoot the first season. This was back in 2007, so we can factor in some inflation there, but that really is so low in comparison to now. Reportedly, NeNe will take home almost $3 million for Season 12 of the show. And this is pretty wild in general, but especially since NeNe didn’t even pop up on the show until episode 3 this season. This was reportedly due to a contract dispute.
RELATED: Kenya Moore Says Nene Leakes Doesn’t Have A “True Friendship With Anyone” On Real Housewives Of Atlanta
However, there are also rumors that NeNe was suspended after roughing up that cameraman last season when Porsha Williams and Kandi Burruss went into her closet. NeNe denied this, of course, but it isn’t completely unrealistic.
Now, NeNe has a closet full of super expensive designer clothes- not that we’ve ever seen the closet on the show. Maybe we will at some point this season. Anyway, it’s interesting to think about how far the Real Housewives of Atlanta ladies have come since those initial $5,000 paycheck.
RELATED: NeNe Leakes Says Theres’s A Bad Side To Cynthia Bailey That Bravo Doesn’t Show; Says Cynthia Was The More Aggressive One In Their Friendship
TELL US- ARE YOU SURPRISED BY HOW LITTLE THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA CAST MEMBERS MADE DURING THE SHOW’S FIRST SEASON?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
