Marlo Hampton has been featured on The Real Housewives of Atlanta from all the way back in Season 4, but it’s only been in the past three years that she’s secured an official recurring gig as a Friend of the Housewives. And in that time, Marlo has constantly sided with Nene Leakes, at times acting as the RHOA OG’s one and only friend among the group of Georgia Peaches.
As such, Marlotta has developed something of a reputation as Nene‘s latest “lapdog” in the eyes of Housewives like Kenya Moore, Eva Marcille and Cynthia Bailey. However, in a new interview with Nene, the Friend of the Housewives is speaking out against the label and even calling the OG out on how one-sided their friendship can be.
“I mean, [they’ve] rolled me out for seasons: I’m her lapdog, I don’t have my own mind,” Marlo said during the Real Housewives of Atlanta After Show, before turning to Nene. “You know behind the scenes I tell you how I feel.”
“That’s a bunch of bullshit when people saying ‘lapdog.'” Nene countered. “I think that that makes you guys feel some kind of way; that’s why they say it. They say it to make you guys feel some kind of way because obviously, no one is my lapdog. Why do I need a lapdog? ” (Why Nene insisted on referring to Marlo as “you guys” is just as confusing to me as it is to you — carry on.)
“But I will say this: I’m a friend, you know I ride hard,” Marlo continued. “You know I’m poppin’ up at your house, I’mma be in my feelings, so I ride hard. My loyalty? I love all of them, but Nene, we’re closer; she’s told me a little more.”
RELATED: Cynthia Bailey Says She is NeNe Leakes’ “Girl” & Marlo Hampton Is NeNe’s “Side Chick”
However, it does seem Marlo takes her role as Friend of the Housewives quite seriously, insisting that she’s invested time and energy into building some kind of relationship with nearly all the ‘Wives. (And credit where credit is due: she did try to broker a fragile peace between Nene and Cynthia early in the season before the entire endeavor promptly blew up in her face with Linnethia fleeing the conversation and riding off in a pedicab through Central Park…)
“I’m getting to know the girls and it does feel good,” Marlo said. “And I’m getting to know the one who you can’t tell nothing to; who you just have a good time with; the one you can talk business with; the one you can just kick it with. And I just realize with these girls, they fall in, they fall out…Hey, let me just become friends with who I want to become friends with. Every friend serves a different purpose.”
RELATED: NeNe Leakes Says Kenya Moore Wants To Be The New “NeNe & Kim Zolciak”; NeNe & Marlo Hampton Say Kenya Was “Huge” During Pregnancy
“Without question,” Nene then jumped in, cutting off her friend. “Yeah, but I think as a friend, it is nothing wrong with taking up for your friend and standing firm on that. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Now you would want me to do that for you. If all them were ridin’ the shit out of you, you would want me sitting there, ‘That’s my friend and I’m not gonna sit here and listen to you guys do the bullshit for your friend.'”
However, Marlo quickly got the last word, checking Nene for a certain imbalance of loyalty in their relationship. “Your ass don’t always ride for me like that though,” she said. “[You’ll] clown me around even them. You ride for me but you will kiki with them.”
RELATED: NeNe Leakes & Marlo Hampton Call Out Eva Marcille For Being “Negative”
TELL US – DO YOU THINK MARLO IS NENE’S LAPDOG? SHOULD SHE TRY TO BECOME CLOSER TO THE OTHER ‘WIVES?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo]
