Nene Leakes Reveals She Was Almost A Co-Host On ‘The Real’

Tamar Braxton recently appeared as a guest on Nene Leakes‘ podcast. The longtime friends spoke on everything from motherhood to music and more, which is what got Nene to reveal that she almost was a co-host on The Real alongside Tamar.

“I was asked to be on The Real and this was in the beginning of the process of them casting,” said the Real Housewives of Atlanta star. “I’m sure it was Tamar and the other girls, but I was asked to be one of the first girls on the show […] I ended up not doing The Real and they ended up casting Loni Love.”

Tamar interjected and admitted, “I wished they woulda told me […] I had a hand in creating the show. That’s why I’m saying I wished they woulda told me. I wouldn’t have casted Big Back Cadillac. We probably would’ve been in our tenth season by now and that’s no shade.” The singer was referring to Loni Love’s plus-sized stature.

Nene couldn’t fully confirm that the comedian was given the spot offered to her, but that was her assumption. “They came to me with the contract for The Real, and then I ultimately did not do it and did Real Housewives.”

She assumed she declined the daytime talk show because of money.

Tamar spoke on how she ultimately landed the gig while filming Braxton Family Values, Tamar & Vince, and rising the charts with hits like “Love & War.” She said she was initially offered her own talk show, but her then-husband, Vince Herbert, said her schedule couldn’t handle daily filming. So, he proposed to have a show with others in an effort to have the show continue even if Tamar was unavailable.

The singer confessed that she had “a lot of say so” as far as casting was concerned and it was her choice to include Tamera Mowry-Housley and Adrienne Bailon-Houghton. Jeannie Mai was also one of the main hosts on the Emmy-winning show.

The Real lasted for eight seasons, but Tamar left the show in May 2016. However, it was rumored that Loni was responsible for getting Tamar fired. This led to a series of verbal sparring between the two women.

The show rotated guest hosts, but Amanda Seales took over permanently in January 2020. She left than June and Tamera exited the following month. The Real was cancelled in April 2022.