NeNe Leakes is explaining why she turned down the opportunity to join The Traitors season 4.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum addressed the reason for her decision on the Monday, July 7 episode of the “Humble Brag” podcast.
“So I was asked to do Traitors — I was really excited about doing it, by the way,” NeNe, 57, told cohost Cynthia Bailey.
However, “I couldn’t do Traitors ‘cause my son’s in the hospital. And he’s still in the hospital.”
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NeNe’s younger son, Brentt Leakes, was previously hospitalized in October 2022 after suffering congestive heart failure and a stroke. Brentt, whom NeNe shared with late husband Gregg Leakes, received a heart transplant in July 2024. He revealed that October via Instagram that he was recovering after undergoing “a 14-hour” surgery, and “had to relearn how to walk and communicate.”
One year later, NeNe explained to Bailey, 58, that Brentt’s “heart started rejecting” the implant and he was back in the hospital for treatment to “stop the rejection.” He is taking “a little while longer” to recover.
NeNe, meanwhile, has no regrets about turning down the fourth edition of The Traitors, which counts her former RHOA costar Porsha Williams among the cast.
“I’m so glad I said no,” she revealed, adding, “I kept thinking maybe Brentt would be much better [by June]. My fear was committing and then having to go back to them and say, ‘I can’t do it.’ So that was never going to work. Brentt was very sick. It was no way I could have committed to it. And I believe you have to go out of the country [to film the series].”
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NeNe had looked forward to stirring up intrigue on the hit Peacock reality competition, which is hosted by Alan Cumming and films in the Scottish Highlands. Besides Williams, 44, other new cast members include Real Housewives Caroline Stanbury and Dorinda Medley, as well as Donna Kelce and Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski.
NeNe had wanted to “do all these great things [on the show] and come back really strong.”
“A blogger had said, ‘Nene did not take Traitors because the check wasn’t big enough,’” she recalled. “I was like, ‘No, no, no. I got the check.’ I couldn’t do it.”
She said that had Brentt “been in the place that he’s in today,” she would’ve gone to Scotland. “We can FaceTime. He’s talking. He wasn’t walking at the time. Now he’s walking, he’s talking.”
