'Real Housewives Of Atlanta' Season 8: Ratings Suffer, Can It Survive Without NeNe Leakes? [VIDEO]
Things have been heating up big time for the ladies of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta, but it might not be enough to get fans to tune in without NeNe Leakes on the show.
NeNe Leakes Gives The Real On Cynthia Bailey
Leakes departed from the show earlier this year, and now the series has taken a big hit in the first season without her since it debuted back in 2008.
Apparently fans weren’t too pressed to tune in to the episode that showed a huge brawl between Porsha Williams and Cynthia Bailey. Only 700,000 people tuned in. The show had been used to getting millions of viewers each week, but the same went for the premiere on Nov. 8.
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While that brought in 3.8 million people, that’s roughly 1 million less viewers who watched the season 7 premiere this time last year. Still, it did rank as the third top spot for that evening.
Fans have clearly noticed the difference and shared their thoughts on Twitter. Check out what some of them had to say about Leakes’ absence.
With @NeNeLeakes gone, they are killing themselves to do anything with @Porsha4real - she's the only interesting one left #RHOA
— mary jo madden (@itsnotny) December 7, 2015
With @NeNeLeakes gone, @Kandi is the queen bee. Someone needs to inform Kenya. #seniority #rhoa — Beth Burns (@RHOReality) December 7, 2015
Hurry up & bring in Queen NeNe Leakes because I can't take too much more of Kenya...she's takes this show to such a low place #RHOA
— Shoe Fiend (@M3anSho3Gam3) December 7, 2015
Where is @NeNeLeakes when you need her? Kenya really think shes Queen B now. Smh. #RHOA — tamika (@PrincessMeeky_) December 7, 2015
#rhoa without @NeNeLeakes has me like pic.twitter.com/EAh9WvLcvV
— kendrick daye (@kendrickdaye) December 7, 2015
.@NeNeLeakes watching this fight after they blamed her for all the negativity last season #RHOA pic.twitter.com/9BNoplIMVK — rosechocglam (@MBApioneerz) December 7, 2015
They called @NeNeLeakes the cancer, and the biggest aggressor. Nevertheless, she's not there and look at what has happened. #RHOA
— Queen B Leakes (@realitytvmaniac) December 7, 2015
#RHOA y'all didn't wanna listen to @NeNeLeakes bout ole Cindy — Deirdre Nicole Garr (@garrfieldwife) December 7, 2015
@Andy You need to bring NENE back permanently! This show has gone to hell and it's not coming back without @NeNeLeakes #RHOA
— REAL (@realityfangirl1) November 30, 2015
#RHOA without Nene Leakes is like a bland Thanksgiving dinner. It's edible but it's not appetizing, satisfying or delicious — I. Maria Jones (@mariaj81) November 30, 2015
The lower ratings could be why Leakes said producers asked her to make a cameo this season. She is set to make her appearance in a couple of weeks. It will definitely be interesting to see if she returns for season nine. But if her latest tweet is about her former co-stars, it doesn’t look too promising.
She wrote, “When you have a brand you can’t sit next to snakes.”
When you have a brand, you can't sit next to snakes
— NeNe Leakes (@NeNeLeakes) December 9, 2015
But she does seem to be in good graces with newcomer Kim Fields.
RT @KimVFields: @NeNeLeakes Chris and I enjoyed you in WWHL & u looked great! Give Greg our bestDecember 8, 2015