14 DAY TRIAL // If you’re still wondering why reality stars would lie about their personal life or scoop so low as to show very intimate things on camera, you now have the answer: because it pays. NeNe Leakes, who, until not long ago, was saying that she was thinking of leaving The Real Housewives of Atlanta, is now Bravo’s highest paid star.
She will appear on the next season of the show, despite being vocal in the past about how much she resented what the show had become (no more glamour, just catfights and drama) and, for it, she will cash in no less than an estimated $1.5 million (€1.18 million).
That’s a lot of money to parade in front of the camera while doing nothing special than being yourself. NeNe is now the network’s highest paid reality star, with one insider telling Radar Online that she was smart to play her cards right when she went gunning for the pay raise.
“Without NeNe, RHOA wouldn’t be the ratings blockbuster that it continues to be. While some of the other shows including RHONJ and RHONY have endured ratings slumps, Atlanta has never had to endure that,” says a spy familiar with the production.
Apparently, well aware of her role in the way the show performed in the ratings, NeNe went to the producers and informed them that the only way she’d agree to do another season would be if she got more money. It was either that or she walked out the door, she said.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Even so, NeNe still has a long way to go until she gets to boast of being the highest paid reality star in the industry, because that distinction belongs to Kim Kardashian – and she’s been holding on to her crown for years.