‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ season 8: NeNe Leakes reportedly returning, after all

Well, so much for some of the chatter that NeNe Leakes was going to be leaving “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” after being a key component since the beginning.

According to a new report from TMZ, Leakes is poised to be appearing near the end of the eight season, and was brought in at a time when the other ladies did not even know that she was going to be stopping by. The early reports now are that Bravo was not entirely happy with the direction of some of the stories this year, and they gave NeNe the sort of deal that would entice her to want to come back on the show.

NeNe remains one of the most-discussed members of the “Real Housewives” family, and it is pretty easy to see for a wide array of reasons why the show would want to have her aboard. At the moment, we’d say that she alongside Vicki Gunvalson of “Orange County,” Lisa Vanderpump of “Beverly Hills,” and Teresa Giudice of “New Jersey” are the cornerstones of the franchise. However, with Teresa behind bars and us suffering from a little bit of Vicki overload thanks to what happened with Brooks on this past season, we are personally very much intrigued to see how this show decides to move forward with NeNe. Hopefully, it’ll bring a spark.

We’ll have further news on this season of the show as it gets closer to its premiere. Stay tuned…

What do you think of NeNe’s return, and will it cause you to be any more excited at all about this new season than you may have been previously? Share some of your thoughts and reactions right now with a comment, and head over here to get some other updates and exclusive teasers on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Bravo.)