‘RHOA’ star Kandi Burruss is spilling major reunion secrets, following NeNe Leakes’ controversial absence from the May 24 episode of the series.
Kandi Burruss, 44, was left in disbelief when co-star NeNe Leakes, 52, exited The Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion prematurely, and she’s now revealing — EXCLUSIVELY — what happened behind the scenes after NeNe left. “You saw Marlo [Hampton] did try to reach out to her, Porsha [Williams] did, but she did not come back to the computer but she was calling us on speakerphone,” Kandi told HollywoodLife during an episode of TVTalk on Instagram Live on May 24. “Now what they didn’t show you [on TV] was we could actually hear what she was saying [at the time of filming], but they did not play her voice [from] the phone [on TV].” So what it too controversial to air on TV? Or did editors just want to leave it up the viewers’ imagination? Kandi seemed unsure, as she told us, “I [don’t] know why they didn’t want to play what she was saying.”
NeNe’s mic-dropping exit at the end of Part 2 was not the first time she left the three-part virtual reunion. After feuding with Eva Marcille, 35, Kenya Moore, 49, and Kandi, the OG of the ATL actually excused herself during Part 1, however, she said she just had to use the restroom. So that time, she did return. But once she left for a second time, at the end of Part 2, she never came back. Not only was Kandi upset about it, but the ladies’ boss Andy Cohen, 51, wasn’t thrilled either. Especially when NeNe tried talking to everyone on speakerphone during a private phone call with Porsha. “Why are you calling us on speaker phone, but you don’t want to talk to us [on video]? It didn’t make sense,” Kandi wondered. “So that was what you didn’t see was that we were actually able to hear her talking on the speakerphone for a short period of time until Andy was like, ‘No, uh uh, we’re just going to go forward [without her].’”
Although NeNe left, Kandi explained to us that she wasn’t gone nearly as long as the show made it seem. “It was a good hour, maybe a little longer,” Kandi revealed, while noting that the cast filmed for almost an entire day together. “Overall, I think that the funny thing was all of us were exhausted. We were pretty much exhausted after the reunion.”
Kandi also revealed that she not touched base with NeNe since the reunion, but she did check in with a few of the ladies to discuss what went down. “We didn’t talk that much,” Kandi said. “I briefly spoke to Marlo, I think, and I briefly spoke to Kenya for a short period of time, but really, everybody was just so exhausted. Sitting in front of a computer all day is exhausting. Since the reunion, NeNe and I haven’t talked at all.”
Season 12 may have concluded, but Kandi’s staying busy. Her newest single, “Used To Love Me” with Toddrick Hall and Precious just dropped and more music is on the way in 2020. Her love of acting is picking back up, too! The Masked Singer Season 3 champ will have a recurring role on Season 3 of The Chi when it returns to Showtime on June 21 and she’s anxiously awaiting its premiere. “I’m super excited,” Kandi exclaimed. “I cannot wait.”