Andy Cohen And ‘Real Housewives’ Stars React To NeNe Leakes’ RHOA Exit!

Many current and former Real Housewives stars and Andy Cohen are reacting to NeNe Leakes' departure from The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Leakes announced her exit from the Bravo hit reality series via her YouTube channel on Thursday, September 17. Cohen paid tribute to the original Georgia peach via an Instagram post. 

Cohen wrote, "Nene Leakes is an icon of the genre. She is a gif and catchphrase machine. In 11 years of #WWHL, Nene has been our most frequent guest, and she is always A BLAST. Nene nicknamed me “Buttercup” the first day we met, and still calls me that today. Through her whole run, she has always had a serious concern and drive to maintain the success and well-being of #RHOA. I am going to miss Nene on the show, but I’m hoping we work together again soon and will remain in each other’s orbits forever. XO, Buttercup."

Andy added the hashtags, "#Bloop #LowDownMonkeyWithAWig #CloseYourLegsToMarriedMen #WeSeeEachOthah #ISaidWhatISaid #TrumpCheck #ByeWig #SoNastyAndSoRude #Buttercup"

In the comment section of Andy's post about NeNe, many Housewives reacted to the news and shared their love and support to Leakes.

WWHL's official page wrote, "One of the greatest of all time! 💯 You will be missed, @NeNeLeakes ❤️"

Gizelle Bryant commented, "Oh wow.....this is sad."

Sonja Morga wrote, "Love my @neneleakes 👍🏻 I’ll be seeing you off screen. And for always. Love you lady 💓"

RHOM alum Marysol Patton wrote, "She is the best!! I love her.. great friend through the years!! Hell Yess to the OG’s 💥💥💥"

Many other Housewives reacted to Leakes' exit in the comment section of her Instagram post.

RHOP's Monique Samuels commented, "Thank you for paving the way sis! Bigger things coming your way! 😘😘😘"

Gizelle Bryant worte, "Sad to hear but there is no doubt your future is extremely bright."

Leakes former co-star Tanya Sam wrote, "End of an era but beginning of something bigger and better. You are literally a true trailblazer ♥️🤗😘."

Jill Zarin commented, "Remember when @vickigunvalson and I came to you in Atlanta to film Rachel Ray??? When we didn’t know anything? Life was more simple? Social media hadn’t taken hold of the world? I’m glad we became friends and wish you good luck in all your future endeavors. The best is get to come! Come visit us in Miami! ."

RHOBH's Kyle Richards wrote, "I love you Nene ❤️."

Charrisse Jackson Jordan wrote, "Love you Sis! I know your grind will keep grinding! #roadtrip 💕💕."

Gretchen Rossi commented, "Love you sweet friend! You are an incredible woman and you will do more amazing incredible things in this world! 😘❤️."

Candiace Dillard Bassett wrote, "A legend. ❤️."

Ashley Darby commented, "I’ll always be a fan 😘."

Gizelle simply wrote, "Queen!"

Kyle Richards took to her Instagram post and pay tribute to Leakes. She wrote, "It was love at first sight with @neneleakes & me. The tallest & the smallest of the OG's... we laugh until we cry ... You are a pioneer in the Housewives world. I love you and wish you the best in your next endeavors ... which I know will be many❤️ cheers my friend 🥂."

Tanya Sam also took to Instagram to pay tribute to Leakes via her Instagram. She wrote, "🥰Nene Leakes, BRAVO & ENCORE ENCORE 👏🏾👏🏾I miss you already my Sagittarius sister! Posting a few pics to honor you and commemorate all that you have done to trail-blaze for me and so many on the show.   So many have watched and tuned into RHOA for years to watch you laugh, slay and turn up and now I pray the Universe brings you bigger and better adventures!  ⁣Although few things in life are irrevocable so 🤞🏽maybe we will see you back again 🥰"

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 She continued, "PS this first pic I love bc its at 3 am in Tokyo, cameras down, we cried off all our makeup resolving and working thru our little spat but we did and hugged it out...  🥰 ⁣and then went to the club 💃🏽."

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She concluded, "Cheers to more hugs and adventures!!"

Meanwhile, RHOBH newbie Garcelle Beauvais reacted to Leakes' departure by asking her the come and help her out on the 90210 installments of the franchise.

Garcelle tweeted, "@NeNeLeakes come help a sista out #RHOBH."

Garcelle added, "@NeNeLeakes Come to #rhobh."

RHOP stars Ashley Darby, Candiace Dillard Bassett, and Monique Samuels along with RHOA's Marlo Hampton shared Leakes some love via their Instagram Stories.

Hampton wrote, "The blueprint," as she tagged NeNe along with a kiss emoji.

Ashley shared a photo where she is seen posing next to Leakes and Kyle Richards along with the caption, "You'll always be a legend! @neneleakes."

 Monique Samuels shared a RHOA promo of Leakes with the caption, "I'm sad."

Candiace simply shared a photo of Leakes and added a heart emoji via her Instagram Stories. 

“Thank you to all of you guys that have been showing me a lot of love and support as of late. I feel you, I hear you. I have been on an extremely, extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional negotiation,” Leakes revealed to fans via her YouTube channel on Thursday, September 17, according to PEOPLE. “There’s been a lot of emotion flying from both sides. It has been hard, and I have made the very hard and very difficult decision to not be a part of ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta,’ Season 13. It wasn’t an easy decision for me. It was hard.”

“It wasn't an easy decision for me,” she continued. “It was hard. I started on The Real Housewives of Atlanta in 2008. We took off like a rocket. I mean, we took off. You could have never told me that I would start on this little show and it still be going strong 13, 14 years later. And it is. I'm just so happy that I can say that I was a part of a genre that opened up doors for Black ensemble reality shows to step up and be a part of what we all now love so much, reality TV,” Leakes said.

She went on to thank anyone who has ever “looked up” to her, her production company, and Bravo for “all the memories, the laughs, the tears.”

She also addressed a false report of someone on her team releasing a statement on her behalf last week. “I have no knowledge of it, I didn’t approve it.”

“When something is this important and this near and dear to my heart, I always want to be the person to address you.”

She ended her message by saying, “I will see you again real soon,” possibly teasing her return to the small screen.

In a statement to PEOPLE, a Bravo rep said, “We wish Nene all the best in her future endeavors and thank her for sharing her journey for over a decade with the fans of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. She's been instrumental since the start and will truly be missed, and maybe one day she'll hold the peach again.”

NeNe, who is one of the original five cast members, joined the show when she series made its debut in 2008. She appeared on the show seven seasons. In season 8 she left but made several appearances in the second half of the season including the reunion. She took a break during season 9, only to return for season 10-12.

Cynthia Bailey, Kandi Burruss, Kenya Moore, and Porsha Williams are set to return for season 13 along with rumored new cast members Drew Sidora and LaToya Ali. Marlo Hampton and Tanya Sam are also set to return as a “friend” of the series.

Will you miss NeNe on RHOA? Sound off in the comment section below!

Photo Credit: Bravo/NBCUniversal