The amount of money that housewives make on their respective shows has pretty much always been a mystery. While people have been publishing their guesses online for years, rarely is it ever confirmed. However, the money gods shine down upon us today, because NeNe Leakes, who was once rumored to be one of the highest-paid housewives, has recently given us some inside scoop.
NeNe recently sat down with reality TV producer and podcast host, Carlos King, where she talked about a multitude of topics, from her former costars, her rise to stardom, her take on relationships, and — most important to me in this moment — her salary.
NeNe's interview with Carlos King — which aired on his podcast, Reality with the King, and on his Youtube channel found here — was two separate parts and was over two hours long. She covered a lot. And one of the things the pair discussed was NeNe's salary during her time on Real Housewives of Atlanta. NeNe shared that during the first season of Real Housewives of Atlanta, the cast (including NeNe) made $10,000 total.
By our calculations, with seven regular episodes airing that season, the payment comes out to about $1,429 per episode.
Any trips, dinners, or parties thrown came out of their own personal pockets, says NeNe, and not Bravo’s. As wild as this is, it's not surprising for the time. Bethenny Frankel recently shared that she only received $7,250 total for her first season of Real Housewives of New York, while stars on Real Housewives of Orange County were allegedly only paid five thousand dollars for their first season.
NeNe also shared that she received an extra “$5,000” for the reunion special.
NeNe said money was tight at the start of her RHOA journey, and shared that when she and her costars came back and "knocked it out of the park" for Season 2 they did get a bump in their salary. NeNe couldn’t recall the exact amount but estimated it was around “$50,000.”
NeNe also shared that she and her fellow OG costars rallied for a pay increase after this and got the same attorney to negotiate with the network. NeNe, Shereé Whitfield, and Kim Zolciak-Biermann ended up scoring around $100K to $150K for Season 3.
"We started to make a bag, maybe Season 4," NeNe told King, noting that it took several seasons for the women to feel the financial success from the show.
NeNe told King she made roughly $50,000 for the second season and got a boost again in time for Season 3, bringing in $100,000, at the most $150,000. NeNe also shared that costars Shereé Whitfield and Kim Zolciak earned the same amount for Season 3 of the show.
NeNe's impact on the world of television as a whole isn't lost on her, as she noted, telling Carlos King, "I'm just so happy that I can say that I was a part of a genre that opened doors for Black ensemble reality shows."
