One of reality television’s most enduring marriages has entered a sad chapter; The Real Housewives of Atlanta veteran NeNe Leakes recently revealed that the colon cancer diagnosis her husband Gregg received in 2018 may now be terminal.
Leakes made the admission on the mic during an appearance at her Atlanta lounge The Linnethia. According to footage posted to social media by It’s OnSite, the revelation came in response to patrons who called her “rude” for not making a requested birthday announcement (as transcribed by Black Enterprise):
“Please, I’m asking everybody in this lounge. I had no idea that I was going to walk in here and make this announcement. But I want to say this to you. I want to be at peace. When you see me and you see my son, give us a lot of love, okay? My husband is transitioning to the other side. I’m not in the mood to say, ‘Happy Birthday’ to you. You don’t know what we’re dealing with right now.”
She adds, “This is our business so when people approach us and say, ‘you’re rude,’ because you don’t want to say ‘happy birthday,’ my husband is at home dying. So, please give us some respect. Give us some love, okay? You see my son right here, he’s hurting, I’m hurting. We walked in here because we have to walk in here ‘cause we have this business but my husband is losing his life at this very moment.”
The Leakes initially married in 1997; their separation and 2011 divorce was documented by RHOA’s cameras, as was the couple’s eventual reunion and remarriage in 2013.
As Page Six notes, “Gregg, 67, was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2018, but it went into remission after treatment. In June, however, NeNe confirmed that his cancer had returned.”
“If you’ve ever been around somebody who’s had cancer before, he’s different,” she told the outlet, adding: “I’d love for everybody to pray for Gregg, that would be beautiful. Pray for his strength...And pray for me too.”
Leakes hasn’t issued any further public statement on Gregg’s condition, but a Sunday post on Instagram simply read “Broken” with prayer and broken-hearted emojis.
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