What NeNe Leakes' Life Was Like Before She Became A Real Housewife

Publish date: 2024-05-03

Little do some fans know, but NeNe Leakes is not from Atlanta, Georgia. She was born in Queens, New York, and spent some time in Brooklyn with her three siblings before her family relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, as detailed in The Shade Room. But even as a young girl, NeNe knew that she always wanted to be in front of a camera. She told Curly Nikki in an interview: "As a young girl, I did theater and dance and dreamed of becoming an actress. A lot of people in life don't get to live their dream. I'm grateful to be living mine, I just never thought I'd be living it on a reality TV show."

Before becoming a Real Housewife, NeNe worked as a dancer and that's how she met her future husband, Gregg Leakes, in 1997. In her 2009 memoir, "Never Make The Same Mistake Twice," NeNe said that she was proud of her past. "I felt powerful in front of those men," she said, adding, "They were obviously there to see what I had, and I quickly realized that those men weren't there to make me feel bad about myself. Quite the contrary. They were there to make me feel good."

However, NeNe was forced to quit her job after her family found out about it. That, of course, led her to the next chapter in her life.

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