Real Housewives of Atlanta fans were saddened by the news that NeNe Leakes’ husband, Gregg Leakes, passed away on September 1, 2021, after a courageous battle with colon cancer. A few days prior, NeNe told a group of patrons at her lounge, Linnethia, that Gregg was “transitioning to the other side.”
The RHOA star was first diagnosed with colon cancer in 2018. After undergoing treatment, Gregg posted a photo of himself on Instagram, holding up a sign that said, “No cancer found! Praise God.” He captioned the post from May of 2019, “Won’t He do it…” Gregg added, “I thank my wife @neneleakes for being there for me.”
Sadly, in June of 2021, NeNe announced that Gregg’s cancer had returned. Following Gregg’s passing, there was an outpouring of love on social media for the RHOA alum. Gregg truly was beloved across the Bravo-verse.
In an interview with People, NeNe shared more details about Gregg’s final days. “We talked a lot, and we made peace with what was happening. You know I told him how much I loved him,” NeNe said. “We said so much stuff to each other. We’ve had so many highs and so many lows and everything in between.”
NeNe continued, “I told him I wouldn’t have chosen another husband other than him. I said, ‘I married you twice, crazy man.’” That was so sweet and so heartbreaking.
She shared, “The last five days before his passing was really beautiful. All of his children were there. His best friends were there,” NeNe stated. “Our closest friends were there. We all sat with him around the clock.”
Gregg’s final words to his wife became a source of strength and comfort for NeNe. “I’m not going to leave you. God is going to bless you,” Gregg told her. “He said he wanted me to move on with my life,” NeNe commented.
Since Gregg handled a lot of the business matters, NeNe had to ask him some questions before his passing. “There were some things I didn’t know — some of the simple things. I didn’t even know who the lawn guy was,” she commented. “And he said to me, ‘If you go into my office and look on the wall, I left an envelope taped to the wall,’” NeNe explained.
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“And so I went and looked on the wall and there was a manila folder he had stuck to the wall that said, ‘Open this if anything ever happens to me.’ When I opened it up, he had a letter to Brentt [Leakes] (their 22-year-old son) and telling us certain things like, where we needed to pay stuff and who was the accounting person to talk to because we didn’t know anything,” NeNe remarked. “And I thought to myself when I looked through all the stuff that he had written and the things that he had left, that that took a lot of strength.”
NeNe was with Gregg when he transitioned. “He took a deep breath, and then he stopped. I thought I would be scared, but I just held him and kissed him,” the former RHOA star said.
NeNe shared that they held a private memorial for Gregg shortly after he died. The funeral home workers carried Gregg into the living room. “And all of the children were there because everybody was spending the night at this point around the clock. And we had a girlfriend that started reading scriptures out of a Bible,” NeNe explained. “Everybody that we wanted right there…while we were all there, we did a private memorial right inside the house the same day that he passed.” NeNe added, “It was just a beautiful thing.”
NeNe said, “My grieving is really off the meters. If I am by myself that is not good for me, because I usually start to sink.” She added, “I keep thinking to myself he’s away on a trip and he’ll be right back. I’m still waiting for him to come home.” So many of us can relate to the pain of missing a loved one.
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NeNe shared a video to her Instagram Story in September of 2021, where she debuted her new blonde hair and talked about how she is “pushing through” her grief. “Now that I’m having to adjust to my new life, my new normal, I thought I’d go back to blonde,” NeNe said. “I have good days and bad days, but they say it’s normal.”
Gregg obviously made an impact on so many lives with his positivity. Our thoughts are with NeNe and Gregg’s family as they grieve his loss and process how to move forward.
RELATED: NeNe Leakes Talks About Adjusting To Her “New Life” After Gregg Leakes’ Passing
TELL US- DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM OR SUPPORT FOR NENE AND GREGG’S FAMILY AND FRIENDS?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]