It’s been two years since NeNe Leakes’ husband, Gregg Leakes, passed away, and the Real Housewives of Atlanta alum is feeling very emotional as she considers her future without him.
“Maybe I should marry just so that I have a partner for life … who will help you when you’re sick and take care of you,” she said during an episode of her Pillow Talk with Nene YouTube series on Tuesday, October 10.
NeNe cried when she recalled recently being asked to provide an emergency contact to a doctor, realizing that losing Gregg caused a tremendous void in her life.
“I was filling out the information, and they asked for my emergency contact, and I got really emotional,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“It came over me out of nowhere because I was literally looking at the paper like, ‘Who is it that I would want somebody to call in case something happens,’” NeNe explained.
NeNe and Gregg first married in 1997, and separated in 2010. The divorce was finalized in September 2011, but they later reconciled.
The duo got engaged for a second time in January 2013. Bravo filmed their wedding planning and ceremony in Atlanta on June 22, 2013 for a spinoff entitled I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding.
September 1 marked the two-year anniversary of Gregg’s death after a battle with cancer.
In June 2018, Leakes revealed that Gregg had stage 3 colon cancer, but announced in May 2019 that he was cancer-free. In June 2021, she stated that the cancer recurred and that he was in the hospital recovering after surgery. Gregg Leakes died from colon cancer on September 1, 2021 at the age of 66.
In December 2021, Leakes confirmed she was dating fashion designer Nyonisela Sioh. She confirmed in July that they were over.
“Today, we are taking a break. We’ve been taking a break,” Leakes said on the “Reality with the King” podcast. “It’s … things I’m not happy with, things he’s not happy with. It’s just not working at the moment.”
Now, the former Bravo personality no longer wants to be alone.
“I was thinking about having a partner for life, even though I know the person wasn’t right for me,” she continued.
NeNe said “mature women” like herself understand her concept of marriage without true love.
“I feel like there’s many women who would feel like, ‘I know this guy is not the right guy, but we are cool enough, or friendly enough, or we like each other enough where maybe we should get married,’” she added.
However, as NeNe thought about marrying without love, she realized she doesn’t want that type of relationship.
“I know this is not who I am as a person,” she commented.
As NeNe thinks about her future, she is very particular about being involved with another man.
“I really would want to be with somebody who really loves me,” NeNe added. “I don’t want to be talking to a guy or making an arrangement with a guy when you’re just my life partner for emergency stuff, but there’s nothing else. I don’t want that for myself. I honestly really, really don’t.”
