Gregg Leakes Dead At 66, Husband Of 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta' Alum NeNe Leakes Loses Battle With Colon Cancer
Gregg Leakes, husband of Real Housewives of Atlanta alum NeNe Leakes, has died at the age of 66 following his years-long battle with colon cancer.
"Today the Leakes family is in deep pain with a broken heart," a spokesperson for the family confirmed Wednesday. "After a long battle with cancer, Gregg Leakes has passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by all of his children, very close loved ones and wife NeNe Leakes."
The statement continued, "We ask that you pray for peace and strength over their family & allow them to mourn in private during this very, very difficult time."
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, NeNe informed patrons at her Atlanta lounge – The Linnethia Lounge – several days ago that her husband was losing his cancer battle.
She made the heartbreaking announcement that his passing was imminent after a customer at her nightclub accused her of being rude for not wishing them a happy birthday.
NeNe responded by asking the public to have more compassion toward her, explaining that "sometimes, you don't know what people are dealing with."
"My husband is transitioning to the other side," she revealed to the crowd.
Her subsequent captionless Instagram post simply read, "Broken."
Gregg was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in May of 2018, but it went into remission in May of 2019 following treatment.
This past June, however, NeNe announced the cancer had returned, revealing that Gregg was in the hospital after undergoing another surgery.
"Gregg is so-so. He's in the hospital. He's been in the hospital, tomorrow will be a week," she said when asked how her husband was doing during an Instagram Live interview. "I haven't talked publicly about that. This is the first time I'm saying something about it, so yeah, he's been in the hospital. He's been there a week, tomorrow. I'm sure he'll be home in about a week or so. He had to have a surgery, so his cancer did return."
"He's had this surgery before, and he was in the hospital for about 15 days," explained NeNe, adding that she expected him to remain there for "at least another week."
She said the cancer's return had been difficult on Gregg, as the disease had left him feeling "super small."
"If you've ever been around somebody who's had cancer before," she noted, "he's different. He's different."
"I'd love for everybody to pray for Gregg. That would be beautiful. Pray for his strength," she requested at the time, adding, "And pray for me, too."
The following month, NeNe had to cancel her scheduled co-hosting gig on The Talk because she got the "good news that Gregg was coming home after being hospitalized 6 weeks."
Since then, however, things have gone downhill.
Gregg's cancer battle the first time around took quite a toll on the couple's marriage, which was documented during one of NeNe's final seasons on the RHOA franchise.
She began Season 11 by tearfully telling viewers of the diagnosis. As the episodes progressed, her relationship with Gregg became so strained that the words "separation" and "divorce" were included in nearly every conversation.
NeNe often lashed out at the show's cast and crew, broke down in tears and even resorted to social media to vent about her "mean, grouchy and evil" husband.
While many fans supported her throughout the caregiving process, others criticized the way she chose to air out her frustrations with her sick spouse.
Andy Cohen pressed the couple about it during the season's subsequent reunion special. While Gregg didn't necessarily like the way his wife had treated him, he also seemed to think she was harboring resentment toward him over the fact that she had spent years begging him to get a colonoscopy.
He refused every time.
The couple got married in 1997, divorced in 2011 and remarried in 2013.
Gregg has six children, one of whom – 22-year-old Brentt Leakes – he shared with NeNe.
NeNe also has a 31-year-old son named Bryson Bryant from a previous relationship.
