Nene Leakes Says She’s Like A Gay Man & Speaks On Evelyn & Ochocinco

In a recent interview with Essence, Nene talked about her stance on politics, her new show The New Normal and her thoughts on Evelyn’s very public drama with Chad.

ESSENCE.com: What are you thoughts on the show being banned in Utah since you’re a supporter of gay rights? 

LEAKES: In my real life, both my bosses are gay. On the Real Housewives of Atlanta, Andy Cohen is gay, everybody at Bravo is gay – we call them the gay mafia (laughs). Over at Glee and The New Normal, my boss Ryan Murphy is gay. On the show, my boss, played by Andrew Reynolds is gay in real life. I’m surrounded by all my gay bosses. But I think it’s absolutely ridiculous the show was banned without being seen. I think viewers think it is the new gay show and it’s not. This show is not about being gay or anything. It’s about love, it’s about comedy, it’s about drama. If they would at least tune in and give it a chance. I’m not gay. [The main characters] aren’t even saying they’re gay. They are two professional men. One is an OBGYN and the other runs a production company. It’s based off of Ryan Murphy’s life. They aren’t walking around hugging and kissing. They are just like any other normal family. It’s just that they’re two men looking to have a baby. I think the people who are going to love the show the most are people who are not traditional. 

ESSENCE.com: What are your thoughts on gay marriage?

LEAKES: I’m for all kinds of gay rights. I’m almost like a gay man myself. I think people should marry who ever they want to marry. That’s going back to living the life you want to live. There are people who never want to be married. My dad never married in his life. He never wanted that kind of commitment. I think it’s whatever works for you and it worked for him. If you want to be married, be married. I think you should do whatever you want to do as long as you’re not breaking the law or doing anything illegal.

ESSENCE.com: You talked about having a troubled past with domestic violence. What are your thoughts on Evelyn Lozada and Chad Johnson?

LEAKES: I wanted to reach out to her, but I didn’t. I feel like when people are going through something I’m confused about whether I should say something or not, because so many people are saying stuff to them. I don’t talk to Evelyn regularly, but I do know her, we do text if we need something from another. The only advice I would have for Evelyn is to be quiet. I wouldn’t say anything else. To me, it makes matters worse and I would be quiet and try to it handle privately.