Bravo icon NeNe Leakes made a special appearance during the premiere of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th six years after she abruptly left RHOA mid-reunion in 2020.
When Bravo said "icons only," NeNe Leakes heeded the call.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum made her triumphant return to Bravo during the premiere of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th special, six years after she unceremoniously and abruptly exited RHOA during 2020's virtual season 12 reunion.
The Aug. 9 episode kicked off with Nene’s former castmate Porsha Williams welcoming her into her home to help pack for the iconic cross-country vacation.
"The last time we saw NeNe was season 12," Porsha recounted in a confessional. "That was the reunion during the pandemic and she did the close of the laptop."
While the former frenemies had plenty of life updates to catch up on, the first topic of business on NeNe's list was Porsha's romance with Patrice "Sway" McKinney.
"You swimming in the lady pond!" Nene teased Porsha. "Porsha, you gotta tell me about this."
Porsha—mom to 7-year-old daughter Pilar with ex Dennis McKinley—then recounted her and Sway's meet-cute.
"It was just casual texting and all of a sudden there's this event that came up," the 45-year-old shared. "I was like, 'Hey you wanna go?"
"Girl, ever since then we are…" Porsha added before NeNe finished her sentence with, "Full-blown!"
While surprised, NeNe noted, "As long as you're happy, that's the only thing that matters."
As their reunion continued, Porsha detailed the group's travel itinerary to iconic Housewives locations, including Orange County, Beverly Hills, Miami, New York City and more.
"How dare we celebrate 20 years as Housewives and leave out the NeNe Leakes?" The Traitors alum posited in a confessional. "So, the queen herself will be making an appearance when we enter Atlanta."
And while NeNe's return was certainly special for Porsha, it's equally monumental for fans given she walked away from the franchise on not-so-friendly terms.
As Porsha told the Glee actress, "For you to come back after all this time for the 20th anniversary is huge," to which NeNe agreed, "It's huge."