Cynthia Erivo Sings Her Praises for Real Housewives of Atlanta Alumna NeNe Leakes

Looks like Cynthia Erivo's name can be added to the long list of celebrity Bravo fans.

The Wicked actress and singer is one of the 16 stars covering W Magazine's Best Performances issue. And in her interview with the outlet, Erivo cited The Real Housewives of Atlanta as her favorite reality show.

"I also love Potomac," the 37-year-old added of The Real Housewives of Potomac. "It's fantastic. They're very honest, which I like. Also, there’s no fighting or fisticuffs, but they will read each other crazily. Atlanta definitely gets a little rowdy, though."

She wasn't the only one sharing her love for the series. Colman Domingo also named RHOA his favorite reality show when asked about it in his W cover story. "I do like it when they fight," he said. "I think that’s the appeal: It’s, you know what? I guess I’m pretty okay if I don’t have this kind of drama with anybody."

Asked by Lynn Hirschberg if Erivo was a fan of RHOA alumna NeNe Leakes, the Tony Award, Grammy Award and Emmy Award winner offered her enthusiastic support.

"I am a NeNe Leakes fan. I love her," said Erivo, who, like Leakes, is a Broadway veteran. The Golden Globe nominee then urged Bravo to return Leakes to the franchise. "Where is she? Bring her back, please. She's great."

Leakes, 57, was one of the original stars of RHOA when the series premiered on Bravo in October 2008. Her quick wit, hilarious reads and no-nonsense attitude helped catapult the series into success.

She remained on RHOA through 2015 and her own spinoff, exiting after season 8 to focus on her acting career after nabbing roles in Glee and The New Normal. Two years later, for RHOA's 10th season, Leakes returned as a full-time Housewife. She stayed with the series before leaving again after season 12 in 2020.

At the time, Leakes said her departure came after "an extremely, extremely long, exhausting, tiring, emotional negotiation," and that this "wasn't an easy decision for me."

"I'm just so happy that I can say that I was a part of a genre that opened up doors for Black ensemble reality shows to step up and be a part of what we all now love so much, reality TV," she said in a video on her YouTube channel.

Bravo, meanwhile, told PEOPLE back then, in part, that "maybe one day, [NeNe will] hold the peach again." But that over the years, that idea has seemed more and more impossible.

In April 2022, Leakes filed a discrimination lawsuit against Bravo, NBC Universal and Housewives executive producer Andy Cohen alleging that the parties "foster a corporate and workplace culture in which racially-insensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated — if not, encouraged."

The suit, obtained by PEOPLE, also named Leakes' former friend and costar Kim Zolciak-Biermann, claiming the "Tardy for the Party" singer made racially insensitive comments for years and went without consequence while Leakes was allegedly reprimanded for the interactions. Though Zolciak-Biermann denied making any of those remarks, Leakes' suit claimed that Bravo "did not terminate their relationship with Zolciak-Biermann, nor take any other meaningful action to put an end to her racially-offensive behavior." Instead, they gave her a spinoff, Don't Be Tardy.

Leakes' suit was mutually dismissed in August of that same year without prejudice. Since then, Leakes has remained vocal about her experience with the network, alleging during an appearance on Just B with Bethenny Frankel published in September 2023 that she has been "severely retaliated against" since speaking out and has "not been able to work at all in any area of entertainment."

"I want fair treatment." Leaks said, using Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson as an example of the different way white and Black reality stars were treated by the network (Gunvalson was able to return to the airwaves for multiple shows with the network after withdrawing her 2019 lawsuit against the company). "My feelings are they pretty much said, 'F that Black bitch!' "

Bravo never responded to Leakes' words, or PEOPLE's request for comment, but a source close to the situation insisted there was "no truth" to the claim that either Cohen or the network had blackballed Leakes from working in the industry.

Indeed, in September 2024, Leakes returned to the NBC Universal family for a gig co-hosting E!’s Live From E!: Emmy After Party alongside Justin Sylvester and Ariana Madix.

Despite her problems, Leakes has long said that she'd be open to returning to RHOA. “I can't say I personally would like to go back on Atlanta Housewives. However, the fans have all asked for me," she told Reality with the King's Carlos King in August 2023. "And the fans are the reason for the ratings, they're the reason for the show being as popular as it is. If I had to go back, it will be 100% for the fans."

"All I asked for was fair treatment," Leakes said, adding that she hopes to patch things up with Cohen one day, despite his refusal to take her calls. "I don't have any hard feelings. ... I hate that we're in this place. I really wish there was a way for us to find our way back to each other because life is short and you don't want to carry ill feelings for the rest of your life. ... It says a lot about a person when they say, 'Let's just move on.' "