Real Housewives alum NeNe Leakes revealed why she and boyfriend Nyonisela Sioh "have some work to do" before a possible engagement.
NeNe Leakes' relationship with boyfriend Nyonisela Sioh could be, well, peachier.
"We're okay," the Outrageous Love With NeNe Leakes host exclusively told E! News of her relationship. "Could always be better. He keeps checking a few of my boxes, but we have some work to do."
Plus, The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum isn't rushing into anything permanent after her husband of over two decades, Gregg Leakes, passed away from cancer in 2021.
"Things have definitely changed since I met Gregg 25 years ago," NeNe admitted. "Now, dating out here, I feel like the pool of men are not that great and it's just hard to find someone that is emotionally available. I always say you want someone to come into your life that helps to elevate you or teach you something or just make you great."
After dating Nyonisela on and off for the last two years, getting engaged to the menswear designer hasn’t even crossed the reality star’s mind.
"I don't have to have marriage because I've had it before," NeNe explained, "but I certainly would like a really good, healthy relationship that has a lot of love and respect."
But that doesn't mean the 56-year-old wouldn't say "I do" again.
"I hope I get married again," NeNe added. "I'm just saying I don't have to. If I met a guy and he said I don't want to get married, that is not a big deal to me. I understand life partners and that's fine too."
As for what the reality star considers most important when it comes to maintaining long-lasting marriage?
"I believe in order to have a successful relationship, one, you have to have communication," she told E!, "and, two, I believe you guys have to respect one another."
In fact, NeNe is putting her relationship expertise to good use on her new Lifetime series Outrageous Love, where she weighs in on the trials, triumphs and tribulations of real-life couples.
"I'm a hopeless romantic and I was married for almost 25 years, so I feel like I have a really good idea about what relationships are and how they work," she explained. "It's a great show, it's super funny. I love watching the clips of couples and we get a lot of crazy couples out here. Outrageous Love is super fun."
