ATLANTA HOUSEWIFE KEEPS IT REAL PART 2: Star of hit series - Nene Leakes - tells her story; puts the real in reality.

      *Nene Leakes prides herself on keeping the “real” in reality. A cast member of Bravo’s hit show “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Leakes has strategically made a name for herself and relayed fleeting reality fame into a book deal.

      Leakes’ memoir, called “Never Make the Same Mistake Twice,” hit the shelves in August and is only one of the goals that the TV star hopes to reach with the help of her reality star status.

      “Do I want to be a reality star? No. I’m not trying to go from reality show to reality show. I’d like to go on and do something else,” she said. “If it’s acting, if it’s me having my own talk show, if it’s me being a businesswoman and putting my books out all over the country – whatever it is, that’s what I’d rather do. I don’t want to be a reality star.”

      However, while Leakes is determined not to accept the “reality star” moniker, she is utilizing her reality star status and makes no apologies for it, an apparent theme of her life.

      “I know how a reality show can elevate you,” she said. “I know the platform that a reality show can do for you and for your business. A lot of people that talk negatively about reality shows, if they had the opportunity to be on one, they’d take it.”

      “I’m a very smart woman,” she continued. “I can get on camera and laugh and even have an argument with you, but there are several sides to Nene Leakes. I’m not just a person that wants to be on a reality show and is just a fool. I’m a fully grown woman. I’ve been through things. I’m a mother; I’m a wife of almost 13 years; I’m an author; and I’m a business woman.”

      Leakes is just as aware of the downside of being a celebrity of sorts as the upside, however, but she says that the being the topic of entertainment news and tabloid talk just means she’s working.

      “I’m not frustrated,” she said in regard to the media stirs she caused. "I don’t really give a damn what the media has to say. When I lay down at night, I know who I am and I know what my goals are and exactly what I plan to do and where I plan to go. The media tends to focus on the negative things – maybe they get more hits on their website. But the more they talk, the more I work, so keep talking. The things that people say are usually stupid. All the great things that we’re doing, people usually don’t talk about it.”

      Leakes referred to her Twisted Hearts Foundation as her “great thing.”

      “I’m an advocate for women against domestic abuse,” she said. “I talk about it on the show. A lot of us are doing really good things and people don’t talk about these things.”

      Leakes herself was a victim of domestic abuse, which makes her even more passionate about the cause.

      “I was in a relationship for a very long time. I know all about domestic abuse and how it can make a woman feel. That’s why I speak out on it.”

      Her domestic abuse story isn’t the only story she talks about, however. As a matter of fact, Leakes said there are few – if any – things that she won’t talk about, including her life as a stripper.

      “I wrote in my book about being a former stripper,” she declared. “I don’t have a problem saying I was a former stripper. It’s not that big a deal. I was 20 years old at the time, I was in an abusive relationship and I was trying to get out and take care of myself.”

      One of the reasons she said she is so easily vocal about her past is simply that everyone has one.

     “Everybody has a past. Everybody has things they’re not proud of. When you’re 20 years old, you do things, stupid things where you just weren’t thinking. You’re just being young and trying to find out who you were. Me talking about something that happened in my 20s, I’m not embarrassed about it. I was a stripper. I put my son through private school. I had to get out of an abusive relationship. I paid for us a place to live, furniture, a car. I had to go and do what I had to do for my son.”

      Were those mistakes? Maybe not. Leakes said that she has no intention of making the same mistakes twice, but does add that it is those mistakes that made her the smart, strong woman that she is.

       “I’ve made mistakes that I pride myself on not making again,” she said commenting on her book title. “I’ve made mistakes. I’ve learned from them and all the mistakes that I’ve made have made me who I am today. I’ve learned over the years to not try to make people like me. This is who I am.”

      Leakes called the book a fantastic book and an easy read, written in her voice.

      “I’m very proud of myself. I’m larger than life – meaning I am loving life. This is who I am and I’m not going to make apologies for it. This is me. I shouldn’t have to apologize for being Nene. I’m larger than life and I’m having a great time doing it.”

      “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” premiered in the fall of 2008. It is Bravo’s third series in the franchise, following The Real Housewives of Orange County and The Real Housewives of New York City and the most widely popular and the highest rated of the three.

      Look for “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” every Thursday 10pm/9C and go to www.bravotv.com for the latest on the show and the cast.

     Read part 1 here.

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