Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 7 Cast News: NeNe Leakes’ Last Season? She is rumored to play the role of the Wicked Stepmother in the Cinderella Broadway Musical

By Kara Michelle Sep 08, 2014 08:01 AM EDT

Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 7 Cast News: NeNe Leakes' Last Season? She is rumored to play the role of the Wicked Stepmother in the Cinderella Broadway Musical

Filming for Season 7 is already underway so The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 7 release date may be sometime in November. Most likely, the start date is November 2, the first Sunday in November, based on Wet Paint's reading of a tweet message from cast member Phaedra Parks to a well-wishing fan, plus the entertainment site's own observation that the show has indeed premiered on the first Sunday in November for the past couple of years.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 7 cast will have regulars Cynthia Bailey, Kandi Burruss, NeNe Leakes, Phaedra Parks, Porsha Stewart and Kenya Moore back on the show. They will be joined by Demetria McKinney, a singer and actress, who will come on board as a full-time Housewife and Claudia Jordan, a TV and radio personality, who will be a recurring guest star on the program, according to the Hollywood Gossip.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 7 may be the last for NeNe Leakes though. According to Classicalite, NeNe Leakes will be quitting the show after her contract with Bravo expires in 2015 at the end of upcoming season. Incidentally, NeNe has just signed on to play the wicked stepmother role in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella Broadway musical according to Reality Tea.

Earlier, NeNe, Sherri Sheppard of The View, and actress/singer Keke Palmer, have reportedly auditioned and competed with one another for the coveted Fairy Godmother role in the musical, according to Radar Online.

According to The Wrap, the just concluded Season 6 of the show was the highest rated season across all of Bravo's key demos, including an average 2 million viewers in the advertiser-coveted Adults 18-49 demo. Real Housewives of Atlanta averaged 3.5 million viewers per episode last season. No wonder that the Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 7 salaries are high.

According to OK Magazine, NeNe Leakes is the highest paid among all of the Bravo "Housewives" franchise. For last season, NeNe reportedly signed a $1 million plus bonuses deal with the network. She is followed by Teresa Giudice of the Real Housewives of New Jersey at $650,000. For the Real Housewives of Atlanta salaries, the next highest earner after NeNe is Kandi Burruss at $450,000, followed by Cynthia Bailey and Phaedra Parks at $300,000 each.

For more on the Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 7, plus the reunion full episode of last season, fans can visit the Bravo TV website.