NeNe: Celebrity Apprentice Was 'Toxic' for Me

NeNe Leakes never had second thoughts about quitting Celebrity Apprentice. It all just got to be too much, she says.

"I don't regret it. I felt very good about it. I always do what my gut tells me to do," the Real Housewives of Atlanta star says in an interview airing Wednesday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

She adds: "I'm a grown woman, and nobody makes decisions for me. I make my own decisions. It was a toxic situation for me."

Particularly poisonous, of course, was her feud with Star Jones. In an episode two weeks ago, Leakes unloaded on Jones in front of a client, then walked off the show. She doesn't regret that either, but admits it didn't need to get that ugly.

"I needed to get it out," she says. "I wish I could have maybe had a different delivery, maybe better word choices, but I'm OK with it. I felt she deserved it. I know everybody in Hollywood knows I'm telling the truth [about Jones]."

Of course, things evened out this past week, when Donald Trump fired Jones. "When I said on the show yesterday that Star got fired, there were applauses in the audience," says DeGeneres. "People were thrilled that Star got fired."

To which Leakes replies: "Yeah, let's clap about it."

Credit: PEOPLE (Tim Nudd)

Star Jones Compares NeNe To A Wild Animal

The last time the Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes sat down to talk with Ellen DeGeneres, she called fellow Celebrity Apprentice contestant Star Jones "a disaster." After Sunday night's vicious spat between the contestants, Jones appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show – and she didn't miss her chance to strike back.

"What were you thinking when NeNe was going off like that?" DeGeneres asks Jones in an episode airing Tuesday.

"I was thinking my grandmother is going to watch this," Jones says. "I was thinking I need to keep calm."

She also couldn't resist comparing her costar to a feral animal. "When you're confronted in the wild with an un-caged animal you're supposed to retreat," Jones says. "You're not supposed to attack."

"No," says DeGeneres, "with a bear you're supposed to appear bigger. You're supposed to get larger."

"If you can tell me how to get bigger than that, I got money for you," says Star.

Ellen also asked if a reconciliation loomed anywhere in the future for the two reality stars: "It looks like at the end of it you started making up, although you didn't want to do it on camera," she says. "How do you all get along now?"

"I don't know that girl and I don't hang with people like that."

Credit: PEOPLE (Sarah Durham Wilson)

Is NeNe Leakes Hooking Up With Star's Ex?

Star magazine claims that Real Housewives of Atlanta's NeNe Leakes has been antagonizing Star Jones by spending quality time with Jones' ex-husband, Al Reynolds.

Although Reynolds has been haunted by gay rumors, the magazine says he's been getting quite cozy with his ex wife's nemesis.

[Reynolds and Leakes] dined at STK in NYC on March 9 and "looked very cozy," an eyewitness tells the publication. Afterwards, they danced the night away a Haven before hopping in the same cab at 4 a.m. And date No. 2 is already in the works.

RumorFix reached out to Al's rep to see if there were any truth to the rumors and were surprised when we got this answer: "Al and NeNe were recently introduced. He is enjoying getting to know her."

The rep wouldn't confirm that they're dating, but the two have been flirting on Twitter. Star Jones better watch out!

Credit: Rumor Fix

NeNe Leakes Says Star Jones “Is A Disaster”

NeNe Leakes of the Real Housewives of Atlanta and more recently, Celebrity Apprentice, will appear on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” today.

According to a transcript the show sent us, they’ll be discussing Leakes’ fellow Apprentice cast member Star Jones.

They’re not exactly best buddies.

“She is bossy, she is manipulative, conniving,” Leakes said of Jones. “She is controlling. I think that she knows. Yeah. She looks in the mirror, she better know.”

By the way here’s a comprehensive Celebrity Apprentice recap from our colleague Rodney Ho. If you’d like to see RoHo talking about the show click here for his video.

Jones has been vocal about Leakes as well, telling Daytime Confidential, “We’re not on the same level. Let’s make that clear. We’re on the same show.”

In case that was unclear she added, ”Cream rises to the top and water seeks its own level.”

Jones also noted, “They cast the show based on what they thought would generate good ratings. This was not a show about friendship.”

Apparently their relationship was strained from the beginning.

“When I walked into the situation, I tried to walk in with no preconceived notions,” Leakes told DeGeneres. “I was just thinking, ‘Okay, I’m going to do the show. I’m going to get to know who Star is.’ I think she had preconceived notions of who she thought I was just from watching me on the ‘Housewives.’ I think she thought I was going to come in and take over. I tried to get to know her. Some people are difficult to get to know. She’s not easiest person to get to know. She is a disaster.”

Could they work things out?

“I don’t think she’s easy to get along with,” Leakes said. “She’s a tough girl. We’re kind of okay. I’m trying to feel her out right now.”

Credit: The Buzz (Jennifer Brett)

Star Jones And NeNe Leakes Call A Truce

Celebrity Apprentice stars NeNe Leakes and Star Jones are trying to mend their stormy relationship when the cameras are not rolling on the popular NBC reality show, Radar Online can exclusively report.

The battling divas previously came to physical blows on Donald Trump’s show which has already axed David Cassidy and Lisa Rinna.

But the two women have called a tentative truce and are trying to get along better after they both realized things were in danger of getting out of hand.

A source told Radar Online: “Both NeNe and Star are trying to get along better off set – it was really only when the show started taping that their competitiveness kicked-in.

“NeNe felt slighted by Star who she thought was not showing her enough respect – while Star believed that NeNe was all show and no substance.

“They are both head strong women and NeNe believed Star was trying to boss the other contestants around and on top of that they were feuding over hair, wardrobe and make-up too.

“But they are trying to be more accepting of their differences now although producers want to ramp-up their rivalry when the cameras are rolling because they believe it could translate to high ratings.”

NeNe poured fuel on reports that the combustible pair really did not get along after she went on the Wendy Williams Show recently and confessed to the host: “Star is special... I wouldn't spit on her if she were on fire.”

In the most recent episode of Celebrity Apprentice Lisa Rinna reacted angrily towards Star when she was axed from the show.

During her final minutes in the boardroom she said to Jones: “you threw me under the f***ing bus!”

As the women on her team faced Trump, most of them turned on Rinna for her lack of leadership and indecisiveness -- no one more than fellow divas Star Jones and Dionne Warwick.

When Trump asked Rinna which two of her teammates should be on the chopping clock, along with her, she said -- to no surprise --Jones and Warwick.

In the end, as the women argued back-and-forth, Trump fired Rinna, as she was the team leader. (You could actually see Jones and Warwick smirking.)

Celebrity Apprentice returns next Sunday at 9/8c on NBC.

Credit: Radar Online