NeNe Leakes Enjoys Red Carpet Date Night with Nyonisela Sioh, Says New Love 'Put a Smile on My Face'

Emma Becker
·3 min read
Nyonisela Sioh and NeNe Leakes attend the 2022 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Nyonisela Sioh and NeNe Leakes attend the 2022 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

Momodu Mansaray/WireImage

Real Housewives of Atlanta alum NeNe Leakes and boyfriend Nyonisela Sioh were quite the pair in matching blue outfits on Sunday's 2022 BET Awards red carpet.

Leakes, who can currently be seen in the BET+ reality show College Hill: Celebrity Edition, opened up about how her relationship with Sioh has helped her after she lost husband Gregg to colon cancer last September.

"I can't say [Nyonisela] hasn't helped me put a smile on my face," Leakes, 54, told Extra.

She added that to find joy, "You have to be willing to be happy, and you have to make a lot of changes within yourself."

RELATED: NeNe Leakes Is 'Very Happy' with Boyfriend Nyonisela Sioh: He 'Treats Her Like a Queen,' Source Says

Leakes was joined by Lamar Odom, Ray J, Stacey Dash, Slim Thug, Big Freedia, DreamDoll and India Love in filming College Hill: Celebrity Edition, which follows the stars as they returned to school and lived together at Texas Southern University, one of the United States' historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

"I went to an HBCU, I love Houston, so I said, 'Let's go back and really see what's happening,'" Leakes explained of her reason for participating in the series.

That said, she did admit, "I wasn't super excited about moving into a house with a bunch of celebrities because I never lived with celebrities before, and I know celebrities are divas."

As for whether cohabitating with celebrities or returning to college was more challenging, Leakes said, "Definitely going back to school. We are sitting in class with young college students, so they know everything. We don't know anything."

NeNe Leakes attends the 2022 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
NeNe Leakes attends the 2022 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

Amy Sussman/Getty

RELATED: BET Awards 2022 Red Carpet Arrivals

The TV star shared several photos and videos on her Instagram Story on Monday, including a montage of celebs on the BET Awards' red carpet set to Beyoncé's latest single "Break My Soul."

In one video, she called this year's ceremony "one of the best BET Awards they have had in a very long time."

However, Leakes also did acknowledge that she wasn't a huge fan of how her and Sioh's ensembles looked in photos from the carpet.

"You know, we wore blue. I don't like how our pictures photographed at all. Sometimes it be like that, child. I don't care. We will shoot again today," she said with a giggle.

Nyonisela Sioha and NeNe Leakes attend the 2nd Annual The Black Ball: Quality Control's CEO Pierre "Pee" Thomas Birthday Celebration
Nyonisela Sioha and NeNe Leakes attend the 2nd Annual The Black Ball: Quality Control's CEO Pierre "Pee" Thomas Birthday Celebration

Paras Griffin/Getty Images Nyonisela Sioha and NeNe Leakes

The couple announced their budding romance in December of 2021, when a source close to the Bravo star told PEOPLE she is "very happy right now."

Leakes previously confirmed to The Shade Room that her husband Gregg gave her this blessing before he passed: "His words to me were 'be happy, keep smiling and he who finds you, has found a good one.'"

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

The first two episodes of College Hill: Celebrity Edition are streaming now on BET+, with new episodes dropping on Thursdays starting this week.

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