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At age 23, NeNe Leakes was a single mother with nowhere to go, having recently left a physically abusive relationship with a man she later compared to Jekyll and Hyde. “Whenever we went out, he was a gentleman,” she told Essence, recalling how her capricious partner took out a gun during their first night together. “I’d never been around a gun before. It really freaked me out,” she added. “That should have been my warning.”
Struggling to keep a roof over her and her son’s heads, Leakes ended up looking at newspaper ads. “We couldn’t pay our rent one month and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, what are we going to do?'” the reality star told Uncensored, recalling how she used to model with her roommate Genesis. One day, the pair found a call for nude models and assumed that it would be something artistic. Instead, Leakes ended up dancing under the name “Silk” at a strip club. “I made a ton of … money,” she admitted. “And I couldn’t stop.”
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Although she doesn’t regret her strip club days, Leakes had some sleazy experiences, particularly after she had to quit her high-profile gig and start working at underground places because her family found out. “Men can do some really filthy things in the club,” she wrote in her memoir, candidly revealing that she was particularly disgusted by men who treated her as a sexual aid.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
