Gregg Leakes, Husband of NeNe, Passes Away from Colon Cancer at 66

Gregg Leakes, the husband of NeNe Leakes who was featured on the Bravo show “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” has passed away from colon cancer at age 66.

On Wednesday, publicist and longtime family friend Ernest Dukes confirmed the tragic news in a statement provided to outlets including People.

"Today the Leakes family is in deep pain with a broken heart. After a long battle with cancer, Gregg Leakes has passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by all of his children, very close loved ones and wife Nene Leakes," Dukes said.

"We ask that you pray for peace and strength over their family & allow them to mourn in private during this very very difficult time."

Last month, NeNe — who previously revealed in June that Gregg’s cancer had returned two years after it was in remission — told guests at her The Linnethia Lounge in Georgia that Gregg was “transitioning to the other side.”

“You don’t know what we’re dealing with right now. We walked in this lounge because we had to walk in this lounge because this is our business,” she said in response to guests who apparently called her “rude” for not wishing them a happy birthday.

“So when people approach and say, ‘You’re rude because you don’t want to say happy birthday,’ my husband is at home dying. I don’t want to say ‘happy birthday.’”

This week on Instagram Story, NeNe and Gregg’s son Brentt posted a touching message about the importance of spending time with your family.

“Spend time with your loved ones every chance you get. Time is so [expletive] valuable dog. I can’t express it,” he wrote. “I’m learning the hard way watching my dad fight every day. Please go create memories with ya people.”

NeNe first revealed Gregg’s stage III colon cancer diagnosis on Instagram in June 2018. In May 2019, she said a PET scan showed that Gregg was cancer-free after completing chemotherapy.

NeNe and Gregg tied the knot in 1997, divorced in 2011, and remarried in June 2013.

As seen on “RHOA,” Gregg’s health issues took a toll on his and NeNe’s relationship — prompting NeNe to consider getting a second divorce while he was undergoing chemotherapy.

"He's a changed person, his attitude changed," she told People in November 2018. "I feel like that day I lost my husband. Our whole dynamic changed. Sometimes I forget that he's sick and I need to remind myself because he's so on edge. He's not nice, but he can't help it."

The next year in January 2019, Gregg publicly apologized to NeNe, admitting, “We always hurt the ones we love.”