NeNe Leakes' Son Brentt Talks About Major Life Change Following His Health Scare

Nene Leakes opened up her life to the world when she began starring on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" in 2008 when viewers were introduced to her family, which included her two sons, Bryson Bryant and Brentt Leakes. Both her sons appeared frequently on the show, and people quickly became interested in the family's life. Even after Nene departed from "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" in 2020, fans still kept up with the Leakes family on social media. Sadly, the years that followed Nene's departure were filled with tragic events.

In 2021, Nene's husband, Gregg Leakes, passed away from colon cancer, per People. A year after Gregg's death the family had to deal with another serious medical issue. In 2022, Nene's youngest son, Brentt, suffered from a heart attack and stroke. According to the outlet, Brentt was in the hospital for several days before he was released.

E! News reports that Nene later opened up about her son's health scare on her Instagram Story. She said, "Two weeks ago today, Brentt had congestive heart failure and a stroke. He's only 23 so he's really young for something like that to happen to him." The reality star revealed that doctors usually see patients suffer from such medical emergencies if they drink or do drugs. However, Nene reassured that her son has never partaken in such things. Since Nene's video, it seems Brentt has been on the road to recovery — and now he is opening up about a major life change.

Brentt Leakes is slowly recovering from heart failure and a stroke, and since 2022, fans have speculated his weight could have played a part in the two medical emergencies. "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" star and Brentt's mother, Nene Leakes, quickly addressed the speculation, per Entertainment Tonight. She said, "So many people keep asking me about his weight. I'm like, he's not as big as — I don't think — as people think he is. He's a super tall guy and the doctors say that it's not that, either."

As for why fans might have speculated, as the Stroke Association outlined, "Being overweight raises your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. It can lead to your arteries becoming narrowed and clogged up (atherosclerosis). All these things can increase your risk of a stroke." Similarly, with heart failure, weight can occasionally be the reason behind the condition, per the National Library of Medicine. However, Brentt has not elaborated on the health emergency and, as many studies have pointed out, obesity is not directly correlated to being "unhealthy". 

Either way, as Brentt has slowly recovered from his health scare, he has been focusing on fitness and weight loss. Brentt posted before and after photos documenting his journey, captioning the post, "Focus on you until The focus is you. #100poundsdown." Regardless of the decisions behind losing weight, fans are simply happy to see that he's doing well as he recovers.