 One of five children, she and one of her brothers were sent to live with an aunt in Athens, Georgia, while the other three children stayed with her mother; because it was believed that her mother could not take care of all five.After graduating from Clarke Central High School in Athens, she decided to further her formal education at Morris Brown College in Atlanta for two years.Before Leakes met the producers of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta", she had appeared on TV shows like" The Parkers".