NeNe Leakes announced on Monday she will not to be returning for another season of the Bravo-produced reality show "Real Housewives of Atlanta."

People magazine reports that after nearly eight seasons, 48-year-old Leakes is walking away at arguably the height of her popularity on the network. Leakes later deemed her decision as a simply a matter of it being "the right time."

"This was definitely a hard decision for me," she added. "Me and my husband [Gregg Leakes] have been going back and forth on it for weeks now. But my contract is up and I just think this is the right time. This is my opportunity to spread my wings and do different things."

Apparently among those new ventures is her rumored launch of her own clothing line. She also marked the occasion of her annoucement by revealing that she's already signed on to star in a new TV project.

"I'm actually going to be doing a new prime time television show with a big legend," she said. "All of my fans will get to see me be really happy, witty and funny and tell all of those one liners that I always have said on 'Housewives.'"

In finally putting the show behind her, Leakes added she feels as if a great burden has been lifted from her shoulders. Over time, she admitted she feels as if she had become a target of some of her other cast mates.

"I won't miss the negativity," she said. Leakes added she expects some of her now former cast mates to try and use her departure as a springboard to greater fame and stardom for themselves.

"They always felt like I was the star, and they were never able to really shine with me there, so here's their opportunity to shine," she said.

According to RadarOnline, Leakes confirmed she is likely to return to the show for cameo appearances and later this year is set to star on the network alongside former "Real Housewives" cast member Kim Zolciak in their new show, "NeNe and Kim: The Road to Riches."