Which "Real Housewives" franchise has always stood out when it comes to ratings? It's the "Real Housewives of Atlanta," of course.  And the continuous success of the show can be attributed to NeNe Leakes' participation since the beginning.

Leakes is knows her value. She knows how important she is in keeping "Real Housewives of Atlanta" up and running, especially in the coming season. So she negotiated for a pay raise and Bravo took her up on her offer. Now, Leakes has become the highest paid Bravo reality star with a paycheck of $1.5 million for the new season of "RHOA."

It is no surprise that Leakes is the most popular housewife of the entire franchise. That is why she knew that she could broker a deal with Bravo.

"NeNe made it known she would need a significant raise to do the upcoming season, and Bravo had no choice but to agree to it," a source for Radar Online said.

"Without NeNe, 'RHOA' wouldn't be the ratings blockbuster that it continues to be. While some of the other shows including 'RHONJ' and 'RHONY' have endured ratings slumps, Atlanta has never had to endure that," the source added.

The pay raise negotiation is sort of expected when Leakes confessed that the pay is just okay. In "The Arsenio Hall Show," she said, "You know what, the pay is okay, but I don't know if it's worth what you saw on the clip. I began this so many years ago with other girls. And I'm the only original that's left. It has changed a lot over the years."

But aside from her huge pay raise, Leakes is also getting some money from HSN where she launched her own clothing line. It was a huge success and all of her clothes were sold in just a day. Leakes is a size 10 and her clothing line appeals to plus size and curvy girls as well.