Kenya Moore is back for season 15 of 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta,' which brings fresh drama, familiar faces and new foes.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta apparently trades sisters for misters in season 15.
"Each of the ladies has their own issues with men, and I think they come to the forefront," longtime star Kenya Moore confesses to ET. "We all chime in, and it all makes for a great drama."
Kenya's been caught in a never-ending drama saga of divorce since 2021, when she filed to end her marriage to her husband of four years, New York-based restauranteur Marc Daly. The two still have not come to terms, as tabloid reports claim Marc wants to take Kenya's Atlanta-area home as part of his settlement.
"The Moore Manor issue is not true, I can tell tell you that," Kenya clarifies. "I don't know where that came from. I'm hoping that we leave the relationship with what we came in with it."
"I'm hoping that there's a light [at the end of the tunnel]," she says. "I feel that there is, we're in a much better place. We have a mediation coming up, and I think that we just both have to come together for the sake of our daughter, so we can just move on to co-parenting and not any drama with us."
Kenya and Marc share a 4-year-old daughter, Brooklyn.
"I just want to focus on my daughter," Kenya replies when asked if she views Marc differently as a co-parent due to how he's conducted himself amid their divorce.
"She deserves the very best, the very best father that she can have," she adds. "I think once we put the divorce drama to bed, I think that he can focus on being a dad, and that's what I'm looking forward to."
She's also looking forward to her next chapter. After taking some time to focus on herself and build her brand -- Kenya Moore Hair Care expands into more retail stores this year, as Kenya sets her sights on opening her first brick-and-mortar salon, too -- she's also now back out dating.
"Getting back out there was fun, because it's like a little awkward, you know?" she reflects. "I still don't know what I'm doing -- and I'm not afraid to admit to it -- but I think what was fun was discovering this new me, and how will I operate with someone else. Like, what do I do? What do I wear? How do I wear my hair? What do I say? You know, do I text? Do I call? Do I wait? You just, it's just so many questions, and I still don't have all the answers, but I'm just happy to be in this place that I'm open."
"I'm open for whatever it is to come: good, bad, ugly, I'm still here," she continues, "and I'm still still me and, hopefully, I'm still fabulous."
Viewers will see sparks fly between the former Miss USA and entrepreneur Roi Shlomo this season. She calls him a "great friend."
"Roi has been someone that I've known for a while, over a year, as friends and I just think we have a lot in common," she spills. "We have friends in common, likes in common and, if nothing else, a great friendship."
Kenya's longtime onscreen foe, Marlo Hampton, claims to have previously dated Roi, causing only more issues between the two women.
"It's not true," Kenya declares. "It's 100 percent not true. She makes up everything. You can't believe a word that comes out of her mouth."
Kenya seems to believe Marlo gets joy out of "antagonizing me, always." In one standout moment from the trailer, Marlo kicks in Kenya's door on a cast trip, all while shouting her middle name, Summer, repeatedly.
"She's just not for me," Kenya declares. "I'm surrounded by a lot of women on this show who are very supportive of me, who are loving. I have some real, genuine friendships and connections with people."
Kenya namechecks Kandi Burruss, Shereé Whitfield and Cynthia Bailey as her closest confidantes in the group. Cynthia makes her return to Real Housewives this year in a guest role, after handing in her peach at the end of season 13.
"She's a sister," Kenya gushes. "She's not a friend anymore to me. She's a part of my family, she will always be a part of my family, and we just have fun. It's like it just never ended. It was never an ending or a beginning, it's just who we are."
Kenya and Cynthia did briefly fall out after shooting season 1 of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, which filmed as Cynthia was deciding her future on RHOA after being offered a "friend of" role for season 14. She ultimately declined that offer and largely moved her life to Los Angeles, where her then-husband, broadcaster Mike Hill, is based.
"We needed it," Kenya says of the break. "I think we needed it to grow, and to really, actually grow closer and to understand each other more. So, it was fabulous."
Cynthia's not the only familiar face to pop up this season. Shereé organizes an OG reunion (minus NeNe Leakes), bringing season 1 stars DeShawn Snow, Lisa Wu and Kim Zolciak Biermann back on camera. Kenya and Kim famously feuded during their time together as cast members.
"I didn't think much," Kenya admits of Kim's return. "You know, I know she's been going through a lot. I wondered if they covered any of that, like did she discuss any of the things that have been going on? Like, with her home and her family?"
Earlier this year, Kim denied reports of home foreclosure, despite her Georgia mansion hitting the auction block; the auction was ultimately canceled without explanation.
"I'm sure it makes for great TV," Kenya quips of Kim's cameo.
Kenya makes some great TV of her own, too, with Shereé; while she still considers the She by Shereé designer a friend, they have friction over Shereé's new man, Love & Marriage: Huntsville star Martell Holt. Sunday's season premiere features the beginning of a shouting match between Kenya and Martell, whom many of the women suspect has ulterior motives in dating Shereé. Kenya claims he attempted to pursue her at the same time as Shereé.
"I have to say that the confrontation between myself and Martell did not go well," Kenya teases, hitting back at Shereé's assertion that she should be more focused on her own life than Shereé's relationship.
"Well, when she brings her life to the group, then there needs to be a response," Kenya explains. "So, you're gonna talk about whatever we know and how we feel."
"We're in a really good place, and I really care about her, so that's going to be a little tricky to navigate," she adds, sharing that she's "not surprised" Shereé didn't seem to take the group's concerns about Martel seriously.
"But, I think that she definitely values my opinion as a friend, as a straight-shooter also," she qualifies. "I think she's a clever girl. I think she'll figure it out."
Kenya does concede that, "if Shereé thinks he's a good fit, he's a good fit. It's up to her," and confirms that their tussle didn't scare Martell away from the show. "He likes to show his face," Kenya says, "and other things."
At that same event, a birthday party for Sanya Richards-Ross' husband, Kandi finds herself in an unexpected battle, too, facing off with newcomer Courtney Rhodes, of whom Kenya does not think highly.
"I don't know who you're talking about," Kenya delivers in her best Mariah Carey impression. "Sorry, I don't know that person."
Courtney is one of "two culprits" Kenya says had it out for Kandi this season.
"The usual suspect, and one other that you'll come to learn on the show that was just basically a minion of someone else that is always in the mix of trouble," she muses, calling Marlo "the Gru," as in Steve Carell's villainous character from the Despicable Me franchise.
Gossip blogs claim Kandi and Marlo get into it this year, with Kandi discussing Marlo's criminal history on camera; it's long been a topic of conversation off camera.
"I don't think it's ever really discussed," Kenya corrects. "It's brought up, but who knows if it makes the cut? You know, it's been brought up before but somehow it never makes the cut. ... Maybe it's just information that the powers that be don't want to discuss."
Another rumor floating around is that the group's night with Bolo, a well-endowed male stripper who performed at Cynthia's bachelorette party in season 13, comes back to haunt Drew Sidora. One report claims she and then-castmate LaToya Howard made out on that trip.
"That is very possible," Kenya offers with a knowing smile. "We get to learn a lot more about Drew and we'll see how that ends."
Season 15 will be a tough one for Drew. She and her husband, Ralph Pittman, filed for divorce from one another after filming ending; cameras went back up to capture the immediate aftermath of their same-day filing. The two seemingly raced each other to the courthouse, with Drew filing just an hour before Ralph.
"For me, it seemed like a shock, because they had been working so hard at counseling, and it seemed like they were happier together when they would film, they were more affectionate with one another," Kenya shares. "I felt like it was going, it was turning a corner."
Kenya says she's "here for" Drew, ready and willing to advise her on the process of splitting up.
"I really just want to take a big sister role with her, to walk her through what it might feel like to go through a divorce, and especially with children involved," she says. "My heart goes out to her, and I really hope she comes out the other side a better person."
Last season, Kenya compared Ralph to Marc; she even "saw red" during one cast outing, at which she didn't like how Ralph was speaking to Drew, because it reminded her of her ex. It's weirdly brought the two women together, after starting off on shaky ground in Drew's debut season.
"When we first met, it was just... things took a turn, because LaToya was with me, and she was talking about her and I think it just really hurt Drew's feelings," Kenya surmises, "and then sided with other people -- who were not friends of mine -- and it just never got back on track. But I I think once we started a few seasons ago back with a clean slate, things turn, you know? I could really see her and appreciate her for who she is as a person."
"She likes to fight, though," she adds. "I don't really like to fight -- I will finish a fight, but I don't like to start fights."
She doesn't mind stirring the pot, though, currently championing for Monyetta Shaw to snatch a peach come season 16. She's back as a "friend of" this season after making her RHOA debut in season 14.
"Monyetta is a great person, wonderful human being, and I love her family and I think she's showing us that she might have the potential to be an Housewife," she professes. "She might snatch a peach. I'm hoping. I have one of mine that she could snatch. ... Revoked!"
The women should know by now, Kenya's a better friend than an enemy.
"Definitely don't want to be an enemy, or a frenemy," she declares. "I'm excited to just have [the viewers] see me be in this great, happy place, to still hold my own; to still be someone who is an empathetic person to my friends, but also a hell-raiser. Someone to not be reckoned with."
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs Sundays on Bravo, starting this Sunday, May 7, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
RELATED CONTENT:
