'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' star admits she prefers the challenges of 'Special Forces: World's Toughest Test' to Bravo vacations.
Kenya Moore would rather endure tactical training and military missions than go on another Housewives trip, if she had her say.
"When I tell you it is torture for me to go on trips with people that you would never hang out with, you know, if you weren't doing a show with, and to be stuck in a house with them, not able to go anywhere and unable to do anything that you want to do on your own and just be like a captive audience?" the Real Housewives of Atlanta star rattles off to ET over video chat while promoting her new show, Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.
"100 percent -- this answer will shock you -- a Housewives trip [is harder]," she declares.
Special Forces: World's Toughest Test sees Kenya and a group of other celebrities, including fellow reality TV personalities, athletes and musicians, take on 10 days of military-style training with seasoned professionals. From jumping out of helicopters to driving through gunfire, the challenges are nothing like other celebrity competition shows, like Big Brother, Celebrity Apprentice or Dancing With the Stars -- the latter two on which Kenya's done.
"Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking," Kenya cracks, reflecting back on signing up for Special Forces. "I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to do something that I have never done before. I wanted to grow, and I wanted to overcome my fears, so this show was like the perfect fit for me."
"I feel like I am a better person for it," the 51-year-old adds. "I just proved to myself that one could still grow, one can still conquer your fears, and I think that I feel like I'm a stronger person and more focused and everything that I do. I know that if I put my mind to it, I can accomplish it -- and I think that I have lost that along the way -- but I think it's a good lesson to learn, because now I can teach my my daughter, [Brooklyn], who is 4 years old, that there is really no such thing as fear. It's in your mind."
After launching herself from the sky, into the ocean and speed-repelling down a cliff, Kenya seems to believe she can take on anything. "You can set me on fire, you can try to drown me," she spouts... though maybe she shouldn't put that out in the universe if her RHOA castmates are listening.
"I mean, they've tried," she laughs. "They've all tried to do that in one way or another... even if it's not outward, probably in their dreams."
Of her fellow peach-holders, Kenya's said she thinks only Sanya Richards-Ross, a multi-medaled Olympian, could handle Special Forces.
"I retract that," she now admits. "Sanya and Kandi [Burruss]. I think Kandi because she is super competitive, and she is always up for a challenge. Kandi and I are always competing against one another, so I would say Sanya and Kandi ... [but] she is not going to go on it because she is not going to want to give up her phone and her social media following!"
As for who from RHOA would pull an "epic fail" on Special Forces, Kenya awards that title to Shereè Whitfield.
"Shereè is extremely high maintenance," Kenya points out. "I have seen Shereè having someone dial the phone for her, you know? And for her to not even have a phone, and to not be able to communicate, or have her kids teach her how to do stuff, I would say she would be like, 'OK, I am out of here. You want me to do what and sit where with who? Uh... no thank you.' No, Shereè would be the first to go. ... She's a little pampered princess."
Kenya and that crew are wrapping up production on season 15 of RHOA; while Kenya described season 14 as the season of "sisterhood," she describes this upcoming batch of episodes as "the antithesis of that."
"I don't feel a sisterhood in this season," she laments. "There is a lot of drama. There is a lot of messiness. There's a lot of people reaching back to try old tricks. It's a messy season."
Kenya walks her initial statement back a bit, though, claiming there's a "selective" sisterhood with part of the cast. Not in that circle, however, is Marlo Hampton.
"She is very clear on that no one is her friend outside of filming," Kenya says. "So when the cameras are on, she is people's friend. But when the cameras are off? Yeah, no. Not a friendship. It's strategic more than anything else unfortunately."
Someone who is back in Kenya's orbit, though, is Cynthia Bailey. The longtime peach-holder returned to Atlanta after announcing her divorce from husband Mike Hill last fall, and is back to filming with the group!
"She is back in front of the cameras, and I am so happy that I have my sister back," Kenya gushes. "We hit a rough patch."
Kenya and Cynthia, once attached at the hip, fell out while filming the first season of Peacock's The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, after Cynthia called out Kenya for not spending as much time with her as she did with the other women on the show, despite their history. Of that cast, Cynthia's the only one to say she did not enjoy the experience.
"I kind of understand it now, because of her announcement for her divorce and she was suffering silently and she needed me and I didn't know that was going on in her life," Kenya admits. "I understand it now, and my heart is breaking because I didn't know and I wasn't able to be there for her in a more meaningful way during the trip, but now that I have my sister back? It's no stopping us. We are definitely going to see more of Cynthia, Ms. Cheeks Bailey for season 15."
Between Special Forces, a new season of RHOA and the expansion of her Kenya Moore Hair Care line, Kenya's 2023 is already shaping up to be a good one; but she's not stopping there when it comes to her visions for the year ahead.
"World domination!" she declares. "Really, quite honestly, I feel like Marvel, all of the people that make these superhero movies, I see a superhero villain-type character for me in the next Marvel film."
"They don't have anyone like me," she continues. "They need me, OK? They already know I can kick a**. I can scale buildings. I can hang with Olympians and professional athletes. Why not be a superhero? I mean, I am a superhero in my daughter's eyes if nothing else."
"Make me an offer," Kenya adds. "That's all I have to say: Make me an offer. I will deliver."
Until then, check out Kenya on Special Forces: World's Toughest Test, airing Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
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