Kenya Moore is playing coy about her return to The Real Housewives of Atlanta for season 14… sort of. When asked by ET if she’ll be back on Bravo when the hit series returns, she offers up a sly, “We’ll see,” before confessing she expects to start filming again in October.
“[There will] definitely cast shakeup,” she tells ET’s, Lauren Zima. “Some new faces… and some old faces not there.”
The season 13 lineup for RHOA included Kenya, longtime ‘Wives Cynthia Bailey, Porsha Williams, and Kandi Burruss, plus newbie Drew Sidora. Rumors on “the blogs,” as they’re known in the Housewives universe, speculate Cynthia may be out of the mix after more than a decade on the show, which she addressed in June on The Wendy Williams Show.
“Word on the street is I may be out of a job,” the supermodel cracked. “Here’s the thing, nobody really wants to be fired. I mean, my first job was at Taco Bell. I wouldn’t want to be fired from there. I would want the option to leave if I wanted to go. God’s will, not my will, will be done. I have had an amazing run. It’s been 11 amazing years as a consistent peach-holder.”
Porsha and Drew’s peach-holding fates reportedly hang in the balance, too, with Porsha focusing on filming a spinoff centered around her family. Meanwhile, Kandi all but confirmed her return to the show when speaking with ET earlier this summer.
“I love the oldies but goodies, I love the ‘OGs’ as they call them” Kenya offers up when pressed on who she might like to see a return to RHOA, which could be a hint that original cast member Sheree Whitfield will be back as a Housewife for the third time. Kenya also name-dropped Phaedra Parks as a possible re-addition to the cast. The lawyer last appeared on RHOA in season 9, which ended with the explosive reveal that Phaedra was the one behind the spread of rumors about Kandi trying to drug and take advantage of Porsha in a “sex dungeon,” allegations Kandi has vehemently denied.
“The fans love Phaedra,” Kenya notes. “I don’t think it would be a bad idea to have her back. I think it would be very interesting.”
As far as who she’d like not to see back on the show, Kenya doesn’t name names but does say she’d prefer to avoid the return of any “enemies,” of which she’s made a few over the years. However, Kenya quickly qualifies all her comments with “I don’t really know anything… but, yeah.”
“Atlanta never disappoints,” she adds. It’s likely Peacock’s The Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip show also will not disappoint. Kenya filmed the spinoff series — which fans have referred to as All-Stars — earlier this year with Housewives from all over the country. Cynthia is a part of the show, along with The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Kyle Richards, The Real Housewives of New York City’s Ramona Singer and Luann de Lesseps, and The Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Melissa Gorga and Teresa Giudice.
“When I tell you, it was the best show that I’ve filmed,” Kenya gushes. “Yeah, it is so good! It was so amazing filming it, different from anything I’ve ever experienced. The girls were outstanding. Like, it was just, like — it was so, it was like a symphony, you know? It was just magic, everywhere you looked.”
“You had the top people,” she continues, “but they were all interesting. What they brought to the table was different. We broke the fourth wall a lot, so then they would reveal how they felt in this moment [from their respective shows], or what really happened. Or– and it was just, like, pulling back that veil and seeing what it’s really like to be a Housewife.”
Kenya compares some of the behind-the-scenes reveals made on Ultimate Girls Trip to the special episodes Bravo has released over the years, diving deep into specific seasons or episodes of shows like The Real Housewives and Vanderpump Rules.
“It was like one, big special, but with the drama between these ladies who don’t actually work together,” she says, noting things get heated right away.
“I think a lot of the ladies bring a lot of drama, I’m sure,” she exclaims. “Someone, you know, on the plane ride got called a b-word, OK? So, right off the bat, 20 minutes in.”
“There were a lot of battles happening,” Kenya confesses. “No, seriously. Because you had seven women with these seven different personalities, and it was just like, we were in a home — we were in a villa — sequestered, basically. And long hours of work, and it’s just like, bit attitudes, big egos, big hair. You know, it was just a lot of things happening. … Everything you need!”
Before fans can see everything that unfolds with Kenya and her co-stars on Ultimate Girls Trip — streaming later this year on Peacock — viewers can tune into Dancing With the Stars. Kenya joins the ABC competition for its 30th season, kicking off on Monday, Sept. 20.
“I have been a fan of the show for … years,” Kenya tells ET. “And I got the offer and I was like, oh! I have to do it.”