Kenya Moore’s marital issues have been clear to viewers since she and her estranged husband Marc Daly began appearing on The Real Housewives of Atlanta in season 12. Viewers watched a dedicated wife try to fight to keep her marriage afloat, all the while Daly appeared agitated, dismissive toward his wife, condescending, controlling, and overall disinterested in the relationship.
The couple announced their separation in two separate statements to People Magazine ahead of the season 12 premiere. By the season 12 reunion, Moore told Andy Cohen that Daly had done a “complete 360” and was fighting to save their marriage. The two were even in marital counseling, something Daly was opposed to prior.
But as viewers saw on the season 13 premiere episode, things are back on shaky ground. Moore meets with a divorce attorney to discuss her options of finalizing things. She becomes emotional when explaining that the COVID-19 pandemic affecting her husband’s restaurant business negatively impacted their marriage.
According to Moore, she became the brunt of Daly’s frustrations. Her last straw was a visit to Daly in New York where he runs his business, which she says was spent on the receiving end of Daly’s insults and attitude.
All of the stress sent Moore into a depression and she gained 30 pounds in the process. Being alone with her 2-year-old daughter, though a welcomed distraction, also had its challenges. After 10 months of separation, Moore knew she needed to make a decision.
She tells her co-stars and close friends, Cynthia Bailey and Kandi Burruss, about the state of her marriage. A tearful Moore is then given some tough love from Bailey and Burruss: it’s time to let Daly go.
“I don’t like the way he talks to you, Kenya,” Bailey tells Moore. Moore agrees, telling the ladies that Daly is intentionally abrasive toward her during times of conflict.
“He has all the power. You are going up [to NYC] trying to see him, even though he should be the one trying to see you,” Burruss says. “You’re the one trying to figure out if there’s any way to fix this. He should be doing those things…it just seems like it’s either his way or the high way.”
Moore agrees with Burruss also, telling her that their whole marriage has been centered around Daly and Moore taking on the responsibility of keeping things together.
In a confessional, Burruss says it’s time for Moore to move forward without Daly. “Girl, just cut the ties and move on.”
Moore told Shadow & Act in a recent interview that viewers will see her journey from being unsure about her future to taking back her power.
“At the beginning of the season, I was just lost. We had been separated for a while and there was no movement. Obviously, COVID happened and further damaged our inability to respectfully communicate with one another on our issues,” she explained. “So at that point, I felt like we’d been separated for so long and I needed to move on. I need to take back my power and I think this is the season in which I get back to who my fans know me to be: strong, determined, unapologetic. At the end of the season, you’ll see that.”
RHOA airs Sunday nights on Bravo at 8 p.m.
