Kenya Moore On ‘RHOA’ Cast Shakeup; Says “Door Is Closed” On Nene Leakes Return

Kenya Moore is opening up about the cast shakeup The Real Housewives of Atlanta is undergoing amid an extended hiatus of the Bravo reality series.

While making an appearance on the Tamron Hall Show to promote her Lifetime movie Abducted off the Street: The Carlesha Gaither Story, Moore was asked about the prolonged hiatus that led Kandi Burruss to announce her exit from the show after 14 seasons.

“They were thinking about, after last season, recasting the show, figuring it out and it’s just taken forever,” Moore told Hall. “And so, we started making moves. She started doing other projects, I started doing this project. I’m working on Kenya Moore Hair Care… I opened a hair salon in Atlanta [and] I started focusing on other things.”

Moore says she knows Burruss will be fine because “she is that girl.” Bravo has not commented on casting for RHOA Season 16, and Moore doesn’t know if she’s coming back as “they haven’t made any final decisions.”

“I think they will be announcing that shortly,” Moore teased. “For me, I am just focusing on the new for Kenya Moore.”

Amid the conversation, Hall also snuck in a question about possibly having Nene Leakes return to the franchise.

“I don’t know, I can’t answer that,” Moore. “That question has been asked a lot of times but according to our boss, that door is closed. But you know, you never know.”

Leakes ended her tenure on RHOA after Season 12 amid a contract dispute and later sued Bravo for creating a toxic work environment, which she later dropped. In August 2023, Leakes said she had no hard feelings against executive producer Andy Cohen and was open to returning to the franchise.