By now you already know that Kenya Moore tied the knot without telling anyone about her plans to jump the broom.
We caught up with the Real Housewives of Atlanta star to get all the details about her big day and find out why she didn’t include her cast mates or her family in the festivities.
According to Kenya, her wedding was magical even if it was missing a few familiar faces.
“Oh my God. It was the most beautiful wedding. St. Lucia is the most beautiful place and it was absolutely stunning,” she says. “There were only 10 of us total and the hotel did everything. They had a package and I picked the cake and the food. We did everything on the beach so there wasn’t a lot of planning. My husband sat with the chefs and decided on the menu.”
Kenya revealed the real reason behind her difficult decision to keep her dad away from the ceremony.
“It was sad. I knew my dad wanted to be there and I tried to tell him. I just wanted my wedding day to be perfect and with my dad you never know what you’re going to get. I told him how in love I was with this man and he was not supportive,” she explains. “I had to make the decision and I went back and forth about, ‘do I have my dad there?’ I had to make the decision because I’m starting a new life and my family now is my husband. I went with the safer choice and I do regret it.”
As we’ll see on this season’s premiere of RHOA, the ladies found out about Kenya’s nuptials the same way we did—social media.
“I didn’t tell anyone. The only person who was happy for me was Cynthia. She wanted it to be true so badly when she heard,” she says. “I was surprised at them not saying anything at all. To me, silence speaks louder than anything else. They were not happy for me and that is a shame.”
She called out Phaedra Parks and Porsha Williams for their consistent critiques on her love life and their lack of support for her new relationship.
“Phaedra and Porsha were the main ones who were criticized and ridiculed me because I wasn’t married and you see where they are. None of them reached out to me. Not a one,“ she says. “They have been invested in a negative way so when it’s something positive for my love life, they’re not happy.”
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Although we’re used to seeing Kenya twirl on her haters, she revealed that some of her frenemies’ harsh words weren’t always easy to shake off.
“When you hear something over and over, you start to believe it. If someone calls you dumb everyday you’re eventually going to wonder, ‘Am I really dumb?’ If the words are designed to tear down your self esteem and self worth which those words and banter are, it can feel that way,” she says.
“They think it’s funny but at some point it just makes you look stupid. You can go anywhere to get a man. You can go to prison to shop for one like Phaedra or Sheree. Just stop it. I’m independent and self-made for a reason. Can you just be happy for a 46-year-old woman who is getting married for the first time? Fuck ‘em.”
So what’s the lowdown on her mystery man?
He’s a New York-based restauranteur named Marc Daly and he’s pretty well-respected in the culinary world. He and Kenya were introduced by fellow-Bravo personality, Chef Roble Ali.
Despite Kenya’s co-star’s insinuation that she married “a fan,” he’s actually a bona fide business man with a hot new restaurant in Brookly called SoCo.
Kenya opened up about how her life has changed since becoming a wife.
“Married life is different. It’s a merger. My husband is a former investment banker, entrepreneur, MBA with a great business mind and he’s been solo for a long time. I come in as something completely different being a TV personality and a business mogul myself. I’ve been doing things my way for a long time so it’s an interesting dynamic.”
Even though this duo is crazy in love, don’t expect to see too much of her husband on the small screen.
“He’s not so quick to put his life out for public consumption. We’re newlyweds. I have to consider what that means to me, my job, my fans and what I will allow to be shown, I hope my marriage lasts forever and we all know the show won’t.”