It’s the first cast trip of Season 15! Kenya Moore is bringing The Real Housewives of Atlanta to Birmingham, Alabama, for the Magic City Classic. The Magic City Classic is the biggest football game of the year for HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).
Although the ladies are traveling to support a good cause, we all know cast trips bring out bad behavior from our favorite Real Housewives. This trip is no different. But, before embarking on the journey, the ladies had some business to attend to in Atlanta, from family matters to legal situations. Here’s what happened in Season 15 Episode 4 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Keyoncé’s big break
In the last episode, Kenya nonchalantly explained that she was preparing to perform at the halftime show for the Magic City Classic. Immediately we’re left wondering, “Why is Kenya the halftime performer?”
This week, Kenya explained that Kenya Moore Haircare is a corporate sponsor for the football game, and her halftime show involvement started making a little more sense. She plans to recreate her iconic Kenya Moore Haircare drumline moment for the Magic City Classic, but she wants this performance to be the biggest and best of her career.
To make this performance as iconic as possible, Kenya recruited help from Monyetta Shaw, who, apparently, is a dancer and choreographer. It’s refreshing to finally learn something about Monyetta since she’s usually just lurking in the background in every episode. Step to the front, Monyetta. Now is your time!
Kenya invited the entire cast to the Magic City Classic, officially putting season 15’s first cast trip on the books. However, Kenya decided to keep her halftime performance a secret. Who doesn’t love a good surprise performance?
Sanya’s family crisis
Before the ladies hit the road for Birmingham, we checked in with Sanya Richards Ross, and her family dynamic has gotten even more chaotic. Of course, the entire time we’ve known Sanya, her house has been occupied by her parents, sister, brother-in-law, and their kids. They’re like a Jamaican version of Full House, but it’s all about to fall apart.
On top of them all living together, Sanya has hired them as her employees. Working with family is hard. Living with them is harder. The fact that Sanya is doing both is noble, but it’s crumbling fast. For example, Sanya’s brother-in-law had been working as her assistant. By the end of the episode, we learned that he had quit.
Sanya’s husband has finally had enough of the chaos. He’s ready to have a normal household, and when Sanya broke that news to her mom and sister, it didn’t go over well. In a confessional, they both agreed that Sanya tends to be “self-centered.”
Watching from home, it’s hard to tell. Is Sanya actually self-centered or has her entire family just centered their lives around Sanya’s success? Either way, they’re going to need a therapist to work this mess out.
Marlo needs an expungement
Marlo Hampton’s tagline this year is, “My past may be checkered, but my future is solid gold.” In episode 4, that tagline started to make sense. She shared she’s looking to get her criminal record expunged.
We’ve all seen that collage of Marlo’s mugshots floating around on the internet, and the Housewives have always been quick to throw Marlo’s record in her face. However, it’s not just about her reputation in the group. Marlo explained that she wants her record expunged to regain her right to bear arms. Last year, Marlo’s house was burglarized by armed robbers, so she wants to be able to legally purchase a gun to feel protected at her home. She can’t do that with her current record.
So, out of all people in Atlanta who could have helped Marlo with her expungement, Courtney “Crisis Manager,” Rhodes came through the door, eager to help her new friend Marlo.
Courtney was originally introduced as one of Shereé Whitfield’s friends. Then she claimed to be Ralph Pittman’s long-lost cousin. And now, she’s a crisis manager helping Marlo get her record expunged. Courtney is wearing a lot of hats this season, but her primary role is still to be an enemy of Kandi Burruss.
The cast trip commences
The ladies officially kicked off their road trip to Birmingham. Monyetta, Sheree, Sanya Courtney, and Marlo all join Kenya to head to the Magic City Classic. Unfortunately, Kandi couldn’t make it on the trip because of a prior engagement. Drew Sidora couldn’t make it either and is, again, sidelined for an entire episode. This time, it’s because she has the flu. At this point, Courtney and Monyetta have had more screen time in Season 15 than Drew. That’s not good.
On the bus ride to Birmingham, the ladies bonded over their salad-tossing experiences or lack thereof. And, once they got to their destination, they attended a dance class. It was refreshing to see the ladies laughing and enjoying themselves as a group — especially since there were so many new faces in the group.
The good vibes wore off after the dance class when the ladies headed to grab a bite to eat. Housewives can never just sit down and enjoy a meal, so Kenya decided to bring up the confusing altercation between Drew and Marlo after the Candiace Dillard-Bassett concert at City Winery.
Drew had told Kenya how Marlo had been aggressive towards her, but Marlo tried to downplay what had happened. Since Marlo has proclaimed to be a new person after seeking therapy, Kenya wanted to show the group that Marlo was still up to her same old behaviors.
Kenya wasn’t buying anything that Marlo was selling. Instead, she delivered an epic line in her confessional interview: “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still Marlo Hampton.”
A charitable exit
Kenya spent the entire drive to Birmingham hyping up this fashion-forward charity event they would be attending on their first night. When the time finally came to attend the event, Kenya was incredibly concerned about what the ladies wore. She even sent Monyetta back to her room to change — because, after all, this was a fashion-forward, upscale charity event. You can’t just arrive in booty shorts!
Once the ladies made it to the event, it became apparent that the event wasn’t all that Kenya made it out to be. Monyetta could have worn her shorts and been just fine. Honestly, jeans would have been fine.
Before they could even sit down and enjoy themselves at this “upscale” event, production stepped in and informed the ladies that they were asked to leave the event for being too distracting. It made zero sense. Wasn’t Kenya supposed to be there? And who wouldn’t want the Real Housewives of Atlanta at your charity event?
After getting the boot from the charity event, the ladies returned to their hotel to figure out their next move. When Kenya disappeared to her hotel room, the other ladies decided to visit her since Kenya is known for making alternate arrangements during cast trips. But, unbeknownst to the Housewives, Kenya went to her room to be with her daughter. The episode ended with Marlo and the others banging on Kenya’s hotel door to get her attention. Next week, Kenya is going to emerge from that room, ready to rip off some heads.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK SANYA IS BEING SELF-CENTERED WITH HOW SHE TREATS HER FAMILY? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON COURTNEY HELPING MARLO GET HER RECORDS EXPUNGED? DO YOU THINK KENYA WAS TOO HARSH TOWARDS MONYETTA BEFORE THE CHARITY EVENT?
