Kenya Moore Brings in Record Ratings for RHOA

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

There’s no doubt that the star of season five of Real Housewives of Atlanta is newbie Kenya Moore. The former pageant queen and now reality television mean girl came busting on the scene with her catty remarks and ability to bring the drama with just about anyone on the show who is willing to be a participant. Her first target was Porsha Stewart, as things between both of the new housewives got ugly real quick after Porsha mistakenly called Kenya Miss America at her charity event. Then of course there’s that whole shady situation that went down with Cynthia at a Jet Beauty of the Week modeling audition, and now Kenya has managed to turn her sights to Phaedra, as both of the reality stars are currently at odds over Phaedra’s work out DVD.

If her beefs with her cast mates aren’t dramatic enough, even her on-screen romance with Walter Jackson was controversial. It’s clear Walter and Kenya had no chemistry on film, but Walter dropped a bomb on an Atlanta radio station and claimed that Kenya asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend so she could secure her spot on RHOA. Although Kenya denied the allegations, Walter stands by his claims and is even in talks with Bravo to get an invite to the reunion show to expose Kenya as a liar.

Kenya’s fate on the show is still up in the air as those close to Bravo execs claim Kenya has not been confirmed for season six yet, but with new reports suggesting that Kenya is responsible for the show reaching record ratings, that could change.

According to Access Atlanta, Kenya has helped the show reach record ratings with her over the top dramatics with the other housewives.

Here’s the report:

“Her flakiness, her confrontational attitude and her ability to peeve all the other women on the show (except NeNe Leakes) has driven the entire season, keeping her front and center virtually every week since she joined the show. She has, in a down and dirty way, invigorated a show that had felt tired and tedious at points last season.

“This past Sunday, “Real Housewives” drew its largest audience ever in five seasons, broaching 4 million viewers for the first time ever. It was the most viewed cable telecast of the week. It also drew 2.6 million viewers 25-54, biggest ever in that demo. During this particular episode, Moore was the centerpiece yet again. (You can read my recap here.). She lost a business deal with Phaedra and proceeded to create her own exercise video in retaliation. Then she got all huffy because Phaedra had insulted her so she came back by dressing like Phaedra at a fundraiser in the most outrageous manner possible. Stay classy, Kenya!

“…The show is now averaging 3.1 million viewers a week, up from season 4 to date.”