“Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Kenya Moore grew up in Detroit, so she “learned early on” to pay attention to her surroundings.
But after playing the mother of a young woman who gets kidnapped in the upcoming movie “Abducted Off the Streets: The Carlesha Gaither Story” — which is based on a true story — Moore tells Pvnew in an exclusive interview that she became even more “obsessed” with safety and security for her and her 5-year-old her daughter, Brooklyn.
“It was scary, I’m not gonna lie. It was scary because it’s one of your worst fears. So you don’t want to have to come to the realization that this could possibly happen one day,” the actress, 53, explains of accepting a role that hit so close to home.
“So it was scary for me to say yes, but I think that when I looked at the greater good in the fact that there is so much in this film that could save lives in terms of teaching you how to be situationally aware of things, teaching you how to leave a trail if you’re ever captured, how to stay alive, how to get back home,” she goes on.
“Even for the families and how to get moving and create this movement to bring your child back home.”
Moore — who was raised by her grandmother — says she was taught as a child how to “defend” herself. As an adult and reality TV personality, she explains that also encompasses keeping the “personal” and “financial” details of her life as far removed from the public eye as possible.
“I have had security experts come to my house and assess my house,” she tells us. “I carry a gun. I know several years ago, you probably saw me brandishing my gun at some people. They knocked at my door, and I’m like, ‘No, I don’t play that. You don’t understand. I don’t know why you are trespassing. If you are knocking at my front door, you are going to be met by my little friend — and my little friend is not little.'”
The Kenya Moore Haircare founder makes sure to add that she doesn’t keep large amounts of money or expensive items in her home.
“You never see me being flashy about jewelry. I recycle clothes. I may have one expensive car, but they can take a car. I don’t care about material things,” she shares before noting, “The most expensive thing in my house is my refrigerator. That appliance package is off the chain in my house! I’d like to see you break in and steal a big-ass refrigerator.”
Despite going to great lengths to ensure her safety and that of her family, Moore acknowledges that she “can’t insulate [herself] from everything.”
“But I definitely try to be more cognizant,” she points out, “especially having a child.”
We ask the Bravolebrity — who shares Brooklyn with her ex-husband, Marc Daly — if she still has babies on the brain given that her daughter has expressed interest in becoming an older sibling.
“I literally was in counseling about what to do because it was so heavy on my heart, and I really would have liked it,” she explains. “I would 100 percent say yes if I had a team, you know, if I if I had my forever person. I would bring a child into this world with a father, not just me by myself. So as a now, it’s a no, but I am 100 percent open to it if I have a forever person that wants it as well.”
Though she knows that families come in all different shapes and sizes, she says it’s “always been [her] dream and [her] goal to have a two-parent home.”
“I feel like, being a parent, you cannot be selfish,” she tells us. “This is about a child, and I don’t play when it comes to children.”
“Abducted Off the Streets: The Carlesha Gaither Story” premieres Feb. 10 on Lifetime.
