Kenya Moore admitted early on that Dancing With the Stars was more important to her than just a fun excursion.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta star said that her grandmother enrolled her in dance classes when she was a little girl and instilled a love of dance in her that never went away.
She also said that she dedicated her entire performance on the show to her grandmother, who passed away in 2017.
That made her eventual elimination, amidst some confusion, hit Kenya harder than she expected.
Kenya Moore breaks down after Dancing With the Stars elimination
Kenya Moore was on her way home when she took to Instagram Live to talk to her fans.
It seemed she was preparing to talk about her experience, but then she just broke down and began to cry. She tried to compose herself, but finally just relented in writing “so sad” on the third attempt to speak about her elimination.
Kenya then took to her regular Instagram and said she had a lot to say, calling the post her “part 1” of her reaction to Dancing With the Stars.
“What an amazing experience- a dream I’ve [had] for 16 years when I would watch @dancingabc with my Grandmother Doris who I lost to Alzheimer’s in 2017,” Kenya wrote.
She went on to thank Shannon Barr and Deena Katz for helping her and championing her. She also thanked Dancing With the Stars, the BBC, Strictly Ballroom, Bravo TV, and Andy Cohen.
“Thank you for giving me this platform and the opportunity to live my best life and to show the world that a little Black girl from Detroit can live her dreams and show the world my real heart,” she wrote. “To my fans and #teamtwirl you had my back to love you. I could not have done this without you!”
Kenya Moore said that Part 2 would include everything she owes to her Dancing With the Stars pro, Brandon Armstrong, and finished with “THE QUEEN HAS LEFT THE BUILDING.”
However, Kenya also took something positive out of the experience on Dancing With the Stars and quoted judge Len Goodman.
“Never let success go to your head or disappointments go to your heart.”
Kenya Moore’s DWTS journey
Kenya Moore had nothing to be ashamed of on Dancing With the Stars.
In Week 1, she danced the foxtrot and scored a 26, the fifth-best score of the night. The first elimination came in Week 2, and in that week she danced the cha-cha and scored a 24, which was fourth-best for the night.
On Britney Night, she danced the tango and got a 21 from three judges, tied for sixth-best. Despite this score, she was in the bottom two and the judges chose to keep her over Christine Chiu.
In the back-to-back dances on Disney Week, she danced the contemporary and the Viennese waltz, scoring a combined 59.
On Grease Night, she danced the rumba and scored a 36, tied for third-best. Finally, on Horror Night, she danced the Argentine tango and scored a 32, the lowest score of the week. She was bottom two again, and this time went home as the judges saved Suni Lee.
Kenya Moore’s average score was 29.3, which was ninth-best and higher than two couples still in the competition.
Dancing With the Stars airs on Monday nights at 8/7c on ABC.