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Kelli Ferrell tells PEOPLE why she decided to be open about her tumultuous divorce in her debut season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta
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After sharing an emotional conversation with her 17-year-old daughter Chloe about the impact of the divorce on their family, Kelli says she hopes to help others who can relate
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When it comes to how her ex feels about being a topic of conversation on the show, Kelli says it doesn’t matter because she is “always telling my truth”
Kelli Ferrell speaks the truth, even if it’s hard to hear.
From the moment she joined season 16 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, the businesswoman tells PEOPLE she committed to being open and honest. One topic Kelli hasn’t held back from talking about is her tumultuous divorce from her ex-husband, Mark Ferrell, and the impact it left on her four daughters.
“The only thing that I can say to that is I speak my truth no matter what that looks like,” she says. “So if it’s something that is shared or talked about, I know for me that I’m always telling my truth and sharing my story and my experiences.”
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Kelli Ferrell
Noting that she and her ex aren’t in contact, Kelli says she “wouldn’t know” how he feels about their history being discussed on camera, but that isn’t something she worries about.
“If someone doesn’t want to hear those things, then maybe I should have been treated a lot better,” she adds.
Viewers recently saw Kelli and her 17-year-old daughter Chloe, who isn’t Mark’s biological daughter but was raised by him since she was 2, discuss their estrangement in an emotional bonding moment.
“I think it was healing for the both of us to even just have that conversation and then watch it on TV to see what that really looks like,” Kelli reflects. “But I was also in a position to really hear her. I was shocked that she would be willing to be that open and honest with the cameras around. But again, that’s a part of her healing journey as well.”
Related: RHOA‘s Kelli Ferrell Opens Up About Filming ‘Healing’ Conversation with Her Daughter About Estranged Stepfather (Exclusive)
She also explains that they both knew the conversation could potentially help people watching at home.
“Being able to show that on television and hearing the feedback from people and strangers and moms and dads and people that have been stepdads and stepmoms and been in a similar position just let me know that I was doing something right,” she says. “Because there’s no Bible and no workbook to being a parent, and especially a parent going through divorce.”
“When you sign up for reality TV, you know that you have to be your authentic self,” she later notes. “And for us during that time, that was a conversation that transpired. And I’m grateful that I was able to share that experience with the world.”
Bravo
Chloe and Kelli Ferrell on The Real Housewives of Atlanta
The scene, which was featured in episode 6 of the current season of RHOA, began when Kelli received a link to an article about her legal battles with Mark while she and Chloe were doing yoga.
“[It was] talking about the business and…locking him up for contempt and him being in jail,” Kelli said in her confessional. “I mean, the list goes on.”
“The girls think that he’s still in jail,” she then revealed. “And he’s not. He’s been out. I’m pissed off, because at the end of the day, I have four children, everybody’s in school. These things hit the internet, kids shouldn’t have to know certain things.”
Chloe, who revealed she and Mark were not speaking, expressed frustration with a statement in which he allegedly said he was “so focused on his family and his girls.”
“I don’t know why he keeps saying ‘the four kids,’” Chloe claimed. “He’s not trying to get custody of me. He just wants the other girls. He doesn’t care for me.”
Although Kelli tried to comfort her by saying, “I would hope that’s not true,” Chloe insisted she was “fine.”
“I kind of just accepted it and moved on,” she said.
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The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo. Episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
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