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Marlo Hampton may have tried to repair her relationship with her mom during Season 14 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, but in Part 1 of the reunion on Sept. 11, she told Andy Cohen that despite her best efforts, not much has changed. Marlo revealed that her mom didn’t spend a lot of time with her nephews when she visited, and because of her mom’s lack of caring, she often feels “alone”. Marlo said she longs for a mother-daughter relationship like the one Kandi Burruss has with her own mom.
“My grandmother didn’t know how to be a mom, so my mom went through a lot. But still, I just feel I’m so tough, I’m so strong because — I think I’ve put a shell up because I’ve had to since I ran away at the age of 10. I just feel like I’m so by myself — a lot of the [cast] doesn’t make me feel worthy,” Marlo tearfully admitted to Andy before further explaining that after running away from home at 10, she went to five different fosters homes until she “aged out” of the system at 18.
Marlo said she first ran home because her mom “beat” her “so bad” and she was “tired of being beat”. She admitted to still loving her mom, but that doesn’t take away from the trauma she endured. Not only was her first foster dad abusive, but Marlo said she was kicked out of the next home after telling people that her foster mom was too “strict”. And another foster mom told her to leave, too, after the woman’s daughter felt she was competing with Marlo for attention. Basically, Marlo never felt worthy enough for love. “I was mad at the world,” she said. “It hurts.”
Marlo explained that she still struggles to feel accepted, which is why it meant so much to her to finally get a peach and become a full-time cast member on RHOA. “There were times where I was like, ‘Well, why not me? I work hard. Why am I not worthy?’,” Marlo said before admitting that she got to a point where she just “numbed” herself and thought maybe she was “too ghetto” to be full-time, “as some of [my co-stars] have said [in the past].” She just wanted to “fit in”, she further said.
Then, when Andy asked Kenya Moore if Marlo was the housewife she expected, she said, “No.”
“Instead of actually showing people she has a great heart, and she was a great friend, I think she just went the opposite way, so that was really disappointing.” While Marlo supported Kenya through some difficult times with her estranged husband, Marc Daly, this season, Kenya said Marlo ended up flipping that around on her and “weaponizing it” during arguments.
Marlo defended her behavior by saying she’s gone through so much in her lifetime. “You can only imagine things that I’ve been through”, she tearfully said, while knocking her co-stars for talking badly about her. But before anyone else could chime in, Part 1 concluded.
Want more drama? New episodes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta air Sundays at 8pm on Bravo.