RHOA's Kelli Ferrell Opens Up About Filming 'Healing' Conversation with Her Daughter About Estranged Stepfather

• Kelli Ferrell tells PEOPLE how she decided to let cameras film a vulnerable conversation between her and her 17-year-old daughter Chloe
• Kelli is a new cast member on season 16 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta
• A recent episode showed Kelli discussing her tumultuous divorce from ex-husband Mark Ferrell with Chloe, who was raised by Mark since she was 2

Kelli Ferrell isn’t afraid of hard conversations.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta star opened up to PEOPLE about sharing her life on the popular Bravo show in her debut season. After a recent episode aired an emotional discussion with her oldest daughter, Chloe, Kelli explains why she decided to let viewers see a more vulnerable side of her life.

“When you sign up for reality TV, you know that you have to be your authentic self,” Kelli says. “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. I mean, clearly my daughter was. We had a real mommy and me moment, and I think sometimes you need to see that, even for her.”

In the scene, Kelli claimed that her ex-husband Mark Ferrell, who is the biological father of her three other daughters and raised Chloe “as his own” since she was 2, was not speaking to the now 17-year-old. 

“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,” she tells PEOPLE. “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.”

She adds: “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. Because there's no Bible and no workbook to being a parent, and especially a parent going through divorce.”

For Kelli, motherhood will always be her top priority, even if that means approaching uncomfortable topics with her kids.

“I always want [Chloe] to know that she is supported in any way, shape, or form, no matter how it is that she feels,” the mom-of-four adds.

The conversation on RHOA began when Kelli received a link to an article about her tumultuous split from 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.”

In a statement, Kelli alleged that Mark said he was “so focused on his family and his girls,” but she claimed that wasn’t the case.

“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.”

“I would hope that's not true,” Kelli told her, but Chloe continued: “I mean, he hasn't talked to me, so I wouldn't think so.”

“I'm fine,” she conceded. “I kind of just accepted it and moved on.”

Still, Kelli expressed her guilt for putting her daughter in this situation. “As a parent, you're always in protection mode. I feel like I let Chloe down in that way, and that's one of the things that I have to deal with.”

Chloe later confessed that seeing her mom go through a divorce has impacted her thoughts on marriage as a whole.

“I really don’t want to get married,” she said.

“Get married,” Kelli pushed back. “You deserve that. You deserve love. I want you to have all of that one day.”

“What if I end up like you?” Chloe asked. “That's a scary thought, no offense to you.”

The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo. Episodes stream the next day on Peacock.