‘RHOP’ Alum Monique Samuels Says Fans See Her Reach Breaking Point in Marriage on ‘Love & Marriage: D.C.’
The Real Housewives of Potomac viewers will always consider Monique Samuels iconic for her binder full of shady receipts she surprised her unsuspecting co-stars with during the Season 5 reunion. After quitting the show, she vowed to never return to Bravo again, but that didn’t mean reality TV wouldn’t be in her future. She’s now on the OWN reality series Love & Marriage: Huntsville where her marriage to retired NFLer Chris Samuels is at the center. While RHOP fans saw her as a devoted wife, on the OWN series, Monique is not in the best place in her marriage.
The former ‘RHOP’ star says the show chronicles her at her breaking point in her marriage
Monique and Chris have been married for 10 years and while most marriages have a five or seven-year itch – a period of time in a marriage where hardships typically ensue – Monique admits things boiled over for her marriage a decade in. In fact, she admits she was at a crossroads during filming. On the show, Monique complains of lacking substance in their marriage and feels Chris does the bare minimum.
“These are conversations Chris and I have had over and over again for years. At this point in our marriage that [viewers are] witnessing, I feel I’m at a breaking point: I don’t need you to keep telling me I understand and that you’re working on it. I need to see that actual work. It has been 10 years of marriage, and a lot of our same issues kept repeating,” she told TV Insider. “What you see is a wife who is on edge. I look back on the episodes and see the realness, but also I could have delivered the message a lot better. You’ll see my husband and I navigate through that. There are some steps toward growth and change in our marriage.”
For both Monique and Chris, but more Chris, there were times he questioned if he wanted to continue with the show. “He was probably like, “I don’t know about this anymore,” though we were already signed on committed. I’m a person who will put it all out there. Chris is the opposite. That is what you also see, pulling words out of him,” she explained.
Monique Samuels had to be convinced to return to reality television
Her time on RHOP was so traumatic for herself and her marriage that she originally said no to the Love & Marriage: Huntsville spinoff. “Dealing with that other show, it’s like they put you into a box, and then you’re only being shown for what they want you to be shown for,” she told Shadow and Act of her decision to turn the show down initially. The show is executive produced by former RHOA producer, Carlos King.
She continued: “So you’re being kind of picked the part. Whenever I do anything, I give it my all. I put all my passion behind it. I want you to see the full me, uncut, unfiltered. But I wasn’t able to be shown in that way. It was always there, but it just wasn’t put on the show. So this time I felt comfortable because after having a conversation with Carlos [I felt taken care of].”
She hopes viewers see that getting over a difficult hump in a relationship is possible
Ahead of the show’s premiere, Monique was honest in press junkets about just how raw things were between her and Chris as the show unfolded. She revealed there would be some tough moments, but she realized at a point that she had to compromise as well from what she was asking of her husband.
“My hope is that it will help other people who are going through something very similar. Communication is a huge issue in marriage, and sometimes the other person may be a little dismissive of what you’re asking for because they feel as though they’re already giving you what you need,” she told S&A. “But they’re not the ones that need to tell you that they’re that you will the bill. It’s like, ‘No, I need this. You can’t tell me what I need. Here’s what I need.’ And we all we have to be flexible. We both have to be bendable.”
