‘RHOP’ Alum Monique Samuels Addresses Her Relationship With Bravo Since Leaving the Show
Updated June 20 2023, 8:09 p.m. ET
Season 5 of The Real Housewives of Potomac proved to be memorable for longtime cast member Monique Samuels. Monique, who made her first appearance on the Bravo series in Season 2, left the show mid-season after getting into a physical fight with current Housewife Candiace Dillard-Bassett at a wine tasting. After the episode aired, Monique received backlash from fans, who felt she went too far with her former best friend.
Still, some viewers were actually sad to see her go. It became a hot topic on social media, as several other Bravolebrities remained at their jobs after getting physical on-air. Nonetheless, Monique seemingly bounced back from the ordeal and recently returned to the spotlight.
Let’s check in on where Monique is now!
Where is Monique Samuels now?
After leaving RHOP, Monique remained active on social media. On her platform, she updates fans on her projects and her home life with her husband, Chris Samuels, and their three children, Christopher, Milani, and Chase.
But get this ... Chris may not be her husband for long. According to PEOPLE, she has filed for divorce!
"It's no secret that Chris and I have been struggling in some areas of our marriage," Monique said in a YouTube video alongside her soon-to-be ex-husband.
The Pleasantville, N.J., native also shares some behind-the-scenes moments from her two companies. Monique currently runs a parenting blog and podcast, Not for Lazy Moms, and an essential oil brand called Mila Eve Essentials.
Monique returned to reality TV with a show on OWN — Love & Marriage: DC. The Carlos King–produced series stars Monique and Chris alongside several other professional couples based in the once-nicknamed Chocolate City.
Monique Samuels said she “quit” ‘RHOP’ immediately after the Candiace Dillard-Bassett fight.
Although rumors surfaced that Bravo fired her mid-season, Monique gave more insight into the ordeal while promoting Love & Marriage: DC.
In a May 2022 interview on Two T's in a Pod, Monique explained she had already chosen to leave the show long before her fight with Candiace went public.
“My ‘talking-to’ was ‘I quit!’” Monique recalled of her conversation with Bravo’s team (per theJasmineBRAND). “When I talked to the executives right after that fight happened — the next day, I told them I am done. I am not here for this. This is getting me out of my character. I’m a person who is pretty much in control of myself, and I said this is just not good for me. I said sorry to the network, sorry to production — but I don’t wanna do this anymore.”
Monique added that while the executives didn’t think she should have hit Candiace, Monique felt she needed to defend herself. When Tamra Judge and Teddi Mellencamp asked her about her relationship with the network, Monique said that she and Real Housewives EP Andy Cohen are still in contact.
Even though she and the new father of two remain tight, Monique said fans shouldn’t expect to see her on Bravo. According to Monique, she declined a spot on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls’ Trip because of her dispute with the network.
“He [Andy] had offered for me to be on the Season 2 Girls Trip,” Monique revealed on the podcast. “I told him no! I told him it wasn’t just a Potomac thing of why I left; it was also a network issue for me. I can’t be on that network working ever again; I just felt some type of way at that time. And I had some healing to do.”
You can stream Love & Marriage: DC on Discovery+.
