Ashley Drops a Bombshell on Stacey Rusch & Monique Samuels' Ex-Husband Chris: "Shocked Me" tram
The Real Housewives of Potomac's Ashley Darby spilled some hot new tea on Stacey Rusch's love life — and her latest bombshell involves Chris Samuels, aka the ex-husband of Monique Samuels.
Amidst Ashley's mission to make sense of Stacey's reconciliation with ex-husband Thiemo Rusch (and whether or not they were actually divorced) on the heels of her messy breakup with Thomas Anthony "TJ" Jones, she revealed at the end of Season 10, Episode 2, how this new piece of intel came to her attention.
After Karen Huger's friend, Cherita "Cookie" Whiting, mentioned she'd just received a text message from Monique's ex while celebrating the Grand Dame's birthday with Gizelle Bryant and Keiarna Stewart, Ashley dished, "Chile, now [we're] finding out that Stacey's been trying to get with Chris Samuels."
In a confessional, Ashley explained that she'd met Chris through Monique, and a "few years ago" [in 2023], the couple announced their divorce. Then, during her recent Second Bloom Ball, a friend who arrived late provided her with the latest relationship details.
"As we're about to go downstairs, she goes, 'Girl, you know Stacey reached out to me to hook her up with Chris Samuels,'" Ashley recalled to a producer. "I said, 'Did you?' And she said, 'I Introduced them.' That kinda shocked me."
How the RHOP cast reacted to the Stacey Rusch and Chris Samuels rumor
As it turns out, Ashley wasn't the only one who was "shocked" by the rumor.
"You are lying!" Gizelle responded, while a similarly stunned Keiarna added that she thought Stacey was "back with her husband," anyway.
"Maybe this was before they got back together," Ashley replied. "But she was really making a play for him."
In a confessional, Gizelle added of Stacey, "I don't know who this woman is. There's a whole man you paid to be your boyfriend. There's a whole divorce that we can't find. There's a whole former Potomac husband that you are trying to have sex with..." (For the record, Stacey denied paying TJ and insisted that she and Thiemo are "absolutely" divorced. She's yet to address the Chris rumors, though.)
RHOP teases Monique Samuels' Season 10 return amid speculation on Stacey and Chris
As Gizelle concluded to a producer, "Call Monique. Get Monique in the chat."
Ask and you shall receive, apparently, because RHOP's Oct. 12 episode ended by jumping forward three weeks to preview Monique arriving on the scene.
The sneak peek showed Keiarna expressing surprise to Monique that she and Stacey "didn't know each other," since the latter apparently "was dating Chris," as she put it. Cut to Stacey claiming, "Chris called me," and Monique later declaring, "There's two people who are a part of this who are complete liars."
Inside Ashley Darby and Stacey Rusch's drama on RHOP
From the jump on Season 10, Ashley and Stacey's friendship had been on a metaphorical roller coaster, to say the least. Ashley's primary issue with Stacey was
that she felt she was "misrepresenting" herself to the friend group.
More specifically, Ashley didn't buy that Stacey and Thiemo were really divorced, because she couldn't locate any public court records to confirm that was the case.
After the drama reached a boiling point at Ashley's Bloom Ball, Stacey later presented her with legal documents that she said proved her and Thiemo were, indeed, divorced. So, a seemingly satisfied Ashley agreed to move forward with repairing her and Stacey's friendship.
You'll have to tune in, however, to find out if Ashley's new bombshell about Stacey and Chris will set their progress back any further.
As the drama plays out, don't miss how the cast reacted to Monique's RHOP comeback news.
Vicky Pattison left on the brink of tears after harsh critique over ‘heavy’ routine from Strictly judges liennhi
VICKY Pattison was left on the brink of tears after a harsh critique over her 'heavy' routine from the Strictly judges.
Former Geordie Shore star Vicky, 37, is partnered with pro Kai Widdrington on the much loved dance show.
Vicky and Kai took to the dance floor with their version of a Cha-Cha from the party scene of the movie The Great Gatsby.
But, before the dance started Vicky said she would be dancing a lot by herself and "there was nowhere to hide."
She added: "This dance is fun and I just really hope I can turn all of the nervous
The pair's lively routine was accompanied by cheers throughout their performance and the couple appeared very happy at the end of their dance.
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However, things changed for the worse when they stood in front of the judges.
Craig Revel Horwood said: "I felt that you could be a little more extreme in every move...There was no double bounce which made it look a bit flat footed"
Oti Mabuse added: "Don't be disappointed, remember where you were three weeks ago.
Wicked actress Cynthia Erivo agreed but said: "I want more from you."
Shirley Ballas added: "There were no swivels and I'm not quite sure why it looked on the heavy side."
But Anton Du Beke said he enjoyed the performance and that she had such potential.
Vicky appeared near to tears as she listened to their comments and viewers noticed her brave face and took to social media.
One fan wrote: "Oh Vicky is breaking my heart."
Another added: “Oh don’t be so nervous!” after ripping the dance to shreds, some interesting judging choices tonight."
A third wrote: "First of all, reminding Vicky all the time that she’s a nervous person is just going to make her more nervous.
Strictly Come Dancing 2025 lineup
Strictly Come Dancing news and the latest line up
- Nitro from Gladiators AKA Harry Aikines-Aryeetey will be using his athletic prowess to try to win over the judges.
- Doctor Who and ER star Alex Kingston will be adding some drama.
- Chris Robshaw, former Harlequins and England rugby captain will be tackling the dance floor.
- EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal, who plays Suki Panesar, has moved from Walford to the ballroom.
- Neighbours legend Stefan Dennis has landed on the show from Down Under.
- George Clarke, a YouTube star, will also be showing off his moves.
- Love Island winner Amber Davies joined as a last minute replacement after Dani Dyer pulled out with injury.
- La Voix is the first drag star to join the main series
- Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink swaps is football boots for dancing shoes.
- Ellie Goldstein is the first contestant with Down's Syndrome to take part.
- Thomas Skinner is swapping the boardroom for ballroom dancing.
- I'm A Celeb winner Vicky Pattison has been announced.
- Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope was announced as the last contestant after Game Of Thrones star Kristian Nairn pulled out of the show before the launch date over medical reasons.
"Secondly, the judges could see she was getting upset and still piled on the negatives without them being constructive."
However, things brightened up when the pair gained 5 points from Craig, 7 from Oti, 6 from Shirley and 7 from Anton giving them a respectable overall score of 25.
Vicky was thrilled as she jumped around the set and into Kai's arms shouting: "We got 7. That's all I wanted a 7."
The much loved star then grabbed Claudia for an excited hug and shouted "We got a 7. OMG."
