With the likes of Jill Zarin, thirsty to return to any Real Housewives installment on Bravo, it’s curious to note that there are some ex-housewives that want nothing to do with the network. The alum pool is growing exponentially, and it’s hard to remember all the faces, even for the most diligent of fans, but unwilling participants do exist.
Some ex-housewives leave a legacy. And in the case of Monque Samuels, it’s not always a positive one. She caused outrage within the Real Housewives of Potomac cast when she physically assaulted Candiace Dillard Bassett. After four seasons on RHOP, Monique quit, but not before saying her peace on the Season 5 reunion.
So it’s not a surprise that Monique declined an invitation to participate in the Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. According to Monique’s claims, Andy Cohen offered her a spot on one of the three seasons of RHUGT.
Page Six reported that Monique had “no desire” to return. “It just wasn’t what I wanted to do,” she explained.
Monique continued, “I didn’t feel like I could be the same Monique that people were accustomed to seeing anymore when it came to that particular franchise and that particular network, because there was so much toxicity there.”
Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip selects cast members from different franchises and sends them off on a vacation together. The mix of characters is a really entertaining way to get a Real Housewives fix. Presumably, the same formula and production tricks would be used in RHUGT as in the original shows.
So Monique had cause to be wary that she would be facing the same atmosphere as on RHOP. She felt, “expected to bicker and argue with a bunch of women.”
“I’ve never watched any of the ‘Girls Trip’ shows that they do,” she added. “All I knew was at that time when Andy asked me, I just had no desire to be back on that network.”
When asked which of the three RHUGT seasons she was asked to participate in, Monique replied that it “doesn’t even matter” when she “had no desire to go back to that network.”
And there is no chance of Monique changing her mind. She is without regret on the matter. “I just didn’t want to do it,” the mother of three concluded.
And why would she, with a successful reality TV show in her own right. And one which allowed Monique to be more authentic, without the need “to try to incorporate something new and fancy.” Love & Marriage: DC airs on OWN Network and stars the family of five, and is produced by a former Real Housewives employee, Carlos King.
“I’m grateful that he allowed us to just stay true to who we were,” Monique said.
So the issue is clearly with Bravo, rather than the medium in general. Though Monique recently claimed she “had reality TV PTSD” after exiting RHOP. She said in May, “my experience with reality TV has been somewhat of a roller coaster to the point where at the end of it all, I had reality TV PTSD. And I was pretty much done.”
TELL US- ARE YOU SURPRISED MONIQUE DECLINED TO APPEAR ON RHUGT? WHAT DID YOU THINK OF HER QUITTING RHOP? WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO MONIQUE’S NEW REALITY SHOW?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]