RHOP’s Stacey Rusch Addresses Off-Camera Convo About Karen

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Credit: Instagram, Bravo

Stacey Rusch explained why she brought up what Mia Thornton and Jacqueline Blake told her off-camera about Karen Huger and rehab on Sunday night’s episode of Watch What Happens Live.

Following the latest episode of The Real Housewives of Potomac, which saw Stacey and the women confronting Karen, 61, about her potential need for rehab, Stacey spoke of her relationship with Thomas Anthony “TJ” Jones, shaded Ashley Darby, 36, as “messy,” and more.

“Mia and Jacqueline said this in a conversation they had with Karen, and so that’s why I immediately brought it to her,” Stacey revealed on the November 10 episode of WWHL, confirming that the conversation between her co-stars had happened off-camera. “If she talked about going to rehab, I have to ask her about it. So I was genuinely concerned.”

While Stacey admitted that her estranged husband, Thiemo Rusch, “doesn’t really watch” RHOP, she noted that he is “happy” that she got the opportunity to star on the show. 

“He’s happy for me, [and] he’s happy that [our daughter] Arabella is happy,” she stated.

As for her unconventional relationship with TJ, which faced tons of questions on Sunday’s RHOP, most of which were based around the fact that they are not having sex, both Stacey and her boyfriend spoke out.

“Our relationship is grounded in our faith and God and we are choosing to take things slowly,” Stacey shared. “I don’t think I need to [test him out]. I mean, look at him. I think we’re gonna be just fine.”

Meanwhile, TJ, who was behind the bar during the episode, added, “It’s been new and interesting and challenging, but it’s only made us closer.”

As fans saw on Sunday night, Stacey didn’t react too kindly to Ashley bringing up their romance. But looking back, she stood by her behavior.

“My reaction was absolutely justified because Ashley was being messy,” she noted. “I was sharing with the women my journey, what was happening with my divorce, and she just barged in as if to say, ‘Nothing mattered. She found a new man.’ So I wanted to tell my story and share with the ladies, and I didn’t need Ashley chiming in.”

“I was visibly upset, as I should’ve been,” she added.

TJ also addressed the situation, saying, “Stacey’s my North Star, so I always want to listen to how she’s feeling. But she was feeling like, ‘This is my news to share. It’s not your news to share.’ And I think Ashley trivialized it in Stacey’s mind, so I gotta go with my baby on that.”

Moving on to Karen, Stacey was asked if she believed she was accountable after her DUI.

“I love Karen and I support Karen, but I think we are all excited and wondering when it’s gonna happen. Stand up, take accountability, and stand on your truth,” she advised. “We’re gonna find out, what is her truth.”

When asked who, other than Karen, she found it easiest to bond with, Stacey had a surprising answer.

“This is going to sound crazy, but Ashley, as messy as she is, she would call me and text me on so many days after we were done working together, and she would just be like, ‘You’re so great, you’re so joyous, I love you, keep going, girl,’” Stacey shared. “She was really a girl’s girl and supportive. She’s beautiful, she has bunions, but I love her.”

Stacey then revealed that when it comes to her and Ashley’s ongoing divorces, she would be the one to get divorced first.

Later, during the WWHL: After Show, Stacey was asked if she understood Gizelle Bryant, 54, and Ashley’s frustration with her and the ladies’ late arrival to their GnA event after watching the scene play out.

“No. It doesn’t make sense, looking back, at all,” she replied. “We were three minutes late. Gizelle, I still don’t know if we’re friends. One minute I’m her friend, the next she’s hazing me. So you never know. But it didn’t make sense looking at it in hindsight. No.”

“We did the thing that girls do. We were supportive. We wanted to support everyone. How can that be wrong?” she added.

The Real Housewives of Potomac season nine airs Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo.