One week after Karen Huger was released from prison, she detailed her life behind bars in a revealing interview with Andy Cohen on The Real Housewives of Potomac‘s Season 10 finale.
Cameras were rolling from the moment Karen exited Maryland’s Montgomery County Detention Center in September 2025 after serving six months in jail on a DUI conviction, and further documented her reunion with her husband, Ray Huger, daughter, Rayvin Huger, and sister, Bridget. A week later, Andy arrived at Karen’s home for a quick catch-up session before sitting down for their no-holds-barred sit-down.
“I have been through hell, Andy,” Karen remarked at the outset of her interview on RHOP. “I have been through hell and back.”
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After revisiting her March 2024 arrest and bodycam footage, the legal process that played out afterward, as well as her experience with “addiction,” among other topics, Karen admitted that she knew prior to her incarceration that jail time was imminent. She didn’t expect the length of her sentence following the guilty verdict, however.
“I was shocked,” she told the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen host. “I knew I was going to jail. I had made peace with that. But I thought maybe a month, no more than three. But this was just one more step toward accepting my responsibility for what I did.”
Inside Karen Huger’s daily life in prison
Once she was taken into custody, Karen said she “went to work immediately,” volunteering to lead Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. She also rejected any sort of “special treatment,” insisting that she be placed in the general population, though she did have her own prison cell.
“There’s no cushiness there,” Karen said. “I had a steel toilet and a steel sink. And I was like, how many people have sat on this steel toilet?” (Karen went on to recount how she had secured seven maxi pads to “line [her] throne” amid a “scary” first night in jail.)
According to Karen, she was “glad to get the lashes off” and also rocked her “natural hair,” which she described as having a “peppering” of gray now.
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Karen’s daily life in prison began with a 4:30 a.m. wakeup, at which point she would make her bed. After breakfast, she attended classes and primarily spent her afternoons “meditating and whatnot” in the indoor rec room (“I didn’t see grass for six months,” Karen noted). Dinner was at 4:30 p.m., followed by lights out at 9:45 p.m.
“I loved the discipline of it,” Karen stated. “I needed that, to be honest. It was part of recovery. It was structure.”
Something she did not love, however, were the meals served in prison: “I survived on astronaut food,” Karen added, describing her diet as consisting of packets of tuna and crab meat, like you see “floating around in outer space.”
Karen Huger revealed how RHOP “saved” her
Elsewhere during their chat, Andy played clips from the RHOP Season 9 reunion, which she had not yet seen, and asked for Karen’s reaction to the ladies’ comments about her.
After she weighed in, the WWHL host brought up how some viewers believe that she “should not be brought back into this platform,” before asking her to plead the case for why she deserves a “second chance” on RHOP.
Karen answered, “I don’t know that I do,” before underscoring that she “would have to earn that” from the audience.
Andy, then, asked Karen to address whether she thought being on the show had “contributed” to the issues that ultimately led to her landing behind bars.
“Not at all,” Karen insisted. “The show actually saved me. It occupied me. I think I would have spiraled quicker without it. It gave me discipline. I had a routine. So, I can’t hate it. I don’t hate it. And I don’t need to blame it either. No, I was responsible for me. I was sick. I have the disease of alcoholism. I have the disease of, you know, taking prescription medicine and abusing it. That’s me.”
Either way, she said she was ready to face the ladies on the RHOP Season 10 reunion, adding, “It’s always been a hornet’s nest. I’m gonna be fine.”
Why Ray Huger said Karen is “a little bit different,” post-prison
Earlier, when Andy arrived at the Hugers’ home, Ray greeted him with a bold statement about what to expect from Karen.
“I’m really happy,” Ray told Andy, one week into Karen’s return home. “She’s a little bit different, though — but good.”
Ray, who had welcomed his wife home with two balloons, a printed sign, and a bouquet of flowers, shared how he and Karen had worked on their relationship “through the glass window” while she was in prison. He also noted that Karen seemed to be on her phone much less often, post-prison.
Karen, for her part, confirmed to Andy during their interview that Ray “has a totally different wife now,” before revealing the surprising “work-in-progress” status of their marriage.
“He has a stranger,” she elaborated, referencing the work she’d done on herself in rehab, post-arrest, and while in prison. “Ray said that if, after I got the money off my back, and we decided not to be together, he could let me go. He wouldn’t want to let me go, but if, for some reason, we find out that we’ve done the best we could on this course, he would let me go.”
Acknowledging Andy’s comment that the news was both “really moving” and “a little bit heartbreaking,” Karen concluded, “It is, but it is my reality. And one thing I can’t do is live in anything but reality.”
In the meantime, get a sneak peek at Karen’s upcoming appearance on the RHOP Season 10 reunion.
