Stacey Rusch is finally responding to rumors about her relationship with Monique Samuels’ ex-husband, Chris Samuels, on The Real Housewives of Potomac.
The above first look at Season 10, Episode 5 (airing on Sunday, Nov. 2) picks up with Stacey facing Ashley Darby’s tea that she’d allegedly asked a friend “who works with a lot of athletes” to help her “get close to” Chris.
“I adore Chris Samuels,” Stacey responds during a group dinner on the Caribbean island of Nevis. “He is a great man, a great father. We are good friends.”
As Gizelle Bryant also enters the chat a bit later, Stacey insists that the speculation is moot anyway, referencing her recent reconciliation with Thiemo Rusch.
RELATED:Â Ashley Drops a Bombshell on Stacey Rusch & Monique Samuels’ Ex-Husband Chris: “Shocked Me”
“Listen and listen good,” Stacey tells Ashley. “I’m back with my husband.”
As she adds in a confessional, “You can’t expose something that’s not true. I’m gonna live my best life in that nameless robe and have a great time. I’m not thinking about Gizelle or Ashley.”
Stacey Rusch reveals how she knows Chris Samuels
Elsewhere in the sneak peek, Ashley presses Stacey further to reveal exactly how her friendship with Chris came to be, then, and Stacey references their respective splits from Thiemo and Monique.
“Both of us, having gone through a divorce, we have a lot of friends in common,” she explains. “And that’s what it is.”
Still, Ashley goes on to claim that “Chris is telling people, too,” to which Stacey replies, “I mean, if you were a guy, wouldn’t you tell someone that I was trying to date them? Like, are you kidding me?”
RELATED:Â Ashley Darby Opens Up About Her “Complicated” Friendship with Stacey Rusch (EXCLUSIVE)
That’s when Gizelle and Angel Massie — whose footballer husband, Bobby Massie, was one of Chris’ mentees — step in to say that he’s “not like that,” though.
“Y’all want me to be somebody else so bad, and you just can’t accept who I am,” Stacey concludes. “It’s unbelievable.”
Is Stacey Rusch friends with Monique Samuels?
No, Stacey and Monique are not friends.Â
In the above sneak peek, Gizelle asks Stacey if she’s ever met Monique, prompting her to share, “I haven’t met her. Maybe one day I will, but I haven’t.”
Indeed, the second episode of Season 10 already previewed Monique’s return to RHOP in a friend role.Â
That sneak peek at the end of Season 10, Episode 2 showed Keiarna Stewart, who was present for the aforementioned cast discussion in Nevis, talking to Monique and seeming to be surprised that she and Stacey “didn’t know each other,” since the latter apparently “was dating Chris,” as she put it.
The same preview then 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.”
Stacey Rusch reacts to the Chris Samuels romance rumors being brought up on RHOP
After Episode 4 aired on Oct. 26, Stacey stopped by the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen Clubhouse, where, among other topics, she also addressed speculation about her and Chris. (For reference, Ashley first mentioned the rumors on camera during Episode 2, claiming to Gizelle, Keiarna, and Karen Huger’s friend Cherita “Cookie” Whiting that she heard “Stacey’s been trying to get with Chris Samuels.”)
Reading a viewer’s emailed question, host Andy Cohen asked, “Stacey, what exactly is the truth about you and Chris Samuels, and were you expecting the info to be brought up in the group?”
Stacey’s answer? “I wasn’t expecting that,” she said. “I know Chris socially, and he’s a great guy. So, I was completely floored that I was sort of, like, guilty by association. Just because you know someone doesn’t mean that you’re dating them. It’s ridiculous.”
As the drama plays out on RHOP Season 10, don’t miss the latest update on Stacey’s love life with Thiemo.
