The reunion for The Real Housewives of Potomac hasn’t even aired yet, and there’s already major casting news.
It has been confirmed that Candiace Dillard Bassett will not be returning for season 9. After the announcement, many RHOP fans felt that Monique Samuels could return now that Candiace won’t be there.
Fans will recall that Monique and Candiace don’t get along. They even had a pretty big altercation on the show, which is one of the reasons Monique left. Since Housewives, Monique starred on Love and Marriage: DC for a short while. Now, she hosts a morning radio show and still has her essential oil line.
Fast-forward to now, and Monique is making no secret of the fact that she does not want to return to RHOP. After the news of Candiace leaving the show came out, she took to Instagram to post a selfie that contained the caption, “Nope! Don’t ask.” It became clear to fans what she meant by that. She also included a link to where people can hear her on the radio.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Monique has been candid about not wanting to do reality TV. As mentioned, she briefly starred in Carlos King’s Love and Marriage: DC on the OWN network. However, she discussed how hesitant she was to do the show and how she had PTSD from reality TV. It wasn’t long before it was announced that she was leaving the show.
Monique has also previously said that she turned down doing Real Housewives: Ultimate Girls Trip because she didn’t want the toxicity and because she feels like a different person than people are expecting.
Of course, Monique’s life has also changed since leaving RHOP. She and Chris divorced in 2023. Though fans may never see Monique on reality TV again, it seems she stays active on social media.