Monique Samuels Announces She's Leaving Real Housewives of Potomac: 'To Be Quite Honest, I'm Over It'

With filming rumored to commence on Season 6 of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Potomac," one of its leads has just announced that she's declined to sign her contract and continue with the franchise.

Citing a desire to protect her family from what goes on in the world of reality television, Monique Samuels shared the news to her fans in an Instagram Live video, saying, "It was a crazy ride. It’s not easy doing reality TV, and to be quite honest, I’m over it."

With nothing but love for her supporters, Samuels said that when certain lines are crossed, you can't come back, and for her that line is family. "The opinion of my family and my kids and what they think about anything that I do is more valuable to me than anybody’s opinion," she explained. "So I’m over it."

While she doesn't specify anything in particular, Samuels does allude to not wanting her children to grow up and hear certain rumors that have been spread about her on the show. It's easy to speculate she might be referring to questions about her son's paternity.

One of her biggest Season 5 storylines dug into her marriage to ex-NFL star Chris Samuels and even went so far as to question if he is her son Chase's father. That's certainly not the kind of rumor anyone would want their children to hear about or begin to question.

"If my kids were to get older and say they watched everything and they watched the show, what response can I give them? What would satisfy that?" she asked, adding, "When the hate becomes real, I'm over it."

"I wanted to represent real Black love and show people something outside what the stereotype has been on TV. Unfortunately, this season I played right into that stereotype," she continued.

"I was working overtime to really check myself because that’s the exact opposite of what I want to display on a TV show, and in real life, most importantly. I’m always going to be a great example and role model for my kids, and you have to know when enough is enough. And enough is enough."

While it might sound like an angry or reactionary decision, Samuels says she is "very much at peace" with it. "It’s been a rough year, but this is the happiest I’ve been in my entire life," she assured her fans.

Samuels had previously revealed that contracts had been sent out to the ladies of "RHOP," but it has not yet been revealed who else has and has not signed on. Presumably the cast will add fresh blood to replace her, as well.

Season 6 of "The Real Housewives of Potomac" is rumored to begin filming in the new year eyeing a premiere later in the year.

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