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\n \u201cThe girls are the girls,\u201d says Stacey Rusch of her sophomore season on RHOP. \u201cThey are pretty consistent in their nastiness, so nothing has changed.\u201d
\n Photo: B\u2019jon Bass\/Bravo\n <\/p>\n
The idea that there are certain boxes you have to check or formulas to follow to be a great Real Housewife is a misconception, one perhaps best disproven by Stacey Rusch. Now in her second season of The Real Housewives of Potomac<\/a>, Rusch has become one of the franchise\u2019s biggest breakouts in recent memory thanks to a singular personality that has simultaneously gripped fans and perplexed her castmates. While the audience was instantly compelled by her newscaster cadence, pearl clutching, and disastrous, celibate relationship, her fellow Housewives thought it was all put on for the cameras. She\u2019s been accused of hiring an actor to play her boyfriend on the show, faking her divorce, and \u2014 worst of all \u2014 having bad breath. But, to quote Rusch quoting Maya Angelou at last year\u2019s reunion<\/a>, \u201cstill she rises.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought that being vulnerable and opening up to the group would make us closer,\u201d Rusch says of her approach heading into her sophomore season, \u201cbut I wasn\u2019t even allowed that chance to be vulnerable because I was constantly fighting accusations that were unwarranted.\u201d So far, some of those accusations have included whether she lied about her new cannabis company, the timeline of her rekindled relationship with her ex-husband, and whether or not she dated a former Potomac Housewife\u2019s ex. But her highly scrutinized on-camera experience couldn\u2019t be more different from the overwhelmingly warm response she\u2019s gotten from fans, who are sure to give their favorite QVC host a hero\u2019s welcome at her first-ever BravoCon<\/a>.<\/p>\n You\u2019re heading to BravoCon this weekend \u2014 what are you most excited about?<\/strong> What\u2019s it been like seeing your old QVC clips going viral?\u00a0<\/strong> It\u2019s an impressive medium to master because it\u2019s just you out there. Walk me through what that prep process is like.<\/strong> And now you\u2019re selling something very different. After Gizelle alluded to this at last year\u2019s reunion, you officially announced your new cannabis brand, Shayo. How did that come about?<\/strong> Will we get to see you partake in some Shayo on the show?<\/strong> You touched on this earlier, but what was it like teaching yoga at the White House, the CIA, and NASA?<\/strong> Do you think your castmates\u2019 attitudes toward you have changed at all after seeing how the audience has embraced you?<\/strong> You joined the show just before a legally tumultuous time, with Wendy having now just been arrested and Karen just released from prison. You mentioned that you\u2019re in touch with Wendy \u2014 have you had any contact with Karen?\u00a0<\/strong>
I\u2019m super-excited to meet some other Bravolebs. There are other Housewives who I\u2019ve connected with on social media, which I love. There\u2019s this wonderful sisterhood that comes with Housewives across all franchises, and this will be the first time that I\u2019ll see them in person. We\u2019re gonna get together and kiki and party and love on each other.<\/p>\n
Oh my gosh, I loved my time at QVC, connecting with people all times of the day and night and really just finding joy in shopping. Like, come on, who doesn\u2019t love to shop? But I have to be honest, because I worked so much and I sold so many items, I\u2019m looking at some of the clips and I don\u2019t even remember saying the things that people are laughing about, because I was just in the moment. So it\u2019s really funny to revisit that time, and I\u2019m laughing right along with everybody else.<\/p>\n
It is 100 percent live all the time; you are on your feet and you are in charge of that airtime. But that comes with a lot of hours spent learning about brands and products. And then when you get on air, it\u2019s really just talking about what you love about the product and relating things to your everyday life. Thankfully, I have such a colorful and full life. I mean, from being a wife and a mother, to traveling the world, to teaching yoga at the White House, to having modeled when I was younger, to crazy nights out with my girlfriends. You just draw from those experiences.<\/p>\n
Before I got into television, I was a yoga teacher. When you look at the duplicity of my life, I can\u2019t help but laugh. Ten years ago, I was spending my days without makeup, bare feet, teaching yoga \u2014 fast-forward, here I am with a glam team, with inches down to my waist, looking fabulous on national television. You can\u2019t make it up! But I\u2019ve always been grounded in wellness, so I always wanted to come back to it. So when I had the opportunity to enter the cannabis industry, knowing the power of cannabis, it was just too good to be true. But I didn\u2019t want to just partner or be the face of a brand, I wanted to own my brand. And to make history as the first African American woman in the state of Virginia to own her own cannabis brand is one thing, but now I\u2019m expanding. I\u2019m launching in Las Vegas this weekend as we celebrate BravoCon, so I will be in multiple states, thank you!<\/p>\n
Um, you\u2019ll have to tune in! Maybe not just me, my friend, not just me!<\/p>\n
I think those are the people who need yoga the most. People with high-pressure jobs and high levels of stress. I was requested in those spaces because of my teaching, my voice, and my vibe. Now people are always asking me, \u201cHow are you able to deal with your so-called friends coming for you and being so mean to you?\u201d And it\u2019s because of who I am. I know that it\u2019s not me; the issue is with them. They aren\u2019t living fully and they aren\u2019t happy in their lives.<\/p>\n
The girls are the girls; they are pretty consistent in their nastiness, so, no, nothing has changed \u2014 they are who they are. However, I do talk to Wendy. I do have a good friendship and found sisterhood with my girl Wendy, so we are enjoying this season together.<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t spoken to Karen since she was released, but I am looking forward to seeing her at BravoCon. I prayed for Karen. I\u2019ve been concerned about her well-being and, you know, despite where we ended up after season nine and the heaviness of her legal situation, I still want the best for her and I care for her.<\/p>\n