See the intense moment between Ashley Darby and Stacey Rusch in a new sneak peek at Season 10 of The Real Housewives of Potomac.
t's been several months since Stacey Rusch's ex-boyfriend Thomas Anthony Jones (TJ) made the explosive claim that she paid him to be on The Real Housewives of Potomac, but where do the two stand today?
A new sneak peek for Season 10 (premiering Sunday, Oct. 5) answers this exact question — and it's all thanks to Ashley Darby, who kicks things off by revealing that she recently learned "new information" about TJ.
More specifically, "Someone proceeds to show me legal documents that say TJ is actually trying to sue Stacey,” Ashley claims.
Stacey's response? “I don’t know what to say to that.”
“Okay, this is what I’m saying,” a frustrated Ashley replies. “So, you’re still gonna maintain to me that you’re telling me the truth? You’re being truthful to me?”
“I am telling you that everything that I have told you has been the truth,” Stacey insists. “But I can’t talk about someone who brought you [documents] — like, it just starts to get ridiculous.”
She continues, “Do you wanna know the truth, Ashley? I have forgiven TJ. He has gone on with his life. And I am in a completely new space."
Ashley, however, states that she still doesn’t believe Stacey. As she puts it in a confessional interview, “Anybody who is going to hold on to a lie, to this degree, when everything is put in front of you, and there’s more validation and proof that you’re lying? This is a scary bitch."
Ashely Darby and Stacey Rusch in their The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 10 press portraits.
The pair's conversation doesn't end there, though, because when Stacey calls Ashley's source “imaginary,” Ashley hits back by revealing the name of the alleged person. Said name is bleeped out, but Ashley notes that "she's a very accomplished actress.”
Still, Stacey argues, “I can’t control anything that anybody says.”
“But this is why everybody thinks you’re fake,” Ashley retorts, and later adds, “This is why the girls think that.”
Stacey responds, “I don’t care that you think I’m fake,” and reveals to Ashley that while this development may be “new information for you, boo, it’s not new for me.”
Is Stacey Rusch divorced?
Ashley asks Stacey this in the RHOP Season 10 sneak peek, to which Stacey replies, "I am absolutely divorced.”
However, according to Ashley, Stacey and her ex Thiemo Rusch's divorce "isn’t anywhere in any of the databases in the state of Virginia."
This prompts Stacey to argue, “it’s not anybody’s business,” but Ashley fires back that a divorce is “public” information, and invites Stacey to look up her divorce from Michael Darby as an example.
“If you search me, you will see, it’s very public, that I’m divorced,” Ashley adds in her confessional. “I couldn’t find Stacey to save my soul.”
Stacey, for her part, shares her surprise that Ashley would look up her divorce. “Girl, you are a busy mom of two, out here singing and performing, and you’re on the internet looking for me?” she asks Ashley, and adds more shade in a confessional interview, “Why does she have time to Google about me? She needs to be Googling a voice coach.”
How Stacey Rusch's relationship drama will play out on RHOP Season 10
Stacey’s claims of divorce will seemingly be brought into question several times on the new season, as the trailer shows a moment between Stacey and her ex-husband (who she shares an 8-year-old daughter, Arabella, with).
“I’m committed to you, and I’m committed to our family,” Stacey tells Thiemo in the trailer, prompting questions of reconciliation, and causing Gizelle Bryant to then ask, “This bitch ain’t even divorced?”
“I know she ain’t bring TJ around just to get back with her man. Oh my god,” Wendy Osefo adds.
As fans may recall, when Stacey joined RHOP on Season 9, it was revealed that she and Thiemo had made the decision to split after 16 years of marriage. They also had had a unique living arrangement and were “still living together as a family" when she wasn't in her D.C. apartment.
Stacey Rusch and TJ's complicated relationship history, explained
As she was separated from her husband, Stacey began dating TJ, who she met while he was auditioning to become a host at QVC, on RHOP Season 9. The two drew questions from the ‘Wives after Stacey admitted they were “not intimate at all” on Episode 2, adding, “He doesn’t want to have sex until we’re married.”
"He's my best friend," Stacey told The Daily Dish in November 2024. "He is one of the best people I've ever met in my life. And I'm so happy to have someone that really loves me and really supports me. And for me, that is enough. That's more than enough, quite frankly."
But that all changed by the time the Season 9 reunion aired in March 2025, and Stacey announced she was no longer with TJ.
The former couple's story doesn't end there, though, because Wendy’s husband Eddie Osefo decided to FaceTime TJ backstage — and subsequently text his wife a bombshell.
“TJ let Eddie know that you actually paid him to be your love interest this season,” Wendy alleged on the reunion stage. “She hired TJ. She paid him some money, and still owes him a lot of money.”
Although Stacey argued “TJ would never say that,” she was eventually confronted by the footage from producers of the call.
Did Stacey Rusch pay TJ to be her boyfriend?
“I’ve never paid TJ a dime,” Stacey stated at the RHOP Season 9 reunion. “And I’ve never owed him anything, and to see that is so, so hurtful. I feel like the rug has been pulled from under me. I don’t know what to say.”
But she later added, “I will absolutely be calling him — with my attorney.”
She reflected more on the relationship during a March 2 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen: “I hate to say this, but the ladies were right. He’s not the man for me. I was looking for love, and he was in love with being in front of the camera.”
RELATED: Meet the RHOP Season 10 Cast Bringing "Fresh Reads" to a "New Chapter" (PHOTOS)
Is Stacey Rusch dating Monique Samuels' ex-husband Chris on RHOP Season 10?
Alleged lawsuits from TJ and rumors of a reconciliation with her husband aren’t the only troubles surrounding Stacey’s love life on Season 10, because the trailer shows Ashley accusing Stacey of “trying to get with Chris Samuels."
RHOP fans will remember Chris is the now ex-husband of Monique Samuels, who will make her highly-anticipated return this season.
“Yeah, my ex-husband? Like no, we’re not doing that,” Monique can be heard saying in the trailer.
Get more details on what's to come during RHOP Season 10.
