The Grande Dame may be gone (literally), and the drama is already bubbling—because The Real Housewives of Potomac just got a major shakeup. After stepping away from the spotlight in 2020, Monique Samuels is officially making her return to RHOP for Season 10. And yes, she’s doing it on her own terms.
Bravo has confirmed that Monique Samuels will rejoin the cast in a supporting role, and production is already underway in Maryland. Returning alongside her are cast members Gizelle Bryant, Ashley Darby, Dr. Wendy Osefo, Keiarna Stewart, and Stacey Rusch. But it’s Monique Samuels’ comeback that’s grabbing the headlines—and for good reason.
“Monique’s in a totally different place now, and fans will see that,” a source told PEOPLE. “She’s excited to show who she is now — not as a wife, not as just a mom, but as a woman starting over and taking on life on her own terms.”
Monique first joined RHOP in Season 2 back in 2017, quickly cementing herself as a standout thanks to her sharp wit, luxury lifestyle, and fiercely unapologetic personality. But by Season 5, things took a darker turn. A high-profile feud with Candiace Dillard Bassett erupted into an on-camera altercation that divided fans and made national headlines.
After that season aired, Monique shocked viewers by walking away.
“I’m over it,” she said at the time, explaining that the fallout from the fight—and how it was portrayed—had deeply impacted her family and her mental health.
“It was a crazy ride. It’s not easy doing reality TV,” she wrote on Instagram. “I appreciate everything that people have done for me, everybody that’s been Team Monique — I love y’all, I thank y’all — but when you cross certain lines there’s no going back. And for me, my family is that line.”
“The opinion of my family and my kids and what they think about anything that I do is more valuable than anybody’s opinion,” she added.
Since her departure, Monique focused on raising her three children—Christopher, Milani, and Chase—and running her wellness brand, Mila Eve Essentials. She also briefly returned to reality TV on OWN’s Love & Marriage: DC, but that chapter closed quickly when her marriage to former NFL player Chris Samuels ended in divorce in September 2023.
“I just got to the point where I was in a place where I was so miserable,” she later revealed. “I am no longer the person that I was when I walked down that aisle 11 years ago.”
“If we keep going down this road and we’re bickering at each other and we’re not able to communicate — sometimes not even talking to each other — then how is this going to affect our children?” she said. “Because I was thinking, like most people, ‘Okay, we’re going to stay together for the kids.’ But that never works because staying together for the kids means that you’re giving them a terrible example of what a relationship should be like.”
Her return to RHOP signals a fresh start—and maybe even a redemption arc.
Meanwhile, the cast shakeups don’t end there. Mia Thornton has confirmed she won’t be returning, following a move to Atlanta. And in a shocking turn, Karen Huger—long considered the show’s matriarch—will not appear in Season 10 either. She is currently serving time following her fourth DUI conviction, for which she received a two-year sentence with one year suspended.
