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RHOP” Star Allegedly Paid Love Interest to Appear in Season 9

Posted on February 10, 2025 - 8:07 am by

The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 9 was all intense feuds and plenty of headline-worthy moments. However, now that the season has wrapped and fans are eagerly awaiting the reunion episodes for the reality series — you’d expect the fiery and spicy arguments to finally hit a peaceful conclusion and yet still one of the biggest storylines to freshly emerge has little to do with the show’s longstanding cast members and everything to do with an alleged behind-the-scenes arrangement involving newcomer Stacey Rusch and her apparent boyfriend, Thomas Anthony “TJ” Jones.  

Who Is Stacey Rusch? What to Know About the New RHOP Star

According to a recent Instagram post by blogger and pop culture commentator Kempire, TJ, who appeared on several episodes of RHOP this season, is alleging that he was actually paid to play the role of Stacey’s love interest. This bombshell rumor surfaced after fans noticed TJ’s absence from the upcoming reunion pictures, which sparked questions about why the alleged significant other of Stacey wouldn’t be present for what is usually a pivotal event in the franchise.

In the same video posted on February 2, 2024, Kempire claims that TJ disclosed his reason for skipping the reunion to none other than Eddie Osefo, the husband of cast member Dr. Wendy Osefo. Apparently, TJ told Eddie that Stacey missed several payments she had allegedly promised him for his participation on the show. Fans of RHOP have long speculated about the authenticity of Stacey and TJ’s relationship as their on-screen chemistry wasn’t exactly a benchmark of any sort and now with this coming to light, all the dots seem to connect for some reason. While explaining what exactly happened at the RHOP Season 9 reunion, Kempire went on to say the following about the payments:

“According to some sources, some very reliable sources, Stacey allegedly is accused by TJ to Eddie that the reason why he didn’t come to the reunion was because she was two months allegedly, or two payments, behind on paying him.”

Stacey Rusch Is Going Through a Divorce Right Now

Stacey and Thiemo Rush married in 2008 and have a daughter, Arabella, who was born in 2016. Stacey has previously shared on RHOP that while she and Thiemo have parted ways, but haven’t exactly let go of their life as a family. In a confessional, she admits that the two of them still live under one roof and haven’t told their daughter that they’re separated. On top of that, it was just 6 weeks ago that the two of them, along with their daughter, took a trip to Mexico, and she even posted about it on her Instagram.

Therefore, given the lack of chemistry between Stacey and TJ, and with an unsettled divorce going on, which apparently even has trips involved, all this does seem like a happy-front play by Stacey. She, however, is yet to comment on the same so the accusations by Kempire should be taken with a grain of salt for now.