Why 'Real Housewives' Star Monique Samuels Is Happy to Share Her Marriage and Pregnancy Struggles (Exclusive)

Monique Samuels isn’t afraid of her imperfections.

The Real Housewives of Potomac star has laid a lot of her personal life out there on the Bravo reality series, most recently tearfully sharing her frustrations over some growing pains in her marriage to former NFL player Chris Samuels. But, she says the onscreen waterworks are nothing for fans to worry about.

“That is just a part of life, you know?” she tells ET. “That was one of many arguments. If I had to add up how many times we argue throughout the year, I definitely don’t have enough fingers and toes for that. The thing I love about it is, we all go through it. If you don’t have an argument in your marriage, either you’re in denial or you’re running from the truth. Or, you’re not addressing certain things that should be addressed. I think it’s a part of growing.”

“As opportunities and doors are opening, I need to be mindful that I still have a husband and kids who need my attention,” Monique continues. “One thing that that argument had to deal with was the fact that, when Chris was in the coaching world … I was on him constantly about maintaining balance … preaching balance to him all the time. So now, I’m in that position where I have these opportunities popping up, and he’s like, ‘Oh, yeah. All that preaching you were doing for me? You need to practice that.’”

“My husband held me accountable the same way I held him accountable,” the 34-year-old notes. “At first, it was something that irritated and frustrated both of us, but then we had to calm down and say, we’re not here to fight each other. We’re here to make it work. Let’s just figure out what we need to do, what changes we need to make, and I made a lot of changes. And we’re so good now. We’re so good! We’re in a very good season right now. It’s bliss.”

It’s lessons like that Monique plans to share on her and Chris’ new podcast, Not For Lazy Moms, an offshoot of her parenting advice website of the same name. They’ll be joined for 12 episodes by radio personality Aly Jacobs and Monique’s cousin, Hank Davis.

“We talk about it all,” she says of the show. “Chris and I, we enjoy laughing. We enjoy smiling, and even through moments of frustration, when we’re trying to figure out life and things change, we’re adjusting, we still find out moments to laugh, and what I love about the podcast is we’re opening up and talking about things that most parents don’t like to admit goes on in their home.”

“A lot of people don’t really talk about the real struggles that you go through, whether it’s in your marriage or it’s with your kids,” Monique adds. “I mean, we’re sharing our birth stories; does sex after marriage really exist? How do you find time? You know, how do you find time for maintaining yourself and making sure you’re the healthiest person you can be?”

The reality star says sharing her struggles on RHOP, and now on the podcast, has actually brought her and Chris closer together.

“I feel like it strengthened our marriage,” she confesses. “At the end of the day, if I have no one else, I have my husband. If he has no one else, he has me, we have our kids. I think it’s actually, it’s benefited our marriage.”

Along with marriage talk, Monique will also open up about her third pregnancy on her podcast. The mom of two revealed her family would be growing from four to five earlier this month.

“I just literally, last night, looked at my husband and I was like, ‘What are we gonna do with three kids?!’” Monique shares. “I’m like, oh my goodness. I’m excited. I’m excited. I really love the baby stage, so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s nothing more precious than this little, innocent baby that’s just helpless and they just look at you like you’re the world, you know? Once they get older, they get a little more independent. It’s just an amazing feeling, I’m really looking forward to it.”

The happy news came after Monique shared the heartbreaking news that she suffered a miscarriage last year.

“We talk about the miscarriage, you know, we talk about struggles with fertility,” she promises of future Not For Lazy Moms episodes. “It’s like, now, I’m finally able to really enjoy the pregnancy, because you know, there was so much fear in the beginning … now that we’re past that, we’re out of the first trimester, I finally just had to sit back and go, you know what? I’m going to enjoy every bit of this pregnancy and I’m not going to live in fear.”

“[We want to] let people know that you’re not the only one,” she says of her potential podcast listeners. “You know, you don’t have to feel alone. Everyone goes through these things.”

For now, Monique is enjoying her second trimester and soaking in all the baby bliss. She just revealed to her kids, 5-year-old Christopher and 3-year-old Milani, this week that they were getting a new sibling.

“Christopher, he loves being a big brother, so now it’s Milani’s turn to actually see what it feels like to be a big sister, so it’s really cool,” she gushes. “She’s very territorial over babies, so I have a feeling she’s gonna think this one’s hers when that time comes!”

The Real Housewives of Potomac airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo, and Not For Lazy Moms launches through iHeartMedia on Wednesday, Aug. 1. Check out a sneak peek here:

For more on RHOP, check out the video and links below.

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