Kristen Taekman Says the Ups and Downs in Her Marriage Have Made It "Stronger Than Ever"

Kristen Taekman may have weathered some ups and downs during her time on The Real Housewives of New York City, but the Big Apple fashionista also faced some public drama in her marriage when it was revealed her husband Josh was included in the Ashley Madison leak back in 2015. Following the scandal, she stepped away from RHONY and these days is busy and happy with her hubby by her side.

"My relationship is stronger than ever and I think it's good," she recently told The Daily Dish. "I think that every relationship for sure has its ups and downs whether it's marriage, dating, friendships. I've had my ups and downs with friendships too. Yeah, I think it's good and it does make you stronger."

"Everybody's good [in my family]. I feel like it's nice. I loved my time on the show and now that I have my new normal it's nice too," she added. And while Kristen may no longer be living her life in front of the camera, that doesn't mean she doesn't occasionally run into the ladies while out and about in NYC. "Carole [Radziwill] and I see each other quite a bit. It's not that we don't purposefully not see each other, it's just that we're all so busy. We haven't been able to get in touch. Ironically, I ran into Carole and Bethenny [Frankel] recently at lunch, so I got to catch up with them, which was great. So I kind of bump into people here and there."

These days, Kristen has plenty of projects to keep her busy. In addition to being a mom to her son, Cassius, and daughter, Kingsley, she is busy with her fashion blog, Last Night's Look, as well as her beauty line, Pop of Color. "How has my life changed most lately? I don't know. I really enjoy doing my fashion blog, and I think that's really fun and I think I probably wouldn't have had my platform if I didn't do the show and I think that's great. That's really my full-time job right now that with pop of color so its fun to have that job, and it's perfect as a mommy job."

With some distance since her time on RHONY, Kristen has definitely taken some of the lessons she learned from navigating her two seasons on the show and applied them to her post-TV life. "The biggest lesson I learned just [is] really truly speaking your mind in everything," she said. "And you can bring that into any aspect of your life, whether you're in a cab and he's going the wrong way and you really voice your opinion — ridiculous example. Or just being with a group of friends and somebody's saying something and you just sort of disagreeing. I think before I probably really would have let that go and now I stand up a little straighter and get my Housewife on. It's still in you; it doesn't go away."

You can find out what's in store for the RHONY crew when Season 9 premieres April 5 at 9/8c. Check out a preview, below.

Season 9 of RHONY Is Taking Us On a Wild Ride