Bravo Insider Exclusive!

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!

Sign Up for Free to View
The Daily Dish The Real Housewives of Potomac

Stacey Rusch Admits She and Her New Boyfriend Are Celibate: “Would It Be Weird?”

The RHOP newcomer and her man might be taking things slow, but they're doing "a lot" of something else. 

By Jax Miller

The Real Housewives of Potomac newbie Stacey Rusch just confessed that there’s not a lot of intimacy between her and her man, but that won't stop the couple on their romantic journey.

How to Watch

Watch The Real Housewives of Potomac on Bravo on Sunday, October 6 at 8/7c and next day on  Peacock. Catch up on the Bravo app

In a recent preview for Season 9, Episode 2, the German-speaking T.V. host wanted to be “completely vulnerable” when out hiking with alum Ashley Darby after the latter asked about Stacey’s dating life. Stacey admitted that she did love someone, but given his “devout” Christian faith, they’re “not intimate at all.”

Stacey said she and her beau had only been an item for a couple of months, “and it’s fine."

Cue Ashley’s sigh of relief.

“If you had said, like, almost a year? Stacey, girl, I would have been like, ‘You OK?’” she laughed.

“Would it be weird if it was a year?” Stacey asked. “Because he doesn’t want to have sex until we’re married.”

Who is Stacey Rusch's boyfriend?

Prompted by Ashley, the former QVC host stopped short of saying she wanted to marry her boyfriend, T.J., but said they were “on that journey.”

She told producers the pair met at work and started as friends.

Stacey Rusch posing in an emerald green gown in front of a backdrop of flowers.

“So, T.J. and I met on his audition to become a host at QVC,” Stacey said. “It was this genuine friendship and then, after about six months, we just both couldn’t deny that we wanted to be a part of one another’s lives.”

Ashley inquired whether the hands-off couple were into “heavy petting” or something similar.

“We can’t,” Stacey confessed. “It’s too tempting.”

Meanwhile, the mother of one and her husband of 16 years are in the middle of a divorce.

Stacey Rusch on Celibacy

Stacey was happy to report that it wasn’t all about sex, as far as she and T.J. were concerned. In the couple’s spare time, they go to church and work out “a lot.”

It’s no surprise, given that she has a passion for yoga and once worked as a private instructor for the White House Athletic Center, American University, and more. Earlier this year, she took to Instagram to thank YogaSix studios “for the love” as she worked on New Year resolutions to create a better version of herself.

“Bare feet, bare face, open heart,” she captioned in the post.

The happy couple haven’t been overly public about their relationship. However, Ashley — also in the middle of a divorce — has kept herself busy on the dating front. The mother of two has much to look forward to, as teased for what’s to come this season.

"Ashley Darby is not playing any more games as she forges full steam ahead to get a divorce,” according to her press release. “She’s throwing herself into the dating pool while balancing single motherhood, co-ownership of GNA, and having lots of fun along the way."

In the Season 9 premiere, Ashley said she was ready for the “vroom vroom.”

“I am very open,” she said. “I feel like I gotta test drive some cars, and I’m ready to get in as many drivers’ seats as is necessary in order to find the right person for me.”

Watch the women navigate their love lives in all-new episodes of The Real Housewives of Potomac, airing Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo and streaming the next day on Peacock.

Latest Videos

Want the latest Bravo updates? Text us for breaking news and more!