Newcomer Dr. Jen Armstrong is having a dramatic first season as an Orange County Housewife. Along with tumultuous relationships with her castmates, the emotional relationship with her husband, Ryne, has been on full display.
Her marital issues with her husband became the focus of last week’s episode, which showed Jen attempting to have a deep discussion, but Ryne was not interested in engaging and walked out on his wife.
Dr. Jen now shares with the fans where she and Ryne stand today.
Jen Armstrong opens up to viewers with news on her marriage
According to the new Housewife, discussing her issues on camera made her very uncomfortable, and she admitted, “We’ve had a challenging relationship and people can be very judgmental. A lot of people have reached out and said, ‘Oh, you deserve better. How do you let him treat you that way?’ But they’re not in the day-to-day. They don’t know the history.”
She spoke about the difficulty of a public relationship during an appearance in the clubhouse on Watch What Happens Live on February 9. She opened up about how watching her relationship issues play out on RHOC this season affected her. She told Andy Cohen, “There’s nothing like a microscope and 40 cameras on your relationship to shake it up.”
Jen revealed that she and Ryne are back together after a month-long separation. She said it was her decision to temporarily split and it was not an easy decision to make, but she reached a point of no return at that time. When they came back together, Jen said Ryne had a new appreciation for all of her hard work outside of the home.
“We separated for a while and lived life without each other,” Jen said. “And I think that made us have more of an appreciation for who the other person was and have a different outlook on getting back together and putting in the work to stay together.”
She happily expressed, “Ryne and I are much better now. It got worse and then I turned a corner and came back around. It got better.”
What led to the cracks in Jen and Ryne’s marriage?
Jen revealed that she and Ryne, who is a stay-at-home dad, argued over a mutual lack of appreciation for their differing roles in raising their three kids: twins Cece and Vince, 9, and Valor, 8.
The aesthetic doctor, who runs a medical and cosmetic dermatology practice in Newport Beach, says that during the weeks she was away from him, Jen came to appreciate her husband and his contributions to the family.
Jen also expressed that she wanted Ryne to understand her feelings and wished he would validate them more. Ryne would often refuse to have conversations with her and would shut down or even walk away, which Jen was deeply hurt by.
Though the couple, who have been together for twelve years, are in a good place now, the early part of their separation will be shown on the rest of Season 16 of RHOC.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.