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When we first met Dr. Wendy Osefo this past summer, season five of the “Real Housewives of Potomac” had yet to air, so she couldn’t tell us much about her relationships with her castmates and the drama that would unfold. However, now that the season finale and subsequent reunion special are quickly approaching, the outspoken television personality held nothing back as we discussed everything from the explosive fight this season, the truth behind her unexplained feud with Karen Huger, the report that claimed she had acquired $1.5 million in student loan debt, and the status of her relationship with Monique Samuels.
MN: I just really want you and Karen to be friends for some reason. It looked like you two were making progress last week and then this week, it all blew up again. What’s the real issue?
Wendy: That’s funny. The real issue, you guys have to tune into the reunion, Karen brings out what her quote-unquote issue with me is. When you tune into the reunion, you will see that it holds no water. It’s really something that fifth-grade women would argue about. And all of us we’re just looking around like, “Is that really why you’re upset with her?” So, she had an issue with me because she just wants to have an issue with me. And you will find out that everything that she’s done from the comments of “not impressed” to this to that, really doesn’t equate to what the issue is. It really comes down to that reality that we both have we both like something and she thought that it wasn’t right that I like what she liked. It’s super catty, super fifth-grade and it just makes you look at her like, ‘Are you serious? That’s why you didn’t like her this whole time?’ but that’s what she says. But the other women also come into the reunion and say actually, that’s just what you’re saying why you don’t like her because you told us that you didn’t like her for different reasons.
MN: What makes you feel you want to give up teaching?
Wendy: Giving people information in a way that they understand is my passion. At the very core of me, that is my passion. I feel as though the traditional sense of the professorship has a lot of added things that a lot of people don’t see. You’re not just teaching, there are also meetings, creation of the courses, advising. There’s a lot of elements of it that are not shown or people don’t actually think of. And so I wanted to just get that back and see if the traditional sense of being a professor is something that I wanted to do as opposed to the simplistic sense of just informing people.
Being a commentator is informing people. You’re informing people of how policies and politics impact them and you know it’s not about being a political commentator. I think that for me, I just have a passion for pop culture and politics and I would love to do something where I can bring both of those worlds together in a way that is not so strict.
MN: It was really nice to see the moment that you had with your mom. I watch the show and I’m always like, “Wendy is so tough” but to see you be vulnerable with your mom was refreshing. Did she eventually give her blessing for you to pursue your passions and leave your professorship?
Wendy: It’s so funny, my mom just walked in to tell me something. Miss Susan is a big part of my life. I love her, but she did give her blessing. She gave me her blessing to pursue my passion and she just said, ‘You know, what you have done already in your life has exceeded my expectations and I know that no matter what you’re gonna do next, you’re going to be great.’ And my mom always taught my sister and I that even though she wanted us to be doctors because of our nationality so to speak, you know, being Nigerian, that is something that is often pushed, she always said, ‘Even if you do anything else, you can be a bus driver, you can be a housekeeper. I want you to be the best at that.” She said, “Go chase, your passion, and whatever that is to be the best.”
MN: It’s really important for people to see other sides of reality stars.
Wendy: At my core, I’m my mom’s baby. I have this tough exterior, but at my core, I am such an emotional person on the inside and that really comes out when I’m around people who I love.
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MN: Before the Candiace and Monique fight, you and Monique seemed to have a budding relationship that the fight sort of derailed. What are your thoughts on her as a person?
Wendy: Well, I think what the viewers need to understand is that I don’t know Monique. I don’t know her and I think people are forgetting that. You can go back and watch the episodes. Me and Monique literally met five times and on the sixth time, she fought Candiace. I don’t know her. So I don’t know her personally. You gotta take a step back. The last time we were even around each other, we were at the lake house. If you remember how old those episodes were, then the next time I saw her was when Gizelle brought us all together at the winery and she fought Candiace there. So I don’t know her at all. I wasn’t given an opportunity to know her. Time didn’t afford us that.
MN: That makes sense and then the fight happened and that was it.
Wendy: That was it, that was it so, I do not know her. Even when we’re around each other, it was just like casual conversation you know. I didn’t have any deep, prolific conversations with her. Then the next time that saw her, she fought somebody in the group that I knew the most. You gotta step back and look at it from that angle like, “She didn’t know her, and then she got in a fight with one people that she actually does know. So what would you do?”
MN: So you’re like, “I don’t know you, and based on what you’ve shown me, things ain’t looking too good.” [Laughs]
Wendy: [Laughs] Right! Exactly. So our relationship right now is nonexistent because I don’t know her.
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MN: There were rumors that some cast members refused to film with her because of the fight. Were you one of them?
Wendy: I don’t know where that came from, but that has nothing to do with me. I think it’s really interesting that people think we have that much power. This is a show. We don’t have that much power. You film with who they tell you to film with. And I think there was another rumor where they said that she was to film with us. So like, we have to pay attention to the stories of how the stories sometimes don’t add up. I believe on “Watch What Happens Live,” Andy said that she refused to be with us. So are you telling people that we were refused to film with you to get empathy? You know, to get people to empathize with you like, “These are mean girls.” But now the boss just said that you refused to film with us and she didn’t want to be around us. So which one is it?
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MN: I know I’m going way back into the season, but it’s been a while since we’ve spoken. You and Ashley had a moment in the lake house when you kind of shaded her for bringing her baby, but it turned out that you were struggling with being apart from your daughter, who was also a newborn. Did you and Ashley ever mend fences completely or are things still awkward?
Wendy: I was three months postpartum and I was just going through the hormones and I think what people witnessed was two women who just had babies while we’re filming. The schedule is grueling so yes, it was something that could have been discussed at this tone, right? At this level, but it quickly escalated because I’m just hormonal. My breasts are leaking. I had breast pads on. So much going on and so I don’t think people understand that when they heard me talking, they didn’t say, “Hold on, this girl is clearly hormonal because this just escalated really quickly.” But, Ashley, because of her being a new mom at that moment, I think she understood where I was coming from and we spoke about it at the reunion as well. I really believe that, eventually, we could build a relationship.
MN: Your educational accomplishments have been a source of shade this season. So much so that there was a rumor that you had $1.5 million in student loan debt. Where do you think a rumor like that came from?
Wendy: It’s interesting, right, because based on the source, they said it was one of my in-laws. And so I think it’s really interesting because if you’ve been watching the show, my husband and I are estranged from his family. My husband and I have been married for going on 10 years. You know it’s interesting because if we’re estranged and we haven’t talked to people for ten years, how would they know that?
I’ve had a platform before coming on Housewives. I’ve been on TV a long time doing commentary. None of that stuff ever came out. It wasn’t until I got on the show that I believe that his family got wind that we were going to be discussing them and they wanted to run cover and put out salacious and malicious lies to throw dirt on our name. If you think about it, this whole season, that information is the only thing that came out and it’s not even true.
One, that number is inaccurate. However, I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I come from a hard-working middle-class family. I did take out student loans to go to school. Me and millions of Americans did that. There’s no shame in that To try to shame me for not being able to pay my tuition all cash is ridiculous because if was the case, why are politicians trying to cancel student loan debt? People get student loans all of the time.
Wendy: And I want to be clear when it comes to my degrees, I’ve often been put on the defense this season. When you have people like Karen who say, “What type of doctor is she” or “Are we gonna learn anything else besides the fact that she’s a doctor?” When you’re put on the defense about something you worked hard for with your own blood, sweat, and tears, you’re going to defend that. I had to defend that because people were coming for it.
I’m on the cast of a show of people who brag about their financial wealth. This season alone, Ashley said, “My husband has a millionaire” to throw it in Candiace’s face or even Karen calling herself the Grand Dame. People use their financial status to try to son people in a way. But the moment I say that I have four degrees, that’s a problem? no, it’s not a problem because this show has been predicated on people using their financial wealth as a way to say, “This is the life I live.” I came on this platform and I said “Yes, there’s financial wealth, but there’s also educational wealth. Now check that.”
I don’t know why people up in arms because you have these people rubbing in your face how many homes they have, how many cars they have, how many millions they have. They’re telling you how their lives are so much better than yours because of their financial footing, but for the moment I say actually, “I’m from the family immigrants, my dad worked at fast food restaurant and you know what, I don’t necessarily brag about my financial wealth but one thing I am damn sure proud of is my educational wealth and that’s the problem?”
MN: Reality TV is a different animal in comparison to professorship and political commentary. After the shade, the fights, the throwing drinks, and the wig pulling, are you interested in coming back for a second season?
Wendy: [Laughs] It has been an enjoyable ride I have enjoyed the journey, I’ve enjoyed the view. I have enjoyed just knowing these women, and right now I’m still in the thick of the season, We still have to get through the reunion but I’m just enjoying it. We will see.
