REALITY TVTaylor Armstrong Reveals Late Ex Russell 'Could Not Control Himself' During 'Abusive' Relationship: He 'Threatened to Kill Me'
Taylor Armstrong got candid about her abusive relationship with her late ex Russell, claiming he 'could not control himself.'
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Taylor Armstrong opened up about her relationship with her late ex Russell Armstrong.
Taylor Armstrong was being abused while filming 'RHOBH.'
During the forthcoming episode of Investigation Discovery’s Hollywood Demons, which premieres on April 14, Taylor discussed how the world watched her personal life unravel while on the second season of RHOBH.
“It is a really hard question when I have people ask why I stayed [with him],” Taylor shared. “It is so complicated and statistically most domestic violence victims return seven times before they find the courage to leave. I questioned myself a lot, asking, ‘Am I being abused?'”
Taylor noted it felt “cringey” to think she was a domestic violence victim due to the fact that she had it all.
Taylor Armstrong said 'a majority of people had no idea what was going on behind the scenes.'
Taylor was an original star of the show in the first season, and while things seemed fine initially, by the second season, it was clear something was off. In July 2011, she filed for divorce from Russell, claiming he was physically and mentally abusive. One month later, he committed suicide.
“I think a majority of people had no idea what was going on behind the scenes,” she dished on Russell. “My housekeeper would find recording devices all the time. It got to the point where I assumed I was being recorded all the time. I always assumed he was listening.”
Taylor detailed a specific example where she was making pizza for Russell’s sons and he “came in the house, grabbed me by the throat and put me up against the wall” and threatened to “kill” her for giving his kids pizza with no vegetables.
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Taylor Armstrong shared a story where Russell threatened to kill her for giving his children pizza without vegetables.
Being on such a major show as RHOBH, Taylor said she feared Russell’s abuse would become public. “We had the cameras on and I was afraid he would explode in the car,” she said. “I could see it and I could tell he would start to give me this look. And we were in a limo with cameras so I thought, ‘Let us get home before this happens.’ Because he could not control himself.”
As Season 2 progressed, Camille Grammer eventually exposed Russell’s abuse in an infamous scene. “It was pretty well known that I had marital problems but I wasn’t ready for my abuse to be outed on television,” she shared. “I remember looking at the producer in just a blank stare thinking, ‘It is out,’ and I couldn’t put it back. Camille had outed the fact that I was abused. I was saying, ‘You have no idea what you have done to me. He has threatened to kill me before.'”
Taylor Armstrong got married again to John Bluher in 2014.
After an explosive fight where Russell “fractured” Taylor’s “orbital floor,” which led her to have reconstructive surgery, she filed for divorce. After the divorce, she ended up finding Russell out he died after he didn’t show up for a divorce meeting.
“I ran into the street outside the house when all of a sudden I realized my daughter was in the car,” she recalled. “She asked, ‘Did my dad do something stupid?’"
Luckily for Taylor, she has found love again, as she's been happily married to John Bluher since 2014.
