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Jessel Taank Clears Up Misconceptions About Her Marriage
Jessel Taank revealed how she really felt about the other Housewives' comments about her marriage in a new interview.
It was a revelation that shocked the ladies of The Real Housewives Of New York City this season: Jessel Taank and her husband hadn’t “been intimate” for more than 18 months — since the birth of their twin boys.
Now, Jessel is sharing more on her relationship with Pavit Randhawa in a new interview with The Daily Dish, revealing he’s always been her biggest supporter — and adding their sex life is more complicated than it might appear to the other ‘Wives.
Jessel Taank on IVF's Impact on Her
During a dinner in the Hamptons in Season 14, Episode 2, Jessel told the other Housewives she and Pavit were married for seven years before she got pregnant, and she underwent five cycles of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in order to conceive her now 2-year-old twins, Kai and Rio.
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While chatting with The Daily Dish, Jessel described Indian culture when it comes to fertility issues, saying how “women are sort of seen as a sort of mechanism to bearing children,” and calling fertility issues a “cultural stigma.”
“You don’t really talk about it, and that’s something I really felt, during almost three years of going through the IVF process, and sort of my struggles,” Jessel said. “I didn’t feel that I was able to open up about all of these things.”
Jessel admitted on the show she kept going through IVF a secret from her family.
How does Jessel feel about the 'Wives' reactions to her marriage?
When Jessel revealed she and her husband weren’t intimate on the show, Erin Lichy pointed out that she herself was a mother of three, insinuating having twins should be no excuse, and Sai De Silva suggested Jessel just have sex after her children were in bed.
Jessel pointed out to The Daily Dish that she didn’t go through IVF alone — Pavit was just as much a part of the process.
“I think that a lot of people, they ignore that — what we went through,” Jessel said. “It wasn’t just me by myself. It also affects the guy in the relationship. He saw everything I was going through. He was literally with me every step of the way. He was my rock during the whole thing. He went through a lot too.”
Jessel said she was “surprised” at the other ‘Wives’ reactions to her revelation and revealed it “almost put her back in [her] shell” when the responses weren’t what she expected.
“I appreciate that they don’t know what I went through, and if you haven’t gone through that, it’s very hard to kind of put yourself in my shoes,” Jessel said. “I think their immediate response was just like trying to figure out ways to get back to the bedroom, which is funny, but also, it’s not that easy.”
On the Sunday, Aug. 6 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, Andy asked Brynn Whitfield if the ‘Wives were too “reactive” with their response to Jessel’s sex life.
“She just had a baby,” Brynn said to Andy. “I never had a baby, but I can’t even imagine.”
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Brynn later added, “I think we were really harsh. I think give it some time. And I don’t think the best advice is just, ‘Go home and f—k your husband.’”
On the Sunday, Aug. 13 episode of WWHL, Andy asked Jessel if she had any comments on all the talk of her sex life and marriage.
“You know you’ve made it when they’re talking about you,” Jessel responded. “I was vulnerable and open about what I was going through. And I think they tried to understand the best way that they could. But then I became like the butt of a joke, you know? It was uncomfortable at times. But we definitely needed a little bit of a kick up the ass to get our lives into shape again.”
Pavit told Andy the experience has been a “whirlwind” and added the other husbands on RHONY have “been a little more sympathetic than some of the 'Wives.”
Jessel further defended her marriage to The Daily Dish, adding she’s known Pavit for 16 years.
“He and I have been best friends, and obviously now married for so long,” Jessel said in the interview. “He’s been my biggest cheerleader. He’s been the biggest support system to me.”
Jessel hopes sharing her story of struggling with IVF will help other women.
“Those topics are so taboo and so stigmatized, I think a lot of girls don’t want to voice it, but I want to normalize it,” Jessel said. “That’s the goal here. I just really want to be able to touch other women…and give them the strength that I didn’t have.”
Watch new episodes of The Real Housewives Of New York City on Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo and the next day on Peacock.
----- Original reporting by Stephanie Gomulka
