Taylor Armstrong played an unforgettable role on the first three seasons of The Real Housewives of
Beverly Hills — and she will likely go down as one of the most controversial personalities of
the entire franchise. After making a glittery splash on the debut season of the iconic show,
it was during Season Two that she ultimately filed for divorce from husband Russell Armstrong,
alleging that he had been physically and emotionally abusive toward her.
"All of the red flags were there at the beginning. He even went so far as to tell me,
'I'm not a good guy. You're a nice girl. You're not going to want to be with me."
Taylor later revealed on Oprah,
"The moment I realized I absolutely had to leave was when they wheeled me down after surgery and
my daughter had to see me in the waiting room after having reconstructive surgery on my eye."
"When he was bad, he was the scariest human being I'd ever met in my life."
Tragically, a month after the incident,
Russell took his own life. Taylor recalled with The Daily Dish,
"I went to go meet him one day, and his office was dark and he wasn't
there and he was a workaholic, so it was completely unusual for that to be the case.
I just had this sinking feeling that something terrible had happened.
But ultimately, I had found him hanging in the house that he had moved into."
Despite continuing with the show for an additional year after Russell's death — and
making appearances here and there, over the next few years — Taylor's top priority
remains her daughter, Kennedy. Speaking on the podcast Divorce Sucks with Laura Wasser,
Armstrong revealed that today Kennedy lives a very normal teenage life. But she admits it
wasn't always easy trying to keep the memory of Russell alive for her daughter. Taylor shared,
"I always felt that I had shielded Kennedy from knowing what was going on, because we had
a live-in nanny. And [Russell] would get home after she went to bed because she was little.
And those things happened behind closed doors. But I was driving her to school one day, and she
was in her car seat, and my psychiatrist had said to continue to bring up her father to her so that
she doesn't think people just disappear. And I was saying, 'Do you miss Daddy?' And she said,
'No. N-O. Mommy, why would you miss a boy that screamed at you all the time?'"
"In that moment I really realized she definitely knew more than I thought she did."
We can only assume that the mother-daughter duo continue to share a uniquely close bond,
with Taylor revealing that the pair have since found their happy ending.
In April 2014, Taylor married attorney John Bluher, who helped her sort out
her legal and financial issues following her ex-husband's death. She told People at the time,
"Today, John, Kennedy, and I became a family.
I married my best friend and Kennedy's family circle became complete.
I definitely believe the universe put John in my path for a reason. […] We were meant to be."
"I think John's the only person I could have ever ended up with
because he stood by my side through the darkest days of my life."
According to E! Online, the ceremony took place at the Bel Air Bay Club
in the Pacific Palisades. Taylor wore a Chagoury Couture gown and was walked down
the aisle by her daughter. A select group of her closest Housewives co-stars were in attendance,
including Lisa Vanderpump, Kim and Kyle Richards, and Adrienne Maloof.
As for her professional life, the star has gone on to become a New York Times
bestselling author with her book, Hiding From Reality: My Story of Love, Loss,
and Finding the Courage Within. Throughout her book, Taylor opens up about her very deep,
personal struggle as a survivor of abuse. And these days, she's also doing her best
to speak out and advocate on behalf of other survivors. She considers herself one of the
many faces of domestic violence and has even established The Taylor Armstrong Foundation
to raise awareness and offer victims the resources to recover and start a new life.
"The Taylor Armstrong Foundation will provide financial support to local,
state and national shelters, hotlines and support services."
Armstrong has certainly come a long way since her days on reality TV and seems happier than ever.
And judging by her Instagram, which is filled with uplifting shots of beaches and sunsets, as well as
snaps of her getting cozy with her new husband, it looks like the best is yet to come for Taylor.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts,
please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.