Heather and Dr. Terry Dubrow have managed to avoid the fate that has befallen so many other reality TV couples.
The Dubrows confess in an exclusive joint conversation with Page Six that keeping a strong marriage in the spotlight hasn’t always been easy.
The stars of a number of unscripted ventures, including their new E! passion project “7 Year Stitch,” discuss how they overcame tragedy by prioritising their love and family.
“We had one really dreadful, a bad year when the programme was influencing us,” Heather recalls of her five-year sabbatical from “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”
“I believe that was Terry’s first year on ‘Botched,’ and since I was working on ‘Housewives,’ we didn’t spend much time together.” My season was a disaster. “He was on ‘Botched,’ and he was having a fantastic season,” she says.
Also read: Lisa Hochstein’s Divorce From lenny Hochstein – All We Know!
“Neither were we communicating.” We had to sit down and have a true come-to-Jesus experience because there was so much going on.”
Heather, 53, claims that the former soap actress and the renowned plastic surgeon promised each other during a car conversation that they would not “get divorced for being on TV.” “That is not a scenario that can be tolerated.”
By identifying and resolving their biggest worries, the couple, who married in 1999 and have four children: twins Max and Nicholas, 18, Kat, 15, and Collette, 11, gradually recovered.
“In our 25-year partnership, we’ve overcome every challenge.” We’ve lost millions of dollars due to financial troubles, and I’ve had interpersonal issues when I’ve felt bad about myself. “We’ve had various kinds of problems with our family,” Terry, 63, explains.
“We’ve worked out how to get around all the major issues.” We have a lot of resources at this time in our partnership.”
The Dubrows’ “resources” include some of the best doctors, therapists, and life coaches in the country, as well as celebrity fitness instructors and nutritionists.
Heather and Terry have invited the support of their favourite experts for “7 Year Stitch,” a seven-week programme that helped real-life couple Kathleen and Chris decide if their young marriage was worth saving after seven years together.
“We’re isolating them for seven weeks and giving them a complete internal and exterior makeover — body, mind, soul — in the hopes of reconciling them,” Heather explains.
“However, if you transform someone into their most confident self, they may look at the other person and say, ‘You know what?’
I’m alright; I’m not in need of your help.’
Also read: Shaq’s Divorce From Shaunie – Everything We Know!
Heather and Terry tell Page Six that they are grateful for recognising years ago that they do, in fact, need one other — even if they still quarrel over “silly” things.
“You should practise fighting.” Recognizing that disagreements and huge conflicts are inevitable is essential to having a successful relationship; what matters is how you handle them. “You have to learn how to keep that level of respect [and] how to not say it,” the doctor says of how he and his wife handle conflict.
“And we have a lot of respect for one other.”
“7 Year Stitch” begins on E! on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET, following “Botched’s” season finale at 9 p.m. ET.