Reality TV nearly destroyed their marriage, so can reality TV help save it?

This season on Vh1′s Couples Therapy, Alex McCord and her husband Simon van Kempen, former stars of Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City, have struggled to fix their broken marriage. However, one has to wonder if the constant presence on cameras and television producers  led to McCord and Van Kempen’s marital woes.

When it comes to reality television breakups, perhaps no couple knows the perils of “reality” more than McCord and Van Kempen. When Celebuzz asked the couple to share their reality TV lessons, McCord replied, “As far as what not to do on reality TV… don’t let anyone put words in your mouth. Ever.”

“They’re being put there for a reason, to drive a particular storyline,” she continued. “And if it’s not true for you – it’s not something you feel or think – don’t allow yourself to be convinced by somebody wearing a headset.”

Van Kempen added, “To be fair, there were things we agreed to do during Season 1 [of Real Housewives of New York City], that you say, ‘Hold on, these are the professionals.’ You want the show to be a success. Otherwise, why are you doing it?… I could have said no, but you’re there, and you’re green.”

The pair’s eagerness to please producers played out during three seasons of Real Housewives of New York City, adding tension to their already fragile marriage. However, for some, the decision to do reality TV can do more than hurt personal relationships – it can also ruin careers.

“Don’t take it too seriously,” he said. “But don’t do reality TV unless you have a career or a job that isn’t going to be compromised by it.”

McCord agreed, adding, “Unless you have your own business, or you only ever want to have a career in the entertainment industry, don’t do it… If you’re in a career that does not welcome public life, then don’t put your life in the public.”

“That’s a big risk,” Van Kempen concluded. “Whether we should have or not, the jury is still out.”

Catch the finale of VH1′s Couples Therapy on Thursday at 10 PM on VH1. 

It’s been a while since Alex McCord and her husband Simon Van Kempen were ousted from Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York, but the drama between them and some of their former castmates continues.

In 2011, Jill Zarin, Kelly Bensimon and McCord got the axe from the Bravo docu-series. Since their unceremonious departure from the show, McCord and Van Kempen — who can currently be seen trying to fix their marriage on VH1′s Couples Therapy — have kept in touch with some of the other Real Housewives stars.

“I talk to Ramona [Singer] very regularly,” McCord told Celebuzz. “I talk to Sonja [Morgan].” McCord is not on speaking terms, however, with fellow ousted housewife Zarin — but her husband is. After production wrapped, Van Kempen extended the olive branch to his former reality TV nemesis.

“Simon and Jill talk,” she said. “Jill and I e-mail back and forth,” Van Kempen added. “There’s a lot of things she said about me over the years. It’s all water over the bridge.”

“I wish her the absolute best,” added McCord.

McCord isn’t quite done with the Real Housewives franchise yet, however. This season, she was offered a job to cover the Bravo series for RumorFix, and while she initially was unsure of her decision to do so, she now credits her recaps with helping her move on from the franchise.

“After the re-cast, I was going to completely cut the cord and completely separate myself from Housewives,” she told Celebuzz. “However, the good folks at RumorFix offered me a job covering it. It’s been a great healing process.”

Despite not being a regular viewer anymore, even Van Kempen has begun to pick up on the production’s editing tricks — and he believes viewers can as well.

“Watching this season, you can now see, like, ‘Oh, I know what they did here,’” said van Kempen. “When Aviva [Drescher] arrives in St. Barts,  it was daylight, and when they arrive at the house, it was dark. And that’s why they kept them waiting, so Romana and Sonja could get sloshed at the hotel.”

“It those conceits that we always see as former castmates, but the viewers are seeing it now,” he concluded.

Couples Therapy airs Wednesdays at 10PM ET on VH1. Below, McCord and Van Kempen dish on their Couples Therapy castmate Courtney Stodden. 

Former Real Housewives of New York stars Alex McCord and Simon van Kempen checked into VH1′s Couples Therapy to fix their broken marriage  – unlike their castmate, 18-year-old Courtney Stodden, who McCord says “wasn’t taking it seriously.”

“A teenager just doesn’t have the life experience that even a 20-year-old or 40-year-old has had,” McCord told Celebuzz during an exclusive sit-down with her and van Kempen. ”Everybody else was emotionally raw and laying themselves bare. Even Doug went there,” she said, referring to Stodden’s husband, Doug Hutchison, “but she wasn’t taking it seriously.”

Clearly, the infamous teen bride wasn’t winning over any supporters in the Couples Therapy house. McCord said she felt distracted by Stodden’s “airy-fairy” presence in the group therapy sessions.

What did McCard say was “difficult” about Stodden?

“It’s difficult when you are reliving your deepest, darkest moments in your relationship and you’re being really brutal and honest and everyone is crying, to then have this airy-fairy cheerleader there who’s not participating in any meaningful way,” she said.

However, Stodden’s reality camera-time was limited – because at the time of production, she was still a minor.

“There were actually only four-and-a-half couples because under the California state law, [Courtney] was a minor and could only stay in the house for seven hours a day,” van Kempen told Celebuzz. “So Doug had to sleep by himself, so that changed the dynamic greatly.”

“When she wasn’t on set, Doug would go sit in his room and sulk,” added van Kempen. “He was pining for his Barbie doll.”

Couples Therapy Season 2 premieres Wednesday at 10 PM on VH1. Check out McCord and van Kempen in action on the VH1 series, below.

Alex McCord and her husband Simon van Kempen, former stars of Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City, are used to arguing in front of a camera, but now they seem to be in agreement on screen. The pair have checked into VH1′s Couples Therapy for the reality series’ second season.

Four years of constant drama on RHONY led the reality TV couple to the brink of separation, so when VH1 offered them a spot on their hit couples-counseling show, the duo decided to take the plunge back into the world of reality television. McCord and van Kempen say they were pleasantly surprised, however, by their experience this time around.

“The Housewives franchise, as well as lot of reality TV shows, are called docudramas, but in a lot of ways, they are doctored dramas or they’re surreality. They are not reality anymore,” van Kempen explained to Celebuzz. With [Couples Therapy], you film 24/7 for 21 days, you put five couples in a house and things are bound to happen. There are no storyline producers running around… It was refreshing.”

Read on for more on why the pair thinks Couples Therapy is more real than most reality TV.

“The Housewives franchise as a whole has been incredibly successful, but people are starting to see-through the conceit,” continued van Kempen.

McCord told us she believes that audiences are craving more authentic shows like Couples Therapy. ”As this reality TV phenomenon has grown and morphed, people have a taste for real, actual reality,” she said. ”This show was 24/7, there were hidden cameras everywhere, and you just existed. There were no engineered setups, there was no alcohol…”

Van Kempen added, “We lived in a dry house for 21 days. So if there’s anything being said or if anyone is falling over, it’s not because they’re drunk, it’s because they’ve reacted that way. Alcohol fuels a lot of these reality TV dramas, but this one, the drama is not alcohol-induced.”

Couples Therapy Season 2 premieres Wednesday at 10 PM on VH1.

Alex McCord’s line of bath towels and linens, which she conveniently brought to the set of the VH1 series, hits Groupon the same day. Keep an eye on Celebuzz for more of our video interview with McCord and van Kempen.

Apparently there is a music bug among Bravo’s Real Housewives. On Friday, RHONJ’s Melissa Gorga released her new single, “On Display” — adding it to the long list of reality stars hoping to break into the music industry. But how does her new tune stand up next to that of LuAnn de Lesseps‘ “Money Can’t Buy You Class” or Kim Zolciak‘s “Tardy to the Party”?

Listen to all the Housewives‘ tunes below and vote for your favorite in the poll.

Kim Zolciak (The Real Housewives of Atlanta) was the original when it came to Housewives tracks. Her infamous “Don’t Be Tardy For the Party” is difficult to deny with its catchy chorus.

LuAnn de Lesseps (Real Housewives of New York City) knows that the hits just keep on coming. She’s given the world two songs — “Chic C’est La Vie” and “Money Can’t Buy You Class” — and has promised there will be more.

Danielle Staub (who has since quit the Housewives franchise) released her first single, “So Close.” She choose a ballad, instead of the typical dance track.

In Melissa Gorga‘s “On Display,” she talks about living life in the spotlight and how people want her to fail.

And as an honorable mention, let’s not forget Real Housewives of New York City star Simon van Kempen and his bass-thumping debut single, “I Am Real.”