Jessel Taank has certainly made a splash on the reboot of Real Housewives of New York. The cast is fresh and diverse. Jessel was the cast member who was ill during the Season 14 premiere party. Not exactly what you want to be known for.
Jessel shared that she and her husband, Pavit Randhawa, had “all the right conversations” about joining the show. She is the first Indian housewife. And Jessel lives in Chelsea, not on the Upper East Side like the original RHONY cast members. Jessel spoke to Marie Claire about what she hoped to accomplish by joining the cast.
Sharing her journey to help others
“I definitely had a very strong agenda with sharing my IVF journey because I went through it alone. My family wasn’t close by geographically,” Jessel explained. “My mom is so hands-on and so worrisome. She has a lot of anxiety about her kids like every Indian parent does.”
She continued, “But also, we don’t talk about IVF. We don’t talk about reproductive issues. I think people need to know that it’s okay to normalize these types of topics because if I had the strength to be able to be open about it [as it was happening], I think my experience would’ve been completely different,” Jessel added.
Her road to motherhood
Jessel and her husband tried to have children naturally for a year. Then she had six rounds of IVF in two years.
“Coming from an Indian background is hard because you’re supposed to be a feminine goddess and it’s seen as a big flaw if you aren’t,” Jessel said. “The perception of what an Indian woman is [that] we’re born to reproduce, be mothers, be wives, and almost be timid. That’s a stereotype of what Indian women typically have been in the media, and the fact that I’m not that person, I really think it was important to share [on RHONY],” the publicist added.
Jessel revealed that viewers will see her story of trying to adjust to her life with her twin boys. “I think the audience will see the journey of me trying to get strong again, everything from physically, emotionally, all of those things. You do see those conversations happening and you’re along the ride,” Jessel said.
Kudos to Jessel for using this platform to discuss her IVF experience.
Real Housewives of New York City airs every Sunday at 9/8c on Bravo.
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