Chanel Ayan from the Real Housewives of Dubai blew us all away from the moment we met her. Not only was she incredibly funny with an outrageous personality, she was real. Although she shared many laughs on the show with her (then-bestie), Lesa Milan, she also shed many tears. One of the most challenging parts of filming for her, though, had to be when she shared the story about her circumcision as a child.
During her time on the Two Ts In A Pod show, she told the hosts that “not even my closest friends” knew about her past, which made opening up in front of the cameras incredibly difficult.
Chanel feels empowered after telling her story
“When my story aired, Tamra, nobody reached out to me, and I mean nobody reached out to me,” Chanel said. “I was on my own in my house crying, closing the curtains, now knowing that the whole entire world knows this about me.”
Chanel, who was born in Kenya, discussed how taboo her new life is.
“Everything I’m doing is, like, the opposite of what I’m supposed to be doing,” she said. “And then I got the worst backlash, man. ‘We don’t accept you. We don’t want you. Who do you think you are?’ Like, I was being crazy. I was on my own. I was, like, so stressed. I was having bad thoughts. I was so angry with myself.”
The model continued, saying she opened up to her husband and son because she “knew I’m gonna get a lot of backlash.” She described the moment as one of the “worst … of my life.”
“Every time I walk around, I don’t think people see me as this girl that’s, like, funny. I feel like the first thing they see me is they know my story, and I’m OK with that now.”
Although she struggled to watch it back, the Real Housewives star feels empowered today.
“Yes, I am a victim, but I have my power now because I talked about it,” she said. “I feel like saying it [helps me] to get me my power back and confidence that I’ve always lost in it with my body and things like that.”
Season 2 of Real Housewives of Dubai airs on Sunday at 9/8c.
TELL US — WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CHANEL’S COMMENTS? WILL YOU WATCH HER DURING SEASON 2’S PREMIERE?
