Years after one of the most turbulent periods of their marriage, RHOA star Angela Oakley says the key to keeping her relationship with former New York Knicks standout Charles Oakley strong is surprisingly simple: they never stopped going to counseling.
Appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Angela opened up about how she and Charles continue to work on their marriage nearly a decade after a series of personal and public challenges tested their relationship. "You know what, we are in counseling," she said. "Counseling is forever."
She added that therapy has also taught her an important lesson about compromise. "My biggest takeaway is, I'm not always right. Sometimes, Charles can be right. You know, like, I hate it here," she joked.
Charles, sitting in the audience, had his own take on why their marriage works. Laughing, the former Knicks enforcer said he has learned that some disagreements simply aren't worth escalating.
"She always thinks she's right," Charles said. "So I just let her go and let her have it her way 'cause arguing ain't going to go nowhere but bad. When we start arguing, it's going to end up bad. So I just said, 'Hey, it's your way.'"
"And I like it that way," Angela quickly replied.
The couple's relationship has become a recurring storyline on Real Housewives of Atlanta, where Angela has spoken candidly about the highs and lows of their marriage.
During an earlier episode this year, she revealed that the pair briefly separated just one year after their 2016 wedding. She also shared that they are planning to renew their vows after overcoming some of the most difficult moments they've faced together.
Angela tied that rough stretch directly to the aftermath of Charles' highly publicized 2017 altercation at Madison Square Garden. During a Knicks game, Charles was removed from his courtside seat by security and arrested following a confrontation inside the arena.
He later filed a civil lawsuit against Madison Square Garden and Knicks owner James Dolan over the incident, beginning a legal battle that has stretched for years.
Recent developments in that case include a federal judge ordering Charles to pay more than $642,000 in attorney fees related to discovery disputes, while he also remains banned from attending games at Madison Square Garden despite attempts by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Michael Jordan to help broker peace.
Looking back on that period, Angela said the emotional toll reached beyond the courtroom.
"We were newly married," she recalled. "He needed to heal, and I couldn't heal him during this time. I was just like, 'You know what? We're going to try to work through this at a distance.'"
The couple ultimately lived apart before recommitting to one another. "Everything that happened since we got married, it affected us," Angela said.
