'Secrets & Wives' Cori On Her Relationship Success

It's not really a "secret" that Bravo's latest reality series Secrets and Wives kind of stands apart from the rest of the network's reality shows. So, it shouldn't surprise you that Secrets and Wives Cori, Andi, and Liza — who are truly #friendshipgoals — are actually great sources of practical life advice, even though they tell Bustle that they don't always take that advice themselves. But, perhaps the wisest advice comes from Cori Goldfarb, when asked about how she's maintained her 20-year marriage to Sandy. "I always say that my marriage is like a stock market," the reality star tells Bustle, "We have highs and lows and sometimes we’re coasting." So, how has she navigated through those highs and lows — especially with the cameras rolling?

"On the show, I did say blow jobs," Goldfarb says — something that her four daughters weren't entirely pleased to hear out loud. But, all humor aside, the owner of Truth + Beauty Spa says that her marriage is work, just like anyone else's. "That’s not just it for 20 years of marriage, it’s a lot of things," she says, "I think we have a very good, open line of communication." Goldfarb attributes her ability to communicate with her husband to the fact that she's been going to therapy for the past 17 years. "I’ve done that work and that enables us to really speak. He knows what my needs are and I know what his needs are," she says — even if they aren't met all of the time.

"At the end of the day, we truly love each other," Goldfarb says of her marriage, which is a huge factor in what's made her marriage so successful — through thick and thin that's included Sandy losing his job on Wall Street, the pair becoming business partners, and selling their Hamptons house to pay for their new business. "It’s 20 years and, if you still really have that love down deep, it’s worth working for," the reality star tells Bustle. And, yes, cynics out there, this is Goldfarb's first marriage (though, her husband's second) — so it really is possible to have relationship on reality TV and this might be as real as it gets.

Image: Barbara Nitke/Bravo