(Image: OTRC)

BY STEFANIE REDDING

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The apparent hanging suicide of so-called “househusband” Russell Armstrong -- has some questioning the effects of reality shows -- on real lives.

“The 47 year old who worked as a investment banker and venture capitalist dead as a result of hanging. A suicide note has not been found. His publicist has confirmed that he and his wife were in the process of divorcing.”

Russell’s wife Taylor Armstrong is a cast member on “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

But was it the show that drove him to suicide?

ABC’s Robin Roberts talks with Howard Bragman, a publicist who represents two cast members of the show.

“They are pointing to the show and saying that’s what led to the suicide?”

“I’m just not buying it, Robin. Ultimately Russell has to take responsibility for his life and his death. He wasn’t really a wonderful guy and what the reality situation does is shine a lot of light on that. If you have skeleton’s in your closet they are going to come out and that is exactly what happened to him.”

Armstrong’s attorney Ronald Richard  believes it was a combination of issues  not just the show that led to his untimely demise.

In an interview with Matt Lauer, Richard explains what Armstrong was facing....

“I think that he spent his entire marriage building up his wife to this sort of creciendo of success. And then all of a sudden at the apex of this all she files for divorce...  He was under a lot of financial pressure because he spent so much time getting distracted from reports about what is going to be coming on the show that he ended up spending a lot more than he made every month and didn’t have any savings left and it became a very big burden for him to keep this all going.”

The “Real Housewives” franchise is Bravo’s most lucrative brand -- with multiple locations, from Orange County to and New York.

But the LA Times notes -- the shows seem to have a trend of real-life problems among the reality stars.

“Though many of the women on the shows boast about their rich and seemingly picture-perfect lives, in the tabloids, another reality has often been revealed: At least half a dozen ‘Housewives’ have begun divorce proceedings and roughly the same number have filed for bankruptcy since signing on to the show.”

As of Wednesday afternoon -- Bravo had not made a decision about whether to postpone the show.

Transcript by Newsy.