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Wife Helping Tio Hardiman Get Career Back On Track

CHICAGO (CBS) -- In their first TV interview together since the scandal broke, former CeaseFire director Tio Hardiman and his wife talk about the night he was arrested for beating her, why she dropped the charges, and the doubters.

Hardiman says he wants to revive his career following his arrest in May and, he's got one supporter, his wife. They spoke only to CBS 2's Mai Martinez.

Tio Hardiman is talking about his May 31 arrest for domestic violence and for the first time publicly, Hardiman's wife Alison is also talking about it.

"We're a couple that had issues, like any other couple that go through issues," said Alison.

Whether those issues led to physical abuse neither is saying.

"I can't comment on that, and all the charges have been dropped, and I just have to be straight up," says Tio Hardiman.

"It's just an incident that happened that night," says Alison Hardiman.

But that incident prompted her to walk into the Hillside Police Department the next day, and tell officers her husband beat her.

On whether the allegations were untrue, Alison Hardiman says, "I'm not saying they're true or not true either way."

Alsion Hardiman says she dropped the charges against her husband because the stress of the legal proceedings was just too much.

"My health has gotten worse. I just couldn't go on," says Alison Hardiman. "I dropped the charges because I was extremely stressed out."

The Hardimans say they've moved past what happened that May night, and they want others too as well.

"The most important thing that I've won back is the respect of my wife and my family, so now I believe I'll be ok," says Tio Hardiman. "I'm not asking the world to forgive me, as long as my wife is with me.

In addition to working on his marriage, Haridman says he's focused on rebuilding his career. In his words: "The best is yet to come."

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