'The Real Housewives of Potomac' is back, and OG star Gizelle Bryant is teasing what's ahead (on and off the show) in season 8.
Word on the street is, Gizelle Bryant is done engaging with Candiace Dillard Bassett.
"I don't even know what the hell's going on in Candiace's home, nor do I care, OK?" the OG Real Housewives of Potomac star tells ET over Zoom, just after Candiace threw a little social media smoke Gizelle's way for discussing cheating rumors about Candiace's husband, Chris Bassett, on her podcast with co-star Robyn Dixon, Reasonably Shady.
"If you would just shut the f**k up and worry about your boyfriends for hire and cheating husbands, you wouldn't have to post 'proof' that you weren’t behind yet another plot against someone's family," Candiace wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "Once again, the people of God are tired."
"I don't care what she says on Twitter at all, and clearly she should be concerned about what's going on in her bedroom, 'cause unfortunately, we've all seen what she sleeps with... unfortunately," Gizelle fires off in response. "My DMs was DM-ing, OK?"
Chris and Candiace have denied any wrongdoing on his part. The reports have also largely been debunked via lack of evidence; photos claiming to be of Chris in intimate situations don't seem to line up with his actual physical appearance.
This follows last season of RHOP, which largely centered on claims Gizelle made against Chris, saying he made her feel uncomfortable at the season 6 reunion when they spoke privately in her dressing room. Candiace and Chris rebuffed Gizelle's allegations, going on to suggest Gizelle only came for the Bassetts in order to divert attention from drama unfolding behind closed doors at Robyn's house.
"Absolutely not," Gizelle spouts.
After the women wrapped season 7, Robyn addressed infidelity rumors about her husband, Juan Dixon, on Reasonably Shady, revealing they weathered a bit of a storm while filming the show. Robyn didn't let cameras in on that, though. She did, however, let cameras capture her and Juan's wedding. The couple remarried after season 7 wrapped production (they previously divorced in 2012), and after his alleged infidelity came to light.
"If there's anything that's out there on social, yeah, Robyn and I are gonna talk about it," Gizelle explains. "We have a podcast to talk about such things. So, that is what we did. But no, Robyn's-- whatever's going on at Robyn's house is what's going on at Robyn's house."
Gizellle denies being aware of Robyn's issues before she shared them with the world. Robyn discussed Juan's alleged dalliances after photos began to surface of him online, spending time with other women at nail salons, laundromats and elsewhere. There was also a story of a woman who claimed the former NBA player paid for her hotel room. It's all unpacked immediately on the season 8 premiere, with Gizelle holding her bestie's feet to the fire for answers.
"It was very much in the moment, meaning, you know, the situation with the nail salon, all that was, we were hot off of that," Gizelle says, noting that it was not a premeditated interrogation of Robyn.
"I had a lot of feelings about, you know, Robyn putting Robyn first," she adds. "I never wanna be a friend that's not honest, you know? If I'm your friend, I'm gonna be honest with you. Now, after we have a conversation, I'm gonna fall back, and I'm going to support whatever it is that you do. But I first need to give my opinion. So, she allowed me the space to do that, which I do appreciate, because we are friends. But you know, Robyn is a woman that puts family over everything. So that is what we will see."
Gizelle comes at this situation speaking from experience. Her own marriage to pastor Jamal Bryant ended in 2009, in part due to infidelity.
"She knows my history, so she knows all of my advice is firsthand advice," Gizelle points out. "I think that you know, as we watch the season progress, we'll see that [Robyn and Juan] navigate through their issues and that's actually what a marriage is all about."
That said, Gizelle doesn't believe Robyn owes anyone answers.
"I don't need to have all my questions answered," she says. "What I need is for my girl to be good, and she seems like she's in a great place right now. She seems extremely happy. So that's where I am with it, that's all I care about."
When the trailer dropped in September, some emotional moments with Robyn -- including asking how she became the cast's villain -- sparked speculation that this might be a "takedown" season for the laidback star.
"No," Gizelle declares. "I don't even like those terms, like, 'I'm a take you down!' Like, that's very strange to me, those terms that a lot of people like to throw out there. I think that Robyn very much stands on her own two feet and says very much, and answers every question that anyone has about her situation, and she doesn't have to do that. She don't have to answer to nobody, but she allows these ladies to ask and she answers."
As for what leads to that villain conversation and Robyn crying on the curb, Gizelle teases it's "a lot."
"There's a lot of people that do want to attack her, that do wanna take pleasure in whatever's going on with her and her husband," she says. "A lot of people want to kick her while she was down, and I think that that's cruel, to be quite honest with you. And then, of course, Robyn was on her period, so that's never good, OK? Don't mess with her when she on her period, OK?"
As for Gizelle's personal story this season, viewers will watch her send her first kid, Grace, off to college -- "That whole journey with my kids, at this point time, the fans seem to be very invested" -- and introduce her situation-ship to the group. She's dating fellow Bravo-leb Jason Cameron, of Winter House. He's 16 years her junior and they're not defining their relationship, despite being linked since January.
"Jason is a breath of fresh air," she gushes. "He is somebody that I love to hang out with and have fun with. We are still dating. That is the-- everybody wants to put a title on it, Like, we just have fun. Can't we just have fun? And it was nice to actually, I had him around my children and that was nice, because they really like Jason. They like having fun with them."
"Jason is funny," she continues. "He's closer to [my daughters'] age. So, they laugh at different jokes than I, you know, I don't understand what they saying sometimes. You know, they do see their mother happy, and that's all they ever care about."
Gizelle says Candiace is wrong again to call Jason a "boyfriend for hire" or to suggest she's only with him for show.
"I don't do that," Gizelle says. "And just for the record, I don't speak to her, so I will never be addressing her."
Along with Candiace, Gizelle's also seemingly not on great terms with Dr. Wendy Osefo.
"I didn't even really see her much all season, to be quite honest with you," she shares. "And that was great for me."
Gizelle does count everyone else on the cast as a part of her circle, even longtime frenemy Karen Huger... though they have a little friction after Gizelle crowns newbie Nneka Ihim the group's new "Grande Dame," a title Karen's claimed for years.
"She comes from, like, real Nigerian royalty and money, you know," Gizelle says of RHOP's newest flute-holder. "That's nice. She's got a lot of style and class. I do love that she is, you know, obviously very intelligent. I like that. She doesn't take herself too seriously. You know, she's here to understand that in Potomac, we have a lot of shenanigans, and I come with the shenanigans, OK? And she it seems like she takes it with the grain of salt, and I like that."
Then there's Mia Thornton, whose marriage of more than a decade to Gordon Thornton comes to an end this season on the show. He's claimed (via TMZ interview) that she fell in love with a side piece he allowed her to have, and decided to opt out of their marriage after Gordon's finances dried up. His family iced both Gordon and Mia out of the chiropractic clinic franchise business they oversaw, the aftermath of which will play out on season 8.
"Not a surprise," Gizelle says of the split. "We kind of saw it festering or getting there, but a surprise that Gordon decided to, like, put up a ring light and a tripod, and record his own feelings on the situation. That was a shock. Yeah, I wasn't ready for that."
"They were both in it for certain reasons," she adds. "He wanted a beautiful, hot woman, who he got off the stripper pole, and she wanted a man that could take care of her and so, if he cannot do that anymore, if you cannot facilitate what the rules are here, then yes, she got to go -- and I'm not mad. Gordon, don't be mad because you can't continue to play your part, and this is what bothers me: Everybody wants to come after Mia and say, 'Oh my gosh! She left him because the money dried up.' Well, if he didn't have any money, he wouldn't have gotten her. So it is what it is."
The Real Housewives of Potomac airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo starting Nov. 5. Episodes stream next day on Peacock.
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