“The Real Housewives of Potomac” ladies are back for Season 8, and while there’s a new housewife in Nneka Ihim, Karen Huger maintains there’s still only one Grande Dame.
The ladies of Potomac will kick everything off for an eighth time on Sunday, bringing back the full cast Karen Huger, Wendy Osefo, Robyn Dixon, Candiace Dillard Bassett, Gizelle Bryant, Mia Thornton, Ashley Darby and new housewife Nneka Ihim.
In the Season 8 opener, fans will see Bryant’s new bae, “Winter House” star Jason Cameron, an update on Thornton’s The Joint business meltdown, Ashley Darby’s new home and the aftermath of Dixon’s husband Juan’s cheating scandal. In an interview with TheWrap, Huger and Bryant shared what fans can anticipate this the season.
Gizelle Bryant supported Robyn Dixon during Juan Dixon’s cheating scandal, but said there were moments she felt she wasn’t being a “good friend” to Dixon
During Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon’s podcast “Reasonably Shady,” Dixon addressed the infidelity rumors surrounding her husband Juan Dixon, and admitted he “was an idiot” for communicating inappropriately with another woman online. Afterward, Dixon was met with criticism for withholding the details from airing on the show, and ultimately dealt with people’s opinions about the her marriage. Bryant shared she wanted Dixon to put herself first amid the drama. The Season 8 premiere features a moment with the couple discussing the controversy.
“There was nothing in me that felt like I needed to give [Robyn Dixon] space,” Bryant told TheWrap. “Robyn and I, we have “Potomac,” we have [our podcast] ‘Reasonably Shady,’ I’m with her all the time. I see Juan all the time. I’m at their house. That’s where we record ‘Reasonably Shady,’ so we’re going to talk this through. I need to make sure my girl is okay. There were there were days where I’m just like, ‘Do you want me just come over, we can just hang out.’ I was feeling overwhelmed by it, so I can only imagine it was probably 100 times worse for her because this is actually her life and her husband. It wasn’t good times. It was some dark, dark days.”
She continued: “I don’t want to say it’s like this now, but in the moment, I felt like [Robyn] wasn’t putting herself first. She was just putting [Juan] first, and as women, we have a tendency to do that sometimes. I’m the queen of ‘I put me first’ all day long, and if you don’t understand it, then get to steppin’. So I just needed for her to have a little bit of that. As a friend, I’ve got to support my girl. So if all she needs is for me to support her, then that is what I’m going to do, regardless of whether or not I agree with it. It is not my life. It’s hers. So I was just here to support her. And I felt there were some days where I wasn’t a good friend. I wasn’t being supportive. I was just kind of being an a–hole and kind of being like, ‘You know, let’s cut and run.’ But I had to check myself. It really it was like a Gizelle self realization: this is not my life. This is hers, and all I want for her to do is to live her best life.”
Karen Huger “really” likes new housewife Nneka Ihim, but maintains there’s only one Grande Dame
In the Season 8 trailer of “The Real Housewives of Potomac” Gizelle Bryant is seen crowning new housewife Nneka Ihim as the “new Grande Dame of Potomac.” Huger said that there are specific requirements one must attain and a curriculum one must undergo in order to be given the title.
“The Grande Dame title can’t be taken, I have to give it. Stayed tuned, darling, Season 8. Don’t let the teaser trick you,” Huger said with a smile while giving Ihim her flowers. “I really like Nneka. Nneka’s a great addition to the show. She’s very ambitious, obviously. I will open a school for those who would like to be the Grande Dame. They have to enroll in a class, but I have a daughter that’s in line for my title. I’m honored that [Nneka] would like to do that, but she’s got to pay her dues, and we’ll see if she has what it takes. Stay tuned.”
As far as what it takes to be a Grande Dame…
“First of all, you have to be tough as nails. You have to have an internal switch to know when to turn it on and when to turn it off. You have to be grounded at all times, and you have to have wisdom. That takes time. And that means, triple 20. The right person is the Grande Dame, for now,” Huger said.
Gizelle Bryant welcomes new boo Jason Cameron from “Winter House” onto Season 8 of “RHOP”
In the Season 8 premiere of “The Real Housewives of Potomac” Gizelle Bryant shows off her new guy Jason Cameron, who is also a star on Bravo’s “Winter house.”
“He’s somebody that’s in my life. We started dating. We’ve been great. I’m super happy he’s in my life. I feel like he’s just a breath of fresh air, and we have fun. He makes me laugh, and my kids love him,” Bryant said.
When it came to having him on the show, Bryant said Cameron isn’t camera-shy, and that he understands her life as a TV personality because he’s a reality star as well.
“He gets it, he gets it, and he’s not afraid of the cameras. There’s no intimidation factor there. He understands it. Of course, that would make it a lot easier,” Bryant said, mentioning that he was totally fine coming onto the show is she was comfortable having him.
“He was like, ‘I’ll do whatever you want. If you want me to be on if I can. He totally took my lead, but I didn’t have an expectation. As I started dating him, I wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I expect you to be on my show. Absolutely not. But it was nice to have him around for sure.”
Gizelle Bryant and Karen Huger address the colorism conversation that took place at the Season 7 reunion.
During the Season 7 reunion for “The Real Housewives of Potomac” the cast opened up about the issue of colorism after viewers expressed they felt housewives Wendy Osefo and Cadiace Dillard Bassett were were treated unfairly and/or received discriminatory treatment because of their darker complexions. The colorism conversation, in general, is an issue that even “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Kenya Moore has highlighted, and one that Karen Huger addressed as a “real problem.”
“Colorism is a real topic. It’s a real problem. Of course [the cast] talk[s] about it, and we work on it daily. We are a work in progress. I’m so proud of the work we’re doing on ‘RHOP’ to address it,” Huger said. “One day at a time. We will dismantle it. Where we are now is, working. We’re all working toward the good and the betterment, better understanding of colorism and the damage that it can do to a Black woman, a Black man, a Black baby. It’s not okay. So certainly we are hoping for the absolute best.
Gizelle Bryant, Robyn Dixon and Ashley Darby have previously addressed the topic, and Bryant said she believes colorism exists, but doesn’t feel it’s an issue within the group.
“There’s been no conversations with me beyond the reunion. There are no colorists amongst the ladies. Does colorism exist? Abso-freaking-lutely. Am I colorist? Absolutely not,” Bryant said. “Do I feel like if it’s not happening within the show, is this conversation that we should continue to talk about over and over again. No, because I think at some point, we’re not CNN. We’re not a news show. We’re not to fix colorism in America. We are a reality show, and we’re entertainment.”
Bryant continued: “I was happy to hear that no one felt like there was colorism in this show because that would be very bothersome. The whole situation has been bad. It’s unfortunate I’ve had to live live through death threats, I had to live through things that my cast mates have put out in social media that aren’t true which has caused there to be attacks against me, attacks against Rob [Robyn Dixon] and attacks against Ashley [Darby] that are not warranted. So that has been unfortunate. And it’s really things that are hard to get past, to be honest with you.”
Karen Huger and Gizelle Bryant are in a ‘good place’ this season, despite their on-again, off-again relationship
Despite the two’s hot and cold relationship over the past years, both Karen Huger and Gizelle Bryant confirmed they are in a better place this season.
“Let me tell you something. We were hanging out last night (Oct. 23). We were in this restaurant last night. We shut that thing down. Okay, that’s No. 1., No. 2. is, she’s crazy. She is certified crazy. Anybody that walks by, she’s just like, ‘Oh, Gizelle, so what do you think about them?’ I’m like, ‘The waiter? I don’t think anything about the waiter, like, what are you talking about? Like it? We had a ball.”
From Huger’s end…
“We’re in a good place right now, and I’m grateful for that. No one knows better than I and Gizelle that our relationship is on again off again. So when it’s on, we truly, truly enjoy each other. Yes, we had a wonderful, fun girl dinner. No cameras, no pictures were taken. We didn’t share a moment with anyone but us. I had [my husband Raymond Huger] Ray Ray come, join us later, and it was a good thing. It was a good feeling. We hadn’t done it in years so. It’s a good place right now.
“The Real Housewives of Potomac” heads back to Bravo screens on Nov. 5, with new episodes set to run every Sunday.
