‘RHOP’ star Gizelle Bryant talks rekindling a relationship with her ex-husband, reunion tea and the struggle that led to building a business
Bryant recently opened up to theGrio in a candid interview about balancing friendships, business, and of course, L-O-V-E!
Gizelle Bryant dishes about her longstanding, roller coaster friendships with the other women on "Real Housewives of Potomac," her evolving love life and what we can expect from the next explosive episode from the Season 4 reunion.
Gizelle Bryant of the Real Housewives of Potomac is a mother of three girls, a successful entrepreneur, and professional pot stirrer. If you ask her, she may not be the one to start the mess, but she will be the one to finish it.
Last week, the CEO of EveryHue cosmetics dropped a bomb during The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 4 reunion, sending fans into a frenzy. Apparently, she is trying love on the remix rekindling her relationship with former husband, megachurch Pastor Jamal Bryant. The two have been apart for more than a decade, but are trying to work at this thing called love once again.
What’s different this time around? Bryant says the time they’ve spent apart has been instrumental in helping them both grow individually and spiritually.
Bryant also dishes on her longstanding, roller coaster friendship with on-screen frenemy, Karen Hugar, and what we can expect from the next explosive episode from the Season 4 reunion.
The Grio: What was different between filming the reunion for season four compared to the others?
Gizelle Bryant: I think as a group, all the ladies are really invested in one another. We’ve been around each other for a while, and the relationships are a little bit more intense. So, I guess that makes the fights more intense.
I felt like with this reunion, more so than in the past, we had a whole lot to handle. The reunion is when all the questions are answered and everything is put on the table, and there was just so much to put on the table [this time around].
We’re dealing with me and Karen and our nonsense, Ashley [Darby] and Candiace [Dillard], and Michael Darby, you know? So it was a whole lot, but I felt like, when it was over, all the questions were answered. No one should feel like anything was not addressed.
The Grio: What’s been the biggest difference in the Real Housewives of Potomac from when you all first started filming compared to now ?
Gizelle Bryant: From season one? Wow. Well, Karen’s hair is much better (laughs)
No, seriously, I feel like we’ve all kind of grown up a little bit. Just being in the public eye kind of forces you to. We’re a little more aware of everybody’s dynamic. Take Karen and I for example. We’ve been great friends for a very long time, and now that there is a show, when we have problems, they don’t get handled as fast as it would if we were not [on a show]. The show has kind of created a huge, actually funny, dynamic, between us.
READ MORE: Real Housewives of Potomac’s Ashley Darby meets her dad for the first time in 30 years
The Grio: Do you ever feel like your franchise doesn’t get the same treatment as the other Real Housewives?
Gizelle Bryant: I definitely feel like we’re the underdogs. Absolutely, 100 percent! I mean, we came along four years ago, and all the other franchises have about six, seven years in already. So we’re huge underdogs!
Then on top of that, there was “The Real Housewives of D.C.,” [in 2010] that did not do well. So, we did not know if we would be accepted because we were from a city that nobody could pronounce, and it’s the outskirts of D.C.
All the other [Real Housewives] cities are major cities, outside of Orange County. So, I feel like we had a lot stacked against us, but, that’s when it gets good! That’s when you put your big girl panties on and make it happen. Now, everybody knows us, loves us and realizes that we’re here to stay.
The Grio: On to business! Your company, EveryHue Beauty, is helping to remedy some of the issues around servicing diverse clients within the beauty industry. What’s next for the brand?
Gizelle Bryant: EveryHue is my baby. I would like to further create awareness for women of color in the beauty industry. We should not be left out.
Right now, I’m concentrating on lips and eye shadows and the funner sides of makeup, so to speak. So, we started with the skin and the tinted moisturizers, and now we’re just building the brand out with different products that are a little bit more fun.
The Grio: EveryHue specifically addresses the needs of various skin tones. Have you experienced difficulties finding your right shade in the past?Â
Gizelle Bryant: Even as a lighter skinned woman, there wasn’t anything for me years ago. Obviously I have different undertones than a Caucasian woman, and the industry is so geared towards that tone, that they kind of left us out. When they did make something for us, it was just always off. My whole goal is to just fix that problem.
READ MORE: 5 Reasons to watch ‘Real Housewives of Potomac’
The Grio: Let’s talk about love, especially in your case, giving things a second shot. Why are you and your ex-husband, Pastor Bryant, together again and have you received any backlash from the online haters?
Gizelle Bryant: I haven’t really received any criticism. First of all, I’ve been very overwhelmed with the response from people who, I had no idea, even cared. I was just like, wow! People have been saying they’ve been praying for us, they’ve been fasting, they haven’t eaten in 14 years (laughs). People are really riding for he and I to work and bring the family back together.
READ MORE:Â Baltimore Pastor Jamal Bryant to lead Atlanta church
If you can do that successfully with somebody, and there is love there, then I think that should always be the priority and for us, that’s our family. We have three kids, and if the family can get back together, then hey, the Obamas can’t be the only ones [repping Black love!]
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The Grio: I noticed you told Shaunie O’Neal on social media, ‘Just waiting on you!’ talking about the two of you getting back with her exes. What was that about?
Gizelle Bryant: (laughs) What’s so funny about that is…I don’t even know when it started, but Shaunie and I had been DM’ing each other about our exes for a very long time. It’s always been like, ‘Well, I’ll go back when you go back.’
We would see something on social media with Shaquille with some woman and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but she ain’t you though! Go ‘head and knock her off.’ Then she might hit me with something and I’m like, ‘I ain’t never going back!’
Now, I feel like this is the perfect opportunity for me to go on and tell the world that she and Shaquille need to go on and get back together [too]!
The Grio: What advice would you give to other women who are considering giving love a second chance with the same man ?Â
Gizelle Bryant: First, you have to love yourself because without that, nothing else can work. I feel like the time that he (Jamal) and I have been divorced has been all about that. Him working on him, and me working on me and just becoming the business mogul and beautiful, take-no-prisoners woman that I am!
I feel like God has a way of making things right, and you have to make sure that you are listening to God and yourself. And, if it’s right, go for it. We only live once!
Amen!
Tune in to part two of the Real Housewives of Potomac reunion that airs this Sunday at 9 P.M. (ET) on Bravo TV.
