Another “Ultimate Girls Trip” is here, this time with Gizelle Bryant and Candiace Dillard Bassett! TheGrio caught up with the two Potomac ladies, breaking down their trip, the biggest differences between shooting this series vs. their main show and what surprised them the most while filming with women from different cities.
The third installment of “The Real Housewives” spin-off “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” has landed on Peacock, bringing together housewives from Potomac, Atlanta, Salt Lake City and New York for another epic and drama-filled trip, this time to Thailand.
On their respective shows, the ladies’ various relationships run deep, but this series offers an opportunity for the women to make new bonds and connect with other housewives, something Bryant herself was looking forward to. “I went into it wanting to be friends with all the ladies, and leaving there still friends,” she explained.
The addition of Porsha Williams (“The Real Housewives of Atlanta”) was also particularly exciting for Bryant, as the two had already worked together on “Bravo’s Chat Room” in 2020. “I was super excited, obviously, about Porsha. We had a great time! All of the ladies are special in their own right and we truly enjoyed it.”
Joining Bryant, Dillard Bassett and Williams on the series are Heather Gay and Whitney Rose from “Salt Lake City,” Leah McSweeney from “New York” and Alexia Nepola and Marysol Patton from “Miami.” Bryant knew Williams going in and had communicated with Gay, but Dillard Bassett had only met McSweeney before.
Unlike normal seasons of “The Real Housewives,” however, “Ultimate Girls Trip” gets rid of the fourth wall completely, allowing the women to openly talk about the cameras, filming their shows and how their lives have shifted while living in the public eye. “For me, it’s like I was able to break free of the chains of that wall,” Dillard Bassett quipped.
She continued, “Being on a show where it’s almost encouraged to talk about the BTS [behind the scenes] of it all, it feels freeing and relieving. Bravo has done a really good job at keeping up at what the fans want to see and they want to see the real of reality and part of that is talking about the camera, what the producer said to me and all of that.”
Bryant appreciated this aspect of the “Ultimate Girls Trip” show. “It was a relief to be quite honest to be able to say so many things we can’t say on our own shows,” she told theGrio. “I’m loving how everything we are saying, they’re pulling [clips] from our own shows!”
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Both Bryant and Dillard Bassett said they would recommend the “Ultimate Girls Trip” experience to their fellow “Potomac” castmates. Bryant said, “With ‘Ultimate Girls Trip’ it was like ground zero, a fresh start. Let’s all get to know each other and let the chips fall where they may. And that’s refreshing having just done ‘Potomac’ season after season.”
Dillard Bassett added, “I think we try to represent our respective franchises well. We had a lot of pride in our individual franchises … I would encourage them to go with that same pride and just to be ready for anything.”
Season 3 of “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” is currently streaming on Peacock.
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