I don’t know about you, but I’ve always kind of thought of The Real Housewives of Potomac as the less interesting step sister of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. But no more. In their third season, the Potomac ladies are bringing some serious drama!
When we picked up with the crew last night, they’d just finished a pretty eventful lunch that included loud arguing, F bombs, and a waiter coming to check on them. They were exhausted!
As they all settled into their rooms at the resort, they did a post mortem on the days events: Karen and Gizelle both felt that Candiace was at fault for the argument she had with Charrisse, and should apologize. But they also both agreed that Candiace calling Charrisse “geriatric” was hilarious!
Of course, they had a chuckle at Candiace’s expense too. When Ashley saw a Louis Vuitton bag sitting on a chair, and said she thought it belonged to Candiace, Karen said it was “probably her mom’s bag”. Even Ashley had to laugh at that one!
Monique was torn. She and Charrisse have been cool for a while, but she also really likes Candiace, and already considers her a friend. She also felt a little guilty because she and Ashley had both pushed her to stand up to the other women.
None of them could help but overhear Candiace as she spoke loudly over the phone to her fiancé, Chris, about how she didn’t need the approval of some “old, thirsty b****es” to feel good about herself, and really just wanted to go home.
Poor, little thing! They’d just barely gotten through lunch on the first day of their trip, and she’d already gotten her feelings hurt. Needless to say, dinner didn’t go much smoother.
It was pretty tense from the start. Ashley, who was hosting the trip, tried to get everyone to relax, and enjoy themselves, but then she became preoccupied by texts from her mother asking for money.
She explained to the others that her husband, Michael, had issued an ultimatum to her: cut her mother off financially, or their marriage will be over. The other ladies agreed with Michael, and said a mother really shouldn’t put her child in such a position.
Candiace’s mother began texting, too…although probably to give her money. But still, seeing Ashley caught between her mother and her husband clearly had her thinking about the lack of boundaries in her relationship with her own mother, and she promptly hit ignore.
After the ladies ordered, the mood began to turn a little lighter. But then out of nowhere, Karen announced that she was “still harboring bad feelings from last year”. What?! Last year?! And things were going so well for 5 whole minutes.
The ladies just looked at her like she was crazy, but she couldn’t be stopped. She said that Gizelle owed her husband, Ray, an apology for calling him “outside of his name”, and that she’d have never attacked any of their husbands that way.
Gizelle has been calling Ray “Uncle Ben”, for years, and Karen knew it, but showing up to Karen’s “press conference” with the nickname bedazzled onto a T-shirt, along with #free the Hubers and # tax reform, was a bridge too far.
No one could quite understand why Karen would be bringing this up now, and Robyn, thoroughly amused by now, wanted to know what, exactly, Karen wanted Gizelle to apologize FOR, and kept repeating the nickname.
Karen told her not to say it again, but she did…and with a smile on her face! Well, Karen wasn’t having THAT! She told Robyn to “shut the f*** up” and to “stop being Gizelle’s puppet.” Robyn argued that was only asking a question, but Karen told her she needed to “grow up, and get her own panties”.
No one had a clue what that meant, and Robyn openly laughed at Karen, and said “you’re drunk”. Karen said maybe she was drunk, but she was also “real,” and called Robyn, “the dizziest b*tch at the table.”
Everyone agreed things were getting out of hand at that point, and lambasted Karen for calling another woman a b*tch. She apologized for that part, but said she wasn’t taking back “dizzy”. She did, however, have enough self awareness to admit that she’s not so good at apologizing.
The matter was more or less dropped, but Ashley wisely, asked the waitress to pack their food to go. Better safe than sorry, I guess.
The following morning, the ladies divided into two groups for the day to take in the beauty of The Nemacolin Woodlands. Monique, Gizelle, Karen, and Charrisse went fly fishing, and once their guide explained to Monique that there were no alligators in the water…it is Pennsylvania, after all…they had a great time.
But the real fun came afterwards, while they enjoyed a picnic lunch with a side of gossip. Charrisse and Karen had stayed up having cocktails the night before, and Charrisse announced that Karen had offered to set her up on a date…with “Blue Eyes”, of all people!
To refresh your memory, “Blue Eyes” is the man that Charrise accused Karen of having an affair with during last season’s reunion. Apparently, the streets of Potomac have been abuzz with this rumor for quite some time, but Karen has maintained that “Blue Eyes” is just her friend and “driver”.
Since his name had been brought up, Gizelle thought it was a good time to warn Karen that Ashley was telling everyone who would listen that her stepson had recently seen Karen “all hugged up” in a restaurant with “Blue Eyes”. Karen vowed to handle it.
In the meantime, Robyn, Ashley, and Candiace bonded over clay pigeon shooting. Robyn really enjoyed Candiace’s “fun, playful energy,” and decided she genuinely liked the newbie. Pause. Robyn likes someone that Gizelle doesn’t like? SHOCKER! She also got along really well with Ashley.
When the ladies reconvened for rope climbing, Ashley and Robyn seemed to gain a new found respect for one another, as they clasped hands, and helped balance each other 40 feet in the air.
This kumbyah moment was mainly possible because Gizelle was on the 4 ft rope course with Karen. Because here’s the thing: Karen really was being real the night before. Robyn is Gizelle’s puppet. When they’re apart, Robyn’s a totally different person…open, fun, adventurous, even. But when they’re together, she’s anxious, and far too eager to please her bestie, which instantly alienates everyone else.
And speaking of alienating everyone, the ladies had another pretty eventful dinner after the day’s activities. And this one may have been even crazier than the last at.
Seriously, they just started dropping bombs on each other. Any underlying issues were simply blurted out without a second thought. It was quite stunning, actually.
Karen got the ball rolling by announcing that she, Charrisse, Monique and Gizelle had been talking about all of them, and that Monique agreed with them about Candiace being in the wrong in her feud with Charrise.
Candiace seemed to feel slighted. After all, she’d thought Monique would have her back, especially since she’d been so adamant about Candiace standing up for herself, saying how she would have gotten all up in Charrise’s face if she were her.
But now that Charrisse was there, Monique was changing her tune. She actually sat there looking right at Candiace, explaining all the ways she was wrong, as though she hadn’t gassed her up.
But Ashley actually did have Candiace’s back, and quickly pointed out to everyone that Candiace had basically done exactly what they’d BOTH encouraged her to do. Monique quickly shot Ashley a look that said ‘SHUT UP’! But she wasn’t out of the hot seat yet.
Candiace added that Monique had said that Charrisse was jealous of her and Monique’s friendship. This got Charrisse’s attention, and she quickly denied any jealousy. She also told Monique that saying something like that to Candiace was setting her up to believe Charrisse didn’t like her before they’d even gotten to know each other. Monique sat stuck between them like a deer caught in headlights, before finally saying she’d only been “joking”.
Now, here’s the strange part: Monique never said that…Ashley did. Monique had only laughed and agreed. And you could tell by the way she averted her eyes, that Ashley remembered perfectly well that she’d been the one who said it, but she remained silent. Stranger still was the fact that Monique seemed to remember saying something she never said.
But either way, Candiace piped up to explain that she really hadn’t been calling Charrisse a b*tch when she called her question a “shady b*tch moment”, and it really wasn’t that serious. She also admitted she was wrong for calling her “geriatric”, and while neither woman actually apologized, the matter seemed to be closed.
Then Robyn addressed Monique, and told her that Ashley said she’d had 4 martinis the day she’d wrecked her car. Monique once again looked at Ashley, who appeared equally shocked to be have been thrown under the bus so blatantly, and simply said “did I say four?”
Yes…yes, she did. And she maintained that Monique had at least three. Monique said she only had two, and can usually have five before she throws up, so she wasn’t drunk. Someone should tell her that’s not how it works…AT ALL!
And the other ladies did try. They explained that even if she didn’t feel drunk, if she had pulled over, she would have beenin serious trouble. Karen, who has a past DUI, herself, was particularly adamant, and suggested that Monique get a driver when she wanted to indulge. But when Monique continued to insist that she was “just tired” when she fell asleep behind the wheel, Karen turned her attention to Ashley.
The two women were sitting right next to each other, so Karen barely spoke above a whisper, as she told Ashley to stop spreading rumors about her relationship with “Blue Eyes.” But when Ashley asked, in a slightly louder voice, if Karen and Ray had some sort of “arrangement,” it got the others’ attention, and they began openly listening to their conversation.
Karen said that, of course, she and Ray didn’t have an arrangement, and said again that “Blue Eyes” was “just the driver.” But Ashley wasn’t buying it, and asked Karen if she’d ever been “physical” with him. Karen said no, and asked if Michael, had ever been physical with “the man in London,” referring to rumors that Michael had carried on an affair with an unknown man from across the pond.
Ashley said he had never been physical with the man, and that Karen was trying to deflect. She added that no one had actually seen her husband with this mystery man, but that sightings of Karen canoodling with “Blue Eyes” were a regular occurrence.
Now, I admit, I’ve never had a driver, but aren’t they supposed to wait in the car? I always thought that was the big selling point. But this guy has been seen wining and dining with Karen all over Potomac.
The others asked how Ray felt about the rumors, and Karen said he “hated them,” but was a secure man, who trusted his wife. The others seemed doubtful, and asked why Karen continued the friendship, if it caused problems in her marriage.
Karen said her marriage was “stronger than ever”. But Charrisse dropped one more bomb…and it was a doozy. She reminded Karen that during their boozy, late-night chat, she’d confided that Ray had recently asked her for a divorce!
The other women were shocked! Especially when Karen quietly said, “yes,” it was true.
The show faded to black from there, but the drama continues next week. Not only can we expect to learn more about the trials and tribulations of The Grande Dame and Uncle Ben (yeah, I said it), but previews show a confrontation between Robyn and Monique that threatens to get physical. Stay tuned!
TELL US – THOUGHTS ON THE LATEST RHOP EPISODE? WAS CHARRISSE WRONG TO SPILL KAREN’S DIVORCE TEA? DO YOU BELIEVE KAREN IS HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH BLUE EYES?