Season three of The Real Housewives of Potomac was undoubtedly the best one yet, and last night the ladies reunited to dish on the good, the bad, and the messy, and it took some pretty unexpected turns.
For starters, let’s talk about those outfits, shall we? I’ve never quite understood the need for evening wear during the Housewives reunions. They all do it, so it must be some sort of unwritten Bravo rule, but it’s a bit much for sitting on couches and arguing with the same women you’ve been arguing with all season. But, I must say that Robyn’s new hair cut is FABULOUS!
Shortly after introducing the ladies in all their overdone finery, host Andy Cohen joked about how often, and how well, the women imitated (or mocked) each other throughout the season. Honorable mention went to Ashley, and her depiction of Karen, or ‘Kurn,’ as Ashley calls her. It was hilarious, and Andy had to hand it to Karen for being such a good sport about it. The other women agreed that Karen had, indeed, taken the joking in stride, although, Ashley thought her laugh had been a little too loud to be genuine, and that perhaps she’d actually been extremely angry. Karen said that she really had thought it was pretty funny, and had needed a good laugh at the time.
One moment of the season that no one found funny was Monique’s car accident. She’d fallen asleep behind the wheel after having a few drinks with Ashley over lunch, and driven her car into a ditch. Monique said that she took a great deal of flack from viewers and blogs over the accident, and that some had gone so far as to say her drinking had likely caused her miscarriage, and it had been extremely hurtful.
When asked if she felt guilty for telling the other women (not to mention the rest of the world) about how many drinks Monique had over lunch, Ashley said that she didn’t regret it in the least because her comment wasn’t the only thing that had led people to believe that Monique may have a problem with alcohol.
But was Ashley being a hypocrite? After all, as Andy pointed out, she certainly loves her Corona Lights. But Ashley said she would have owned it if one too many had caused her to have an accident, she would have owned it, and expected the same type of feedback from the other women and the viewers that Monique got.
In fact, Ashley had fessed up to having quite a few drinks during lunch, herself, the day of the accident, but pointed out that she’d sat in the parking lot for a half hour to sober up before driving home. She’d mentioned this previously during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, but Monique said it was odd that she hadn’t mentioned that she’d done that before then.
Ashley said she’d never mentioned it before because no one had asked, and the topic just hadn’t come up until then. But Monique was quick to point out that no one had asked Ashley about her drinking, either, but it hadn’t stopped her from telling everyone. Andy observed that Monique was getting “crazy defensive,” and he was right–it was quite telling. But Karen stuck up for Monique, and said she believed her when she said she hadn’t had as many drinks as Ashley had said, and added that Ashley was a “pot stirrer.” When Ashley tried to defend herself, Karen told her to STFU!
Monique also mentioned that Karen and Candiace had been the only ones to congratulate her on her pregnancy, which I must agree is a little rude. When Andy said he’d forgotten why Monique and Gizelle didn’t like each other, and asked them to remind him where their beef had started, Monique said they had simply never ‘gelled’ with each other, and that their outspoken personalities had led to a lot of misunderstandings, although she didn’t rule out the possibility of them becoming better friends one day. Gizelle agreed it could happen–IF Monique started owning the things she does and apologizing for them.
Candiace also had her fair share of issues with Gizelle this season, and mentioned how “frustrating” it had been when Gizelle and Monique had laughed at her when she’d tried to talk about the issues in her relationship with the other women while they were in France.
Ashley said that they’d probably laughed because the couldn’t relate to her problem, which pretty much amounted to Candiace’s fiance, Chris, calling her a “princess” because she’d asked him to hold her purse. But Candiace said it had actually been much more than that, and if they’d bothered to listen they’d have known that what he actually said was “don’t let this show go to your head, cause you ain’t s**t.” Ouch!
Andy thought it was a pretty hurtful way for her fiance to be speaking to her, and Candiace agreed that it was “trifling,” but said that part of the reason their relationship worked was because they were both brutally honest. Of course, the other reason their relationship works is Chris’ “brown” penis, which Andy and the other ladies joked they were going to have to see for themselves when he joined them on the couches for part two of the reunion.
While they were on the topic of color, Andy asked why Candiace seemed to mention race so much in terms of her relationship, often referring t something Chris did or said as a “white people thing.” Ashley agreed, and asked why she’d want to have such a divide in her relationship. Candiace said that she could say the same thing about Ashley, and that’s where things got pretty heated!
Ashley said that she never mentioned race in relation to her own marriage. But Candiace said that while she might not mention race, per se, she was always sticking her nose, face, and forehead where they didn’t belong and getting in everyone’s business. In fact, she said Ashley lives to talk trash about any and every one, and “shared everything but her t**t” with the world. Well, she has a point there!
Ashley told her she sounded like “Pageant Patty,” and Candiace quickly pointed out that “Pageant Patty” had a national title, unlike Ashley. But Ashley said that, at least, she’d competed for the title of Miss America, and not the “off brand” Miss United States pageant that Candiace had won.
When Andy asked about Candiace and Chris’ financial situation, and all of the things Candiace’s mother seemed to pay for, Ashley said Candice was more of a “house daughter” than a house wife, and Candiace retorted that Ashley was a “house trollop.”
Andy tried to calm things down by asking about Candiace’s upcoming wedding, and whether, or not all of the ladies had been invited. Candiace said most of them had, and Gizelle piped up to say that she wasn’t on the guest list. Andy asked Candiace if perhaps she wanted to rectify that, and invite Gizelle then and there, but she said that Gizelle had already said many, many times that she didn’t want to attend, and she wouldn’t want to invite someone to go somewhere they didn’t want to be.
But here’s the thing, despite all that venom she’d spewed at Ashley, Candiace had invited her. She said she actually liked Ashley, and could look past all her “messiness,” and see the good, particularly her “free spirit,” which Candiace said she admired.
Andy then turned the conversation toward Robyn, who said that she and Juan are in a much better place, and working on growing stronger. She also talked about the medium who visited their home, and how much it had meant to her when he told her that Juan’s mother, who’d passed away before meeting Robyn, loved her and felt she was good for her son. She also said it helped to hear from their friend who had committed suicide after scamming them out of their money.
Andy asked if perhaps the medium had just been telling them what they wanted to hear, or had just googled the couple (or watched the show) before he arrived. But Robyn said that would have been impossible because she’d never said her friend’s name, nor mentioned how he’d died publicly, so the information wouldn’t have been there for him to read beforehand.
After that, Andy brought up the meme of Robyn fanning herself during last year’s reunion that had been posted on Monique’s fan page. Robyn said she’d found it hurtful, mainly because she hadn’t realized that Monique had a problem with her. Robyn said that she didn’t have a problem with Robyn, and that her brother ran her fan page, and had been the one to post the meme. What was that Gizelle said about Monique not owning up to the things she does?! I think Monique may need to hear it again.
No one was buying that lame excuse, though. They all agreed that the fan page was meant to reflect Monique, and that, therefore, her brother was speaking on her behalf. So, if he was putting down her cast mates in any way, she might want to think about getting someone else to run the page.
Monique agreed that she’d address the issue with her brother, but defected, as only she can, about the fact that Robyn and Gizelle are always speaking on each other’s behalf and that it was almost impossible to speak to one without hearing from the other. Monique said that Gizelle controls Robyn, and that Robyn acted like a faithful little puppy, and said she was surprised Robyn didn’t just sit in Gizelle’s lap. On this, I must agree.
Just as the show was winding down, Andy got down to brass tax (excuse the pun) and asked Karen how she felt about the women trying so hard to get down to the bottom of her husband’s tax issues and their living situation. Karen said that she was happy to say that Ray’s tax issues were in the “rearview mirror,” but admitted that the debt still hadn’t been paid in full.
She also said that the women should concentrate on the issues in their own lives, particularly Ashley, whose husband’s secrets were all over the internet, referring to pics that showed up online that were supposedly posted by Michael’s male lover. Ashley continued to deny that the naked man in the pictures were her husband, but Karen wasn’t buying that. But Ashley said that, unlike Karen, she’s been open about every aspect of her life, and that if those pictures had been of Michael, she’d have no problem admitting it. I have to say this point goes to Ashley…that girl loves to overshare.
After that things got a little more somber. Karen said that she’d been going through a great deal this season. Both of her parents were ill, and every single one of the women knew it, but she said they weren’t interested in asking about that, and only wanted to gossip about her.
Karen lost both of her parents within 7 months of each other, and had only buried her father 5 days before the reunion. Her emotions were understandably raw, and she ran off the stage in tears. The women looked sympathetic and chastened, as they should have been. Gizelle went after Karen, and the two shared a touching moment backstage. Gizelle told Karen that she loved her and that she could handle anything because her parents had made her the strong, black woman she was. The two woman hugged it out, and Karen pulled herself together and returned to the stage for the end of the show.
Now don’t think all this touchy feely stuff is going to last. The women will return for the explosive conclusion of the reunion next Sunday night at 8, and if you think part one was rough, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Stay tuned.
Photo Credit:Charles Sykes/Bravo
TELL US – THOUGHTS ON THE RHOP REUNION PART I? WERE YOU SHOCKED BY KAREN’S BREAKDOWN? THOUGHTS ON GIZELLE CONSOLING HER BACKSTAGE?