Gizelle Bryant is embarking on the second season of The Real Housewives of Potomac. This Hampton University graduate is a single mother of three daughters, two of them are twins.
She is currently developing her makeup line EveryHue Beauty. She does all of this while balancing cameras tracking her every move on the hit reality show.
JN: (Jerry Nunn) Where are you originally from?
GB: (Gizelle Bryant) I am from Washington, DC, so right outside of Potomac. I went to school at Hampton, University, which is in Virginia. I moved to Baltimore for a little while, then back to Potomac.
JN: What did you study in school?
GB: Marketing.
JN: That must come in handy.
GB: It does, maybe a little too much. Sometimes when I talk to the execs at Bravo they say I ask too many technical questions.
JN: How were you cast on Housewives in the first place?
GB: Casting called. The casting director was a friend of mine that I have known for 20 years. He casts multiple shows. I just so happened that he was hired to cast The Real Housewives of Potomac. I think it because of my relationship with him that I even considered it.
JN: How did they find everyone else?
GB: They found Karen Huger around. I had known Karen for years, so that made me feel comfortable. I recommended Robyn Dixon. Charisse was somehow in the mix. They added Katie Rost, and Ashely Darby on the first season.
Katie is gone, and now we have Monique Samuels.
JN: How is she doing?
GB: She is doing. She is holding her own. She is married to a former Washington Redskin.
They have been in the area for awhile, so that is nice.
JN: Did you watch the other Housewife shows before being cast?
GB: I did. I am true to Atlanta. I live Beverly Hills and I like the New York girls. I don’t really watch the OC because they change a lot. I feel like they are going to be gone so can’t hold onto them.
JN: What can you tell our readers about season two?
GB: It is a whole lot of fire. Last season the girls were nice and nasty, now they are just nasty, but in a good way.
You get to meet my mother. I am also working on my beauty line EveryHue Beauty. It has been blood, sweat, and tears, but it is here, so I am extremely happy. It is like birthing a child.
You get to know more about each of us. The layers get peeled back.
JN: How is it having your mom on the show?
GB: She is hilarious. She is the reason I am the way I am. She didn’t want to film season one. She wasn’t sure about the cameras.
She comes to visit me all the time. I told her, “The cameras are going to be here so that is that!”
JN: I would think having a family member would be a challenge for reality TV.
GB: It is because she is so candid with me. I was worried she would throw me under the bus, but she is my mother. It doesn’t matter. I love her.
JN: Talk about the beauty line.
GB: Most of my girlfriends have had trouble finding a tinted moisturizer that matches our skin tone. That was for me the need. I didn’t want to come into the market with a pointless product. I have three other partners that have worked tirelessly at the lab to make sure the product meets the need. The product must meet the skin tones of women of color from the lightest to the very darkest.
This will be launching mid June. The website is not up and running yet. We are doing pop up shops and the first one will be in New York. If we can make it there we can make it anywhere!
JN: Talk about being on the show with three kids.
GB: It is fun. That was my only reservation about not doing the show. I didn’t want it to affect my kids. They were totally fine. I had to explain to them that not everyone would like their mom, and people would have things to say that are negative. They were cool with it and understood it. They understood the beast of celebrity, so to speak, and that world.
They are happy girls. That is the household that I want them to live in. I am happy the way I am as a mom, and wanted to show that.
JN: You have a gay bestie?
GB: Kal is on the show. Kal is my guy. He’s been doing my hair for about 20 years. Kal and I get into a bunch of trouble on the show!
JN: You ex-husband was a pastor. How does religion into your life?
GB: When we got married I was catholic. He is methodist. When we got divorced I was back to my catholic church. That is where I am raising my kids.
JN: What is the behind the scenes of filming a Bravo show?
GB: I don’t think there really is a behind the scenes. I go about my daily life, and the cameras are there.
Sometimes a cameraman will fall over a shrub. I have literally walked into a camera. That is never fun, and doesn’t go over well.
JN: That means you are not paying attention to the cameras.
GB: I am not.
JN: At first you must be conscious of them being there.
GB: You are, then you forget. You become very used to the camera crew, which I like. It is nice to have a sense of comfort with whomever is around.
JN: Are you happy with how you were portrayed on the first season?
GB: I am. I been asked if I put on a character, but I couldn’t even keep up that. I am me. What you see is what you get!
JN: What is the best and worst thing of being a Bravo Housewife?
GB: The best thing is I get to talk you!
JN: Well, you get to meet people and come to Chicago.
GB: Yes. I typically don’t have to make a reservation at a restaurant. That is nice.
The worst is… well, it hasn’t been bad. People make social media comments. That bothers my cast mates, but not me.
You have to take the good with the bad. It has been a very humbling experience. The show has taken off. We have great ratings. We are kind of like the underdog. To have that happen has been a great experience.
JN: Have you been to Chicago before?
GB: I have, years ago. I like Chicago. It reminds me of a little baby New York, but kind of DC-ish with the architecture.
JN: Would you ever be on Dancing with the Stars?
GB: I would. Now, I can’t dance. I have had no dance professional training. If they offered it to me, sure if I could work it in my schedule.
JN: What do you want to do with the Bravo in the future?
GB: I would like to draw more attention to the charity work that I do. When I give back I always involve my children. I would like to focus on that.
JN: How do you contribute to charities?
GB: This might be hands on and boring, but we will harvest potatoes. In Maryland there are a lot of families that don’t have food. They will go to a food pantry. The last time we did it we harvested a hundred thousand tons of potatoes. They keep them and families can draw from them. I bring my kids and make them do it. We are in the dirt, picking potatoes.
There are also a couple of homeless shelters that are in the Potomac. That is an area where people don’t even know is there. We do a lot of work with those families that are there. We take of the home that they live in. We get the people there ready for interviews and help with their clothes.
With the Real Housewives show I want to draw attention to more of the positive things we do in the community. We don’t just yell at each other! [laughs]
Watch what happens with The Real Housewives of Potomac every Sunday at 7 pm central on Bravo.