Characters / The Real Housewives of Potomac: Original Cast

The Real Housewives of Potomac
Cast Index | The OGs | Later Housewives

Season 1's cast photo
L-R: Charrisse, Robyn, Karen, Gizelle, Katie, and Ashley

The inaugural cast of The Real Housewives of Potomac entered the Bravo universe in 2016.

The OGs

As a whole

Gizelle Bryant

Gizelle Bryant

Gizelle (Season 7, 2022-2023)

Full-time: Season 1-present

—Gizelle’s Season 1 tagline

Gizelle was married to celebrity pastor Jamal Bryant from 2002 to 2009. Together, they had three daughters: Grace, and twins Angel and Adore.

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Gizelle's tropes:

• Alpha Bitch: Gizelle is by far the most antagonistic cast member yet she still one of the most popular cast members of the show. All of the later additions to the cast have attempted to befriend her at one point or another.
• Church Lady: While married to her pastor ex-husband, she served as a First Lady.
• Famous Ancestor: Gizelle's father, Curtis Graves, was one of the first African-Americans to serve in the Texas House of Representatives.
• Foil: To Karen.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Robyn's blue.
• Running Gag: Gizelle likes to make her taglines stretch across seasons.
  • "Word on the street:"
    Season 1: ”Word on the street is that I’m the word on the street!”
    Season 2: "Word on the street is, I'm still the word on street!"
    Season 3: "If you can't handle me being the word on the street, then stop listening!"
  • "The baddest thing walking:"
    Season 4: "I'm the baddest thing walking and the smartest one talking."
    Season 5: "I'm still the baddest thing walking, and the most anointed one talking!!"
  • She finally gives it up in Season 6.
• Single Sex Offspring: Gizelle is the proud mother of three girls.
• This Is My Chair: Since the first reunion, Gizelle has been seated directly to Andy's left (the viewers' right). She is one of the few Housewives to hold this distinction.

Ashley Darby

Ashley Darby

[insert picture]

Full-time: Season 1-present

"If you have a protrusion in your pants, you're not allowed to come.

—Season 1,

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Ashley to

Ashley's tropes:

• Baby Of The Bunch: When the show first started in 2016. As of 2023, with newer and younger cast members joining theh show, the age difference isn't as vast.
• Spirited Young Lady: Ashley comes off as this during the first season in comparison to her much older castmates. Karen takes a shining to her though and becomes determined to reign her in and train her up well.

Robyn Dixon

Robyn Dixon

[insert picture]

Full-time: Season 1-present

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Robyn’s tropes:

• Beta Bitch: To Gizelle.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Gizelles' red.
• The Dividual: With Gizelle. They are collectively known as the Green-Eyed Bandits.
• Divorce Is Temporary: Robyn and her husband, Juan, were divorced by the start of Season 1. They later remarry during Season 7.
• Irony: She along with Gizelle attempts to school Katie on Blackness due to her identifying as a biracial woman. Robyn later takes a DNA test that shows that she is fifty-nine percent White. Despite this, she still identifies as a Black woman.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: For a brief period in Season 7.
• Single Sex Offspring: Robyn is the mother of two boys.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Robyn's younger son looks exactly like her. Her elder son looks exactly like her husband, Juan.

Karen Huger

Karen Huger

Karen, Season 7 (2022-2023)

Full-time: Season 1-present

"The Grande Dame can never be duplicated, imitated, or intimidated!"

—Karen's Season 6 tagline

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Karen's tropes:

• Affectionate Nickname: Karen is known as The Grande Dame.
• Foil: To Gizelle.
  • Also to Charrisse.
• Grande Dame: Maybe not old, but she's certainly dignified!
• Happily Married: To husband Ray Huger.
• Proper Lady: Karen prides herself as this.
  • She credits Aunt Dot, Ray's aunt, for teaching her well. She aspires to the be same for Ashley in Season 1.
• This Is My Chair: Karen is normally seated in the first seat of the couch opposite Gizelle at the reunions. However, she's been bumped from that spot twice: first by Ashley in Season 4, and again by Wendy in Season 6.

Charrisse Jackson-Jordan

Charrisse Jackson-Jordan

Charrise, Season 7 (2022-2023)

Full-time: Season 1-2

Friend of the Housewives: Season 3; 7

Guest: Season 5

”If I don’t know who you are, then you’re not worth knowing.”

—Charrisse’s Season 1 tagline

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Charrisse's tropes:

• The Cat Came Back: Charrisse's full-time term may have ended after Season 2, but she's never really left the show.
• Foil: To Karen. Gizelle and Robyn hail Charrisse as "the real Grande Dame of Potomac."
• Rich Bitch

Katie Rost

Katie Rost

Katie, Season 1 (2016)

Full-time: Season 1

Friend of the Housewives: Season 4

Guest: Season 2; 7

”I’m a ball and gala girl. It’s my legacy and my calling.”

—Katie’s Season 1 tagline

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Katie's tropes:

• And Now You Must Marry Me: Katie spends the entirety of Season 1 pressuring her boyfriend to propose to her. He ends up proposing, but unfortunately, the two have broken up by the time the cast films the reunion.
• Blue Blood: The Rost family is well-known in the Potomac area for their philanthropic work. Katie essentially grew up as a socialite. Her tagline references this.
• Cloudcuckoolander: She becomes this during her time as Friend Of in Season 4.