They may not have a nickname like the "green-eyed bandits," but Ashley Darby and Gizelle Bryant have developed their own special friendship over the years on The Real Housewives of Potomac, from joining Robyn Dixon in a pizza prank on Karen Huger, to starting a new business together. The duo even tried their hand at speed dating during Season 9 — and decided to take their efforts to the next level when they checked in to Bravo’s Love Hotel. Being confined to a hotel with your friend for a few weeks could go a few different ways — but Ashley revealed it’s only brought the two closer together.
“I will say that even my relationship with Gizelle changed quite a bit,” Ashley told The Daily Dish in an interview. “I mean, yeah, we talk. We talk like for a couple minutes, here and there. But we actually got to spend three solid weeks together, without our children, without anybody else really interfering. So, our relationship grew exponentially.”
How did Ashley's friendships with Luann and Shannon change at the Love Hotel?
Gizelle and Ashley weren’t the only two getting chummier during the filming of Love Hotel. The Real Housewives of New York City alum Luann de Lesseps and The Real Housewives of Orange County’s Shannon Storms Beador also joined to take a shot at finding love. Although all four women had gotten familiar through the Housewives bond over the years, Ashley explained this show was a chance at deeper relationships.
“I've met them like in passing, but to actually spend that much time together, it was such a treat,” Ashley said. “These women, they're entertaining and they're funny and they're witty and they're smart and they're charismatic, and I've seen that like as a viewer of the shows, and now, like, I got to actually experience it for almost a month.”
It might seem like the ‘Wives have very different personalities, but Ashley shared that she found they were more similar than she imagined.
“You know, not only were we all looking for love, but even in the way that we approach life, and how we view partnership, and you know, like all these little similarities started to sort of blossom that really made us get even closer together. So, they're my home girls,” she told The Daily Dish.
Gizelle and Ashley's friendship history from RHOP to Love Hotel
Gizelle and Ashley’s relationship on RHOP started off rocky at times, dating all the way back to Season 1 when Gizelle called Ashley’s then-husband Michael Darby “creepy.”
“Watching Gizelle talk about my soul mate like he was a trick at a peep show was nauseating,” Ashley wrote in her Bravo blog in April 2016, and added, “The worst part of the situation was how she tried to backtrack on her comments — I guess watching yourself act like a buffoon on TV will cause a change of heart.”
But within two years, the two had improved their relationship. Gizelle explained to Andy how it happened during Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in April 2018.
“I just like her as a person. She’s a lot of fun. She’s smart. I love a smart woman,” Gizelle said.
Gizelle was also supportive of Ashley’s second pregnancy with her son Dylan in October 2020.
"I’m totally excited for her because I know this is what she wants. Since I’ve met her, she has not wavered in expressing what she wants and that she’s going to get it, right. So a woman with a plan, I will never knock that," Gizelle told The Daily Dish in a phone interview.
The two were having “girls nights” with Robyn by 2021, and by October 2023, Ashley and Gizelle even decided to go into business together. GnA at first featured “luxury athleisurewear” made for “active women,” but then the brand pivoted to wellness and was renamed GnA fusion. The duo then decided to take the journey together to find love, and Ashley shared what lessons she’s learned from her friend at the Love Hotel.
“She knows her value. She knows her worth. And she accepts absolutely nothing aside from the best,” Ashley shared with The Daily Dish. “And I appreciated that, because sometimes I would try to make excuses a little bit for people…and Gizelle is very quick to correct me — like, you should have standards.”
Don’t miss Ashley’s surprising confession at the Love Hotel about growing her family.
