Monique Samuels Apologizes to Candiace Dillard for Fight — 'I Take Responsibility' tram

Monique Samuels is apologizing to Candiace Dillard Bassett nearly a year after their infamous altercation.

On Sunday, the three-part Real Housewives of Potomac reunion came to an end with Housewives Candiace, Monique, Gizelle Bryant, Karen Huger, Ashley Darby, Robyn Dixon and Dr. Wendy Osefo finishing up the rehashing of the season's most explosive moments — this time, with the help of some of the husbands.

Following the second part of the reunion special, the third episode kicked off on a tense note with Candiace in tears, saying she needed "a break" from filming after beginning to address her altercation with Monique. The former pageant queen then excused herself from the reunion set.

Monique and Candiace hash out their altercation

As Candiace walked away from the set in tears, host Andy Cohen asked Monique, 37, if she was upset or remorseful for her actions.

"Of course, I'm upset ... I'm just trying to explain it the way that I process it," she said before explaining why she appeared to be "unemotional" and never fully apologized to Candiace. "I literally went from one mental state to the next and then right after that there's my name in the headlines of me being pressed charges on ..."

Upon Candiace's return back to the set, Andy asked the group if she "took it too far" with the legal charges she initially filed against Monique in November 2019.

"Legal action never crossed my mind," Robyn said.

"I wanted legal action but I didn't want the consequence to be she goes to jail," Gizelle explained.

Andy then asked Monique why she decided to countersue Candiace, 34, after she had already admitted to her pastor during a confession session that "Candiace didn't deserve what happened."

"I hired an attorney so I could take my attorney's advice," Monique said.

Following a tense back and forth about how each of their attorneys guided them through the legal drama, and the women expressing their unfavorable opinions about Ashley's decision to write a statement of defense for Monique, the Not for Lazy Moms blogger shared a final statement about the fight — surprising the women with an apology to Candiace.

Explaining that Candiace putting her finger in her face was a trigger, Monique told the aspiring singer that the fight "was not about you."

"I revealed to my therapist that my dad put his finger right to my head and that was his way of checking me — it was a very like, bullying type of gesture. So I didn't realize that ... that was something that was such a trigger to me," Monique began to explain through tears. "[Candiace] took me back to a place when I was a child and I could not stand up to my dad and say 'get your hand out my face.' That's why everything happened the way it happened. I take full responsibility for my part and my actions in the altercation — that fight wasn't about you. Nothing that you said or did in that moment warranted the response that you received. I offer you my apology and I'm sorry for the pain that you are still going through and the fact that you still haven't healed from it and I hope that you are able to heal and move forward."

After taking in Monique's words, Candiace shared that while she could "absolutely appreciate childhood trauma," she pointed out that it had been over a year since the fight. Candiace also added that "so much was said and done" following the fight, including Monique releasing her song, "Drag Queens" — a track seemingly about the altercation.

Before putting a final pin in the conversation, Monique once again admitted that whatever the scale of disagreements the two had, a physical fight was not warranted.

"I've made that very clear. Nothing in that night warranted that but it happened, I take responsibility for my actions and I had a terrible lapse of judgment and I lost control and I own that ... there's no other excuse for it," Monique told Andy.

Chris Samuels calls out Gizelle and Candiace for Monique affair rumor

Later in the show, some of the husbands — Ray Huger, Chris Bassett, Chris Samuels and Edward Osefo — joined their wives on set. After Andy went around and asked the men how they were doing, Chris Samuels wasted no time in calling out Gizelle, 50, and Candiace for helping to facilitate the rumor that Monique allegedly had an affair with her trainer and that Chris Samuels was not the father of their baby son, Chase.

Candiace then addressed the former Redskins player, clarifying that though she had heard the Monique affair rumor, neither herself nor her husband brought it up on the show.

“What was said was stupid and it was never going anywhere — it never went anywhere,” she said about the rumor.

“Candiace, I respect that but I don’t believe you,” Chris Samuels said before Andy confirmed that Candiace and her husband did not bring up the rumor on the show.

“It was brought up, it just didn’t air,” Monique said.

Chris Samuels then went around the room and asked each lady if they brought up the rumor on the show. Candiace and Chris Bassett firmly said “no." But when it came time for Gizelle to answer, the mom of three then explained that the Samuels couple jokingly brought up the rumor on camera to her when she went over to their house one morning. Then, a clip titled season 5 unseen footage flashed onscreen, which showed Chris Samuels asking Gizelle if his baby son looked “like his daddy.” Gizelle then replied to him, “Who else would he look like, Chris?”

“After that, I thought it was part of their personal story,” Gizelle told Andy, clarifying why she mentioned the rumor. Following her comment, another unseen footage clip showed Gizelle talking to Robyn about her encounter with the Samuels, in which she said she had been "respectful" to their family despite the fact that the "entire streets of Potomac were talking about the fact that that baby ain't his."

Later, Chris Samuels continued to share his unhappiness about the situation, telling the women, “I’m so disgusted about people weaseling through stuff. … One day when my son — because you brought his name up — when he gets to be about 15 years old, he has to learn about women plotting, trying to say I’m not his father and it’s very distributing to me.”

Before leaving the stage, Chris Samuels applauded his wife for her strength during the season, giving her a hug and kiss. Directing his final words at who appeared to be Gizelle, he said, "Hurt people, hurt people. Go get some help."

Conclusion

Despite having it out, Chris Samuels and Chris Bassett both admitted to Andy that they did miss their friendship with one another and hoped that one day their wives could put their differences aside, with the former NFL star telling Chris Bassett backstage, "We're good."

And in normal reunion tradition, Andy then went around and asked all the women for their final words, with Robyn sharing excitement for her future with her fiancé, Juan Dixon; Karen eager to celebrate her 25th wedding anniversary and vow renewal with Ray; and Wendy gushing about her first season and joining the RHOP group. In her final comments, Candiace admitted that while it was hard for her to film the reunion special, she "wanted to get to this point," explaining that she is grateful for the Housewives' "sisterhood."

"My goal was to get here ... I knew I wouldn't be able to bury everything 'til I got here," Candiace said through tears. "Yes, it has sucked today, but it has also been funny and fun and I'm reminded of why I do love the majority of this group. I come to this platform for sisterhood and I feel that genuinely from you all."

Following the RHOP reunion, Monique revealed the news that she will not be returning to the series.

"It was a crazy ride. It’s not easy doing reality TV, and to be quite honest, I’m over it," Monique said in an Instagram Live on Sunday. “I appreciate everything that people have done for me, everybody that's been Team Monique — I love y'all, I thank y'all — but when you cross certain lines, there's no going back."

"And for me, my family is that line," she continued. "The opinion of my family and my kids and what they think about anything that I do is more valuable than anybody’s opinion, so I’m over it."