“Real Housewives of Potomac” star Candiace Dillard feels “vindicated” after husband Chris Bassett’s alleged mistress confessed that she lied about having an affair with the chef.
“Is it nice be vindicated? I guess,” she says on Pvnew’s “Virtual Reali-Tea” podcast while promoting Season 2 of her ALLBLK scripted TV drama “Hush.”
Still, the rumors have left scars — not on Dillard’s marriage but on her relationship with “RHOP” castmate Robyn Dixon, who perpetuated the hurtful gossip on her “Reasonably Shady” podcast with co-host Gizelle Bryant.
“At the end of the day, I don’t like that this was someone who I considered a big sister and we have fallen apart. That to me is the loss,” the “Drive Back” singer, 37, explains.
“And the loss is greater than the vindication for me.”
Last month, a woman named Ayanna Williams copped to spreading lies about Bassett via her Instagram Story.
“I lied. I never met Chris Bassett. I never talked to him,” she wrote. “I made the whole thing up. I’m sorry that my actions hurt people.”
Williams previously claimed to blogger Tasha K that she and Bassett — who wed Dillard in August 2018 — secretly dated for six months. The prevaricator also alleged that she became pregnant with his child during that time and got an abortion.
Before Williams admitted this was all untrue, her claims — for which no meaningful evidence was provided — were jeered at by Dixon, 44, and Bryant, 53, on an episode of their joint podcast.
“People are probably going to try to say, ‘Oh, we need more proof, we need more proof, we need more proof,’” Dixon told her listeners. “I’ve seen enough to kind of know that something was done that wasn’t supposed to happen.’”
She added elsewhere, “I mean, these guys are so stupid. Like, why do they even entertain these women? And when I say ‘guys,’ I’m speaking from my own [experience] as well. Why do they entertain these thirsty women who are fans?”
Dixon would know. The former publicist’s husband, Juan Dixon, allegedly cheated on her with a Canadian woman before cameras went up for “RHOP” Season 7, that installment of the Bravo reality show concluding without any mention of his purported infidelity.
In January, Robyn and Bryant discussed the matter for the first time on their podcast — behind a Patreon paywall, infuriating both Dillard and a loud portion of fans.
The mom of two — who shares sons Corey, 14, and Carter, 14, with Juan, 45 — admitted that she knew the former NBA star had allegedly “communicated with this woman on Instagram” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Because he’s bored, he needs attention, it’s a pandemic, blah, blah, blah, whatever,” she said at the time.
The woman in question alleged that she “dated” Juan “for over a year” at the end of the pandemic. She also had a hotel receipt with Juan’s name on it, which surfaced via social media.
Robyn offered a head-scratching response during a February appearance on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
“So, the hotel receipt comes into play because, for whatever reason, she decided that she wanted to fly to Maryland. She had told Juan that she was dating a Baltimore Ravens player,” she told host Andy Cohen.
“Somewhere along the way … she tells him she lost her wallet in the casino and she cannot pay for her hotel room.”
Despite Juan’s alleged indiscretions, Robyn chose to stay with him — even remarrying him in late 2022 after divorcing him in 2012 over prior infidelity — a decision that Dillard understands.
“She clearly loves him. I think that as a Black woman with Black boys, there’s always this thing in the back of our minds — as mothers, mothers-to-be — of, ‘It’s important that, especially as a Black woman raising Black men, that my sons see a nuclear, familial environment around them,’” she says.
“I think that is … in the back of her mind. I understand that point of view.”
What she doesn’t get, however, is Robyn choosing to conceal parts of her life on reality TV.
“I support her staying with her man. As long as he’s not putting his hands on you or putting you in precarious situations, cool,” she says.
“My issue was, you went behind a paywall to sell your drama when Bravo pays you more than me to talk about your stuff on this show and you watch me be reamed by the other half of the broke girls [Bryant] for lying on my husband. You [Robyn] had real drama to talk about.”
During Season 7, Bryant maligned Bassett by accusing him of making her feel “completely uncomfortable” during a one-on-one discussion that took place backstage at the “RHOP” Season 6 reunion.
Dillard eventually extracted from Bryant — who was unable to provide clear examples — that Bassett “did not” exhibit predatory conduct.
As “RHOP” Season 8 continues to unravel, Dillard is relishing in her work as an actress — especially after this year’s SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes ended.
“I have to give all the flowers to SAG-AFTRA and WGA for getting it done … so that we can talk about this salacious, dramatic Season 2,” says the entertainer, who plays trophy wife Syleena Gibson on “Hush.”
“I’m calling her a sleuth-y gangsta this season,” Dillard elaborates. “I love this character because she’s the villain that everyone thinks I am in my real life.”
“Hush” is available to stream on ALLBLK. “The Real Housewives of Potomac” airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
