The Big Picture
- RHOP husbands have a reputation for disrespecting their wives publicly, with infidelity and financial issues making headlines.
- Between money issues and infidelity, their marital issues have played out over seven seasons.
- Thus far, only two couples have filed for divorce on the show.
Reality television and marriage often go together like oil and water. Although the Real Housewives franchise is built on the construct of marriage, it's not uncommon to see those marriages go down in flames for various reasons. Each franchise has its own set of marital woes but the RHOP husbands take the cake for being the most trash husbands in Real Housewives history. Except for attorney Edward Osefo, husband to Wendy Osefo - and restaurateur slash music-managing husband Chris Basset via Candiace Dillard Bassett, the RHOP hubbies have raised the bar for disrespecting their leading ladies. Most recently Juan Dixon's alleged affair with a Karen Huger look-a-like had tongues wagging and while he would definitely place in a contest for worst husband, the casting directors for Potomac seemingly worked overtime to put together a cast of husbands that seem intent on humiliating their privileged beautiful wives publicly.
Karen and Ray Huger Overcame Tax Evasion and Were Forced to Down-Size
Starting with the least offensive and oldest husband in the bunch, Ray Huger is committed to financing the self-proclaimed Grand Damme Karen Huger's lifestyle by any means necessary. Karen famously referred to her husband as 'the Black Bill Gates' and created a narrative of being a beautiful young woman rescued from the simple life and planted among the country's most affluent zip code for African Americans. Ray is a mainstay on the show but probably has voiced the least amount of lines on camera to his wife Karen and the other cast. His quiet demeanor is agreeable enough to keep up with Karen's narrative of being a card-carrying member of the pampered elite. There have been rumblings of infidelity on both sides, mainly Karen's as of late, but Ray continues to play his role as dutiful husband to a fabulous wife.
When the IRS targeted the reality couple, Karen immediately abandoned her post as Ray's marital arm candy and positioned herself as the naive wife who was led to believe the couple was financially stable when in fact records showed Ray owed over $1.5 million in personal back taxes and approximately $3 million was owed from his software company. So far Ray's potential philandering hasn't been proven, but his tax issues forced the couple to downsize and Karen birthed a new persona as an entrepreneur creating numerous start-ups for wigs, candles and even a variety show. Ray isn't exactly a villain, but it's apparent he has no problem getting his hands dirty when it comes to business.
Pastor Jamal Bryant Was Called "Pastor Holy Whore" During the Season 5 Reunion
Pastor Jamal Bryant has never been an official RHOP husband, but because he was married to one half of green-eyed bandit crew and RHOP 'it girl' Gizelle Bryant, he qualifies for an honorable mention. Jamal and Gizelle are great at co-parenting their three beautiful girls, but his philandering past was archived long before RHOP began back in 2016. Their marriage ended due to public infidelity, but Gizelle agreed to give the union another go during season four. Jamal never proclaimed his desire to re-marry his ex on camera, but several glimpses of his likeness were reported on a few episodes. The flimsy attempt at reconciliation resulted in another bout of public humiliation for Gizelle during the season five reunion when Monique Samuels unleashed a barrage of receipts showing that Jamal was still up to his cheating ways and suggesting Gizelle was lying about the relationship. Monique accused Jamal of "slinging his big D all over Atlanta" and called him a "Pastor holy whore". Later it was revealed that Monique had a personal relationship with Jamal's girlfriend of eight years Tunya Griffin, and Gizelle was forced to abandon the storyline of a potential reunion with her baby daddy.
Gordon and Mia Admit to Having Threesomes
Gordon Thornton is 32 years older than his former adult-entertaining wife, Mia Thornton. Gordon and Mia have both been candid about enjoying an alternative lifestyle, admitting to threesomes with various friends, as long as their playtime is kept away from their children. Mia accused Gordon of having relations with her friend Jacqueline Blake, but it was unclear if the interaction was Mia-approved or nah. It was clear that Mia was not aware of Gordon's inappropriate sexual advances toward cast mate Karen Huger, but when the ladies brought it to Mia's attention she brushed it off with indifference. When asked if he "licked his tongue out" at Karen Huger, instead of denying it, Gordon wiggled his eyebrows and acknowledged Karen was a beautiful woman. Like Karen's husband Ray, Gordon also ran into some business issues being stripped of the leadership of his family-owned Joint Chiropractic Clinics. According to Mia, Gordon's brothers robbed the couple of everything they owned rescinding their joint ownership of several clinics. Mia and Gordon were forced to downsize tremendously on the seventh season of RHOP. During the reunion, Mia gave confusing answers to the couple's current financial state, but their alternative lifestyle remains intact.
Juan Dixon Doesn't Like His Wife
Juan Dixon is a former NBA player and a complicated significant other to Robyn Dixon. When audiences met Robyn the couple were divorced but living together for the sake of their children and finances. Although Juan seemed complacent with the relationship, it was more than apparent that Robyn was holding on to hope that the couple would find their way back to love. The road back to love proved rocky as over the first few seasons, Juan was visibly distant, argumentative towards the other cast members and even voiced no longer being attracted to Robyn while she was dealing with a bout of depression. Instead of pushing Robyn away, Juan's dissonance motivated her to work harder, and he finally acquiesced to her desires and proposed to her during the finale of RHOP's season 5. Instead of transitioning to happily ever after, the couple continued experiencing turmoil and the impending wedding seemed further away with each episode. Juan continued being short on camera with Robyn and refused to have a conversation on camera about their wedding. When Robyn attempted to corner him and discuss a prenuptial agreement, he laughed in her face and got up from the table leaving Robyn with egg on her face yet again in front of production.
With her Potomac sisters calling BS on her impending nuptials, Robyn stuck to her story that the couple wanted an intimate ceremony with no guests or fanfare. Like clockwork, rumors of Juan stepping out on Robyn surfaced with receipts thrown in her face during season 7. Ironically, Juan's alleged mistress was said to resemble Karen Huger, and numerous sightings of the two canoodling populated blog sites. Robyn kept mum on the rumors until she was finally forced to discuss them in a solo interview with Andy Cohen filmed after the reunion.
Michael Darby Has to Be the Most Disrespectful Husband in Housewives History
If Juan is a runner-up for the most disrespectful husband in Potomac, he could only be beat by Michael Darby. Michael was introduced in season one as the much older and affluent husband to former beauty queen Ashley Darby. The May-December relationship with a 29-year age difference seemed a bit cringe-worthy, but viewers accepted the idea of Ashley finding solace in a wealthy businessman who appeared dedicated to spoiling her like a princess. In her early 20's, Ashley was one of the youngest housewives cast in the franchise and her optimism was viewed as naive but adorable. By the second season, audiences were brought in on the trouble in paradise, and it was reported that Ashley had moved out of their home to figure things out in the marriage. The season wrapped with Ashley and Michael reconciling and having a baby, although Ashley admitted she and Michael's marriage was not traditional.
Like cast mates Mia and Gordon, Ashley and Michael occasionally invited other parties into their marital bed, but after becoming a mother Ashley started having second thoughts about their escapades. Ashley wasn't able to keep the facade of the perfect marriage going as Michael was accused of groping a camera man and several blog sites ran stories showing Michael in a hotel room with another woman. If matters couldn't get worse, Michael was overheard saying he found Juan Dixon attractive. The Darby's marriage was a constant point of contention with the cast, as the RHOP housewives ridiculed Ashley for her loyalty to her husband. Bisexual rumors involving Michael and other men continued swirling and finally Ashley revealed the two were finally calling it quits, and she was packing up her two boys and moving on.
Consistent infidelity, tax evasion, disrespect, and a penchant for Karen Huger-esque looking women have continued to plague the women on RHOP. It's worth mentioning that former RHOP cast mate Monique Samuels recently announced she and her husband Chris were divorcing. Fans of the Potomac franchise are hoping that Wendy Osefo and Candiace Dillard Basset can manage to keep their husbands from falling victim to the marital woes their cast mates are experiencing, but only time will tell. Wendy's commitment to her Nigerian culture could play into her outlook on marriage and the issues with the other cast mates backfired and made Cadiace and her husband's relationship even closer. Karen and Ray Huger appear to be on solid ground, but the jury remains out with little time for the Thorntons and the Dixons.
