The RHONY cast member revealed her friendship with Brynn is now "broken."
Jessel Taank is calling out her former friend Brynn Whitfield.
The Real Housewives of New York City castmates entered Season 15 on seemingly great terms and remained quite close throughout the bulk of the season; however, things took an unfortunate turn after Jessel caught wind of Brynn's "distorted" comments about her marriage and past romantic life.
Jessel spoke about the ongoing rift in a recent interview with Page Six’s Virtual Reali-Tea, claiming Brynn had “twisted” a year-old story that caused problems between her and her husband, Pavit Randhawa.
Jessel says Brynn "twisted" their conversation about a past "hookup"
“Talk about not being girls girls,” Jessel said. “Brynn’s ‘story’ about the love of my life, that was a complete distortion of a story. We were talking about the craziest hookups we’ve ever had. There was no mention of the love of my life. That wasn’t even in the conversation. I would’ve said my husband because that’s the guy I married.”
She continued: “It was a fun innocent conversation we were having on vacation last year. So I told this story and she distorted my entire story and twisted and manipulated it in a way that was actually very damaging to my marriage.”
Brynn claims Jessel admitted Pavit wasn't "the love of [her] life"
Jessel was referencing a Season 15, Episode 13 (January 7) scene in which Brynn, Sai De Silva, and Erin Lichy, were shading Jessel’s home furniture. Brynn then recalled a conversation that occurred during the 2024 cast trip to Anguilla, when they were all discussing the love of their lives. Brynn said the other ’Wives had named their respective husbands, while Jessel pointed to an “ex-boyfriend.”
“Her family wouldn’t let her because [the ex] is not Indian, so they wouldn’t let [Jessel] be with him,” Brynn said. “How would it feel to be sitting there and the person you’re married to now… if you’re like, you knew deep down that the love of your life was someone else.”
Is Jessel open to reconciling with Brynn?
Jessel said she had no idea that Brynn had made those comments — at least not until she watched the episode with Pavit by her side. The New York City mom, who shares two sons with Pavit, said her friendship with Brynn was “definitely broken” and questioned if their bond was ever genuine.
“I think, for Brynn, maybe she feels so comfortable in our friendship — ‘friendship’ — that she’s, like, ‘Oh, you know, I can tease like a little sister,’ or whatever it might be,” Jessel explained. “But, actually, the things she was saying is not funny. This was a moment where I was like, ‘Wow, did my back hurt your knife?’ It got really intense for me.”
So, does Jessel think there’s a path for reconciliation?
“There’s going to be a lot of work that has to be done to get her trust back,” she said, suggesting she was open to mending fences. “A lot of the girls think that… I don’t know what [Brynn] was thinking. She went into the season maybe feeling like she was god… and it didn’t resonate.”
