"Put some respect on Jamal's name," the Bravo star said of her ex-husband and current boyfriend, megachurch pastor Jamal H. Bryant
Gizelle Bryant is standing by her man.
On Sunday, the Real Housewives of Potomac star appeared via video chat on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, where she addressed rumors that her ex-husband and current boyfriend — megachurch pastor Jamal H. Bryant — recently fathered a child with a member of his congregation.
"That is all the way a lie," said Gizelle of Jamal, with whom she shares three daughters: Grace, 15, and twins Angel and Adore, 14.
Gizelle and Jamal were married from 2002 to 2009, famously splitting after Jamal had an affair. The couple reconciled last year, and are currently dating long distance: He lives in Atlanta, where he leads the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, while she recently moved into a fixer-upper home in Bethesda, Maryland.
"Clearly we're very important if people are going to make up these lies," Gizelle, 49, added on WWHL. "Put some respect on Jamal's name. He's doing wonderful things in Atlanta."
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Earlier this month, Jamal addressed the allegations in a live video on YouTube.
"I have been in a tailspin over the last 24 hours," he said. "Reckless and irresponsible bloggers who went on with no facts, no evidence, and might I add, no truth to make baseless accusations that I had fathered a baby in April, May, February, January — here in Atlanta — and was hiding this baby from some mother in Atlanta or in my church. That, no. 1, is 1,000 percent untrue. One thousand percent faulty."
"Days gone by I usually don't say anything," he continued. "Michelle Obama informed us, 'When they go low — we go high.' If it was just for me I could just withstand it, ignore it and keep going, but I have to think about my daughters, who are now of internet age, who have to read these falsities by cowards, who write things with no boundaries, no compassion, no understanding, but flagrant lies."
"To all the bloggers who post fake news stories with no truth!! Congratulations!! Those legal papers you got served are not fake news!" he added on Instagram, implying he was seeking action with the courts to stop them. "You got 72 hours..."
Elsewhere on WWHL, Gizelle said she and Jamal were "doing good, even in the quarantine."
"He's in Atlanta, but we've been trying to see each other," she said.
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The EveryHue Beauty owner first confirmed that she and Jamal were back together back during the RHOP season 4 reunion last September, explaining that Jamal had been "heavily pursuing" her, something she was "enjoying."
"I am open," she said at the time. "There's nobody who knows me like that man."
She also said she had forgiven her ex for his transgression.
"I look back and I just feel like, nobody is what their mistakes are," she said. "I feel like he's a different person, I'm a different person. So we're baby-stepping, but we're moving in a direction that we want to move into. And I do love when we're all together as a family."
Asked how the kids had reacted to their relationship, Gizelle admitted they were still getting used to it.
"You know what, they're a little confused, to be honest with you, because they've never seen us together in that way," she said. "We got divorced 12 years ago. So when he comes into town and he wants to take me out, they're like, 'Wait a minute, aren't we all going?' Because that's what they normally do."
Fans will get to see Gizelle and Jamal's rekindled romance play out on the fifth season of RHOP, which will air later this summer.
The network had originally planned a May 3 premiere, but that was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has halted production on a number of reality shows across the entertainment industry, including upcoming seasons of shows like Southern Charm, Below Deck, Married to Medicine, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, The Real Housewives of Dallas, and The Real Housewives of Orange County.
A new premiere date has yet to be announced.
