Robyn Dixon is saying good-bye to “The Real Housewives of Potomac” and is blaming Bravo for not inviting her back.
The reality star confirmed her rumored departure from the Maryland-set franchise Monday on her “Reasonably Shady” podcast, telling listeners that she was fired after eight seasons on the lavish series.
“Yes, I will not be returning for Season 9 of ‘The Real Housewives of Potomac,’” the 45-year-old told Gizelle Bryant, her podcast co-host and “RHOP” co-star. “It’s reality. The network did not invite me back. I was fired, for lack of better words. I will not sugar-coat the situation and say, ‘Oh I am walking away and this is a break’ or anything like this. This is a network decision.”
Representatives for Bravo declined to comment Monday when reached by The Times.
The Baltimore native and Embellished accessory designer was among the series’ original cast members when “RHOP” premiered in January 2016. Dixon starred in the series with Bryant, Ashley Darby, Karen Huger and former cast members Charrisse Jackson-Jordan and Katie Rost. Dixon’s exit announcement comes weeks after her Season 7 co-star Candiace Dillard Bassett confirmed that she would be taking a break from the show too. Incidentally, the Jasmine Brand reported last month that both reality stars would be departing from the reality series, but Dixon didn’t confirm the report until Monday’s episode of her podcast.
“I wanted to speak my own business, my own truth, my own life, my own news and I wanted to share it out of my own mouth when the time was appropriate. And I felt that the appropriate time … would be once Season 8 of ‘The Real Housewives of Potomac’ was finished airing, which it is now finished airing. The last reunion episode just went off last night, Sunday,” she said. “And I wanted to respect the network and respect the show and wait until the season ended.”
Dixon also said she was OK with leaving because “nothing lasts forever.”
“I’ve had a very long run on the show — eight seasons — and I just really appreciate that time and the opportunity that I had on the show,” she said, thanking the network and Truly Original, the production company behind “RHOP.”
“Thank you to the fans, of course, who have watched us from Day One, especially our Day One-ers,” she added. “But I do want to especially thank all of the fans and viewers who have supported me, shown love to me. Whether you directly sent me love or you prayed for me or you have positive energy and positive thoughts around me, I appreciate you. And I hope that I inspired you, the viewers, the fans, to live your life authentically. [To] not feel pressure to change for anyone, or for society, or impress people and just to be yourself.”
Dixon paused as she began tearing up, then directed her monologue toward her co-host and longtime friend Bryant.
“It’s so crazy because we still have ‘Reasonably Shady,’ but I really want to say I love you,” she said. “It’s been such a fun, amazing, stressful, crazy wild journey the past eight years. I couldn’t imagine doing what we did with anyone else.”
She continued: “To my green-eyed bandit, my partner in crime. We started off as friends … although we still have ‘Reasonably Shady,’ I’m still going to talk to you all the time and see you all the time, I hate that that part of our friendship is not there anymore.”
When the mother of two first appeared on the series, she was still living with her ex-husband, retired NBA player Juan Dixon, because of financial issues, according to Bravo’s Daily Dish blog. The two reconciled during their time on the series and the college basketball coach re-proposed to Dixon in 2019, an event featured in the Season 5 finale of the series. They quietly wed again in August 2022, and footage from their wedding ceremony was featured in the series’ Season 7 finale.
