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Chris Bassett Says the RHOP Husbands Have Moments Together That "Rival" RHONJ
Candiace Dillard Bassett's husband tells all about his marriage and his relationships with the men of RHOP, and explains why he considers himself "the guy with no regrets."
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"I think we'll see a little bit more of the husbands as a group this year," Chris Bassett teased in his first-ever interview leading up to The Real Housewives of Potomac's Season 6 premiere on July 11.
When viewers last saw Chris, husband of RHOP's Candiace Dillard Bassett, the couple had just bought a home, Chris was launching a catering business, CbasswithDill, and partnering with HUNGRY to offer virtual cooking classes. Since then, Chris has focused on growing the company, while Candiace has been busy decorating their new home just so. "Which I have nothing to do with whatsoever," he quipped. "That's Candiace's realm, right? You know, I think I referred to our townhouse as a museum - if that townhouse would have been The Smithsonian, then this house is like the Louvre. I can't touch anything in here."
In August 2020, because of COVID-19 mandates that put a chokehold on the food service industry, Chris sold his BBQ restaurant. "I didn't know what I was going to do at first, but the catering and the classes really took off and it's been great." He's also enjoying the change in lifestyle that stepping away from restaurant work has afforded him. "It's allowed me to be at home; this was the first year that I was at home for every major holiday and minor holiday, and never had to come home late. And it's been amazing just to be here, to be able to support [Candiace]."
Now he spends most of his time in his home office developing menus and continuing to chip away at the cookbook he's been working on for five years, but he takes time out for fellow Househusband Eddie Osefo. "Eddie and I have a great relationship - he's a great guy, I love Eddie. And Ray [Huger, husband of RHOP OG Karen Huger] and I have been talking about going out and playing golf forever, but it just never happens." While their busy schedules don't allow for much on-camera time together, Chris is hopeful viewers will get to see more of the men this season.
"The personalities within the husbands on our show are really, really great. It's just tough to get us all in the same room at the same time. But I hope we get to see some of it this year because there were a few times where we were together that rival New Jersey," he said of the RHONJ Househusbands, who have become so popular they've taken their act on the literal road, hosting live shows in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. "I mean, those guys have kind of set the standard."
While viewers wait to see what the new season has in store, Chris took time away from his various projects to talk about his least favorite food, his secret talent and which Olympic sport he would like to medal in.
What's the best thing you cook? Or: What's your favorite thing to cook?
Chris Bassett: I get asked this all the time in my cooking classes and I don't know if there is a best thing. The best thing I cook is whatever Candiace wants for dinner that night. [Ed.: Awwww] My favorite thing to cook is making a sauce. Like, I'll make a sauce out of anything, because I think the sauce is what really brings the meal together. You can have your protein and your vegetables and your starch, and they're all great on their own, but the sauce is what ties everything together, right? The sauce goes on the protein, but then maybe a little drips into the mashed potatoes, and then you're at the end of your meal using your vegetables to wipe the rest of it on the plate. Sauce! I love sauce.
What's something you bought recently that might seem strange to an outside observer?
I'm cheap, I don't buy anything - I still wear the same clothes from 1996! No really, I can't think of the last thing that I bought.
What hobby or activity have you always wanted to try?
Something I'm on the fence about is skydiving. I really want to try it because I want to feel what it's like to do it, but then I'm scared to do it also. And Candiace would never let me do it anyway, but she doesn't have to know about that [laughs].
What is the last thing you Googled or looked at on the internet?
How to write a successful blog. I just redid my website last week and I need to be more active with that. So I was like, "I'm not the best writer. How do I write good stuff?"
What is your secret talent?
My secret talent is that I'm a really good soccer player. I almost played professionally, and then I got hurt. I had a couple of tryouts and then in the last tryout I went to, I blew my knee out and I was done.
What would you choose as an animal sidekick if you were in a movie?
A tiger. I'm in love with tigers, I want a tiger so bad.
What three items are always in your medicine cabinet?
Advil, there's always bandaids - I've cut myself quite a few times - and ... I don't know, that's a Candiace question. She has, like, everything in the medicine cabinet. Oh! Bandaids, but also that, um, the liquid glue stuff too [Ed.: LiquidSkin], I actually really like that as opposed to a bandaid.
What's your least favorite food?
Blue cheese. Yeah, I can't eat anything that smells worse than my feet after playing soccer.
What is your strangest fear?
Not being able to breathe. So let me tell the backstory on this: When I was in middle school, a teacher made this comment about breathing being one of those things that you have to do, but we do it subconsciously. And so ever since then, like every two days, that story pops in my head and I'm always like, "Yes. Remember to breathe. You're going to remind yourself to breath all the time." It's really weird, it's like I feel like I might forget? But obviously you don't forget to breathe, you just do it - but seriously, like every two to three days, no joke, that story pops in my head and I'm like, "Oh yes, breathe."
Among your friends, what are you best known for?
I'm the guy that likes to have a good time. I was just going to drink and talk to everybody and whatever happens, happens. I'm the guy with no regrets.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Candiace does, but I don't know if I believe in ghosts so much as I believe there are spirits around everything. I feel like there's a sense of something, but I don't know that I would say, "Oh yeah, that's the ghost of whoever died in this house and lives here," you know, like the traditional sense of ghosts. I don't know that I believe in that so much as I believe in feeling a spirit or an aura.
If you could be Olympian-level good at a sport, which one and why?
It's not soccer, actually! Ping pong. Those guys are amazing, so yeah, ping pong.
If you were one of Snow White's Seven Dwarves, what would your name be?
Candiace would say Grumpy [laughs] but I would say Bashful. I'm actually really, really shy. You'd never know, but I am. The best thing that I have gotten from the show is the ability to have conservations like this and interact with people. You know, being behind a bar is one thing, because it's just like an image and I can go home and be done with it, but even now when I do my cooking classes, I tell people when they ask about the show, it's like, yeah, I never would have done a cooking class three years ago, I'd be too shy.