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Jessel Taank Reveals the Incredible Advice She Got Before the RHONY Reunion
Jessel Taank also revealed her "rose and thorn" of the season before the reunion taping.
Sugar and spice and everything nice? Not quite. Jessel Taank says she plans on channeling a world famous pop star and her alter ego to get through her first reunion, after a roller coaster of a season on The Real Housewives Of New York City that frequently saw her as the target of the other ‘Wives criticisms.
“You know how Beyonce is Beyonce, and she’s like really sweet and fabulous, but then she has this alter ego, 'Sasha Fierce'? That is what I’m channeling,” Jessel told The Daily Dish as she got ready for her RHONY reunion debut.
Jessel Taank on RHONY Reunion Look, Attitude
Jessel is the first Indian cast member on RHONY, and she’s been very vocal all season about bringing more attention to her culture, despite the difficulties that come with that.
“I don’t want to bear the weight of representing an entire culture on my shoulders,” she said earlier this year. “I think that I just have to be who I am, you know? I’m not really your stereotypical Indian girl.”
Jessel said she’ll be channeling her Indian culture into her reunion look.
“I’m going to look like an Oscar, because I am the prize,” Jessel told The Daily Dish. “We’re just doing an all gold, shimmer, liquid moment. I’ve got the gold accessories. I’ve got the smoky eye. It is very 'Sasha Fierce,' and that’s all I’m going to say.”
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Ubah Hassan also told The Daily Dish she's channeling the superstar for her reunion look.
"Darling, this is Beyonce — Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, you know," Ubah said before the reunion. "But don't worry, we will be Michelle Obama all day. They go low — today, I'm going to try to go high."
Did Jessel get any advice before her first reunion?
Jessel will be sitting to the right of Andy Cohen during the Season 14 reunion, seated on the same side as Brynn Whitfield and Ubah. Erin Lichy, Jenna Lyons and Sai de Silva will be on the opposite side. Did Jessel get any advice from other Bravolebs before her first reunion?
“Don’t throw things,” she joked to The Daily Dish. She also revealed she didn’t watch any former reunions in preparation for this one.
“I’ve sort of navigated this whole experience almost a virgin — like a Real Housewives virgin — because I think this is a different story and our cast is so worlds apart, right?” she said.
After a hard day's work at the reunion, she said she plans to eat “a really good slice of New York pizza.”
What are Jessel's "rose and thorn" of the season?
Jessel and her husband, Pavit, were the subject of much conversation among the ‘Wives in Season 14, particularly after she admitted to the other Housewives that she and Pavit hadn’t been intimate since the birth of their twin boys, 2-year-olds Kai and Rio. Jessel also had an emotional conversation with her mother about her secret struggles with fertility and IVF to conceive her twins — topics she called “taboo” and “so stigmatized,” especially in Indian culture.
But Jessel pointed to how her marriage with Pavit was received publicly as her rose of of the season.
“I think the highs would have to be the fans' reactions to Pavit and I, and our dynamic,” Jessel said. “I always knew it was going to be hilarious, but, it just validates how funny we actually are.”
One of Jessel’s biggest arguments with the other 'Wives came in Anguilla when she talked about her famous photographer uncles, who helped her launch her fashion career, when sharing her life story. It culminated in Jessel calling Erin “the Queen of Assumptions” on a boat trip. Jessel then recently revealed on the show that she keeps an “Al Capone” list of her complaints and feelings about the other ‘Wives and their actions.
“I think the low [of the season] is obviously when it gets kind of ‘mean girl’ towards the end,” Jessel told The Daily Dish before the reunion. “It gets a little Regina George. Everyone’s picking on the sweet little Indian girl and that is not cool.”
Watch all new episodes of The Real Housewives of New York City on Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo and the next day on Peacock.
