Jessel Taank told her husband, Pavit Randhawa, about the rumors surrounding his sexuality on The Real Housewives of New York City.
“I mean, I had a great time in respect to the villa and the experience, but here’s where it gets interesting,” Jessel, 47, told Pavit during the Tuesday, October 27, episode while discussing the group’s trip to Erika Hammond‘s private island. “Sai [De Silva] brings up all this stuff she’s been hearing about Erin [Lichy] talking about her separation. Sai’s so upset, it was code red, like, the vein pops out. And then she says, ‘You’ve said despicable things about Jessel’s husband.'”
Jessel explained that Erin, 39, was “basically spreading a rumor that you bat for the other team.”
Pavit was shocked by the speculation, telling his wife, “Well, first of all, I know myself and I am straight. Ask any of my gay friends. I only project straightness. Not that it’s bad to be gay.”
While Jessel agreed there’s “nothing wrong with” not being straight, she noted her biggest concern was about how the rumor was being spread — and the pattern in Erin’s behavior from previous seasons.
“She is literally going around using it as, like, ammunition,” Jessel claimed. “You know, first it’s Vietnam and you’re going to a foreign country to hook up. Now she’s spreading rumors about the fact that, like, you’re cheating on me and leading a double life again.”
Pavit pointed out the history between Jessel and Erin, adding, “If she’s your friend and she hears a rumor that I’m gay, she should come to you about that.”
He then suggested Erin is “like a 90-year-old woman trapped in a 50-year-old woman’s body.” When Jessel corrected Pavit about Erin’s actual age, he joked, “She looks 50.”
Earlier this season, Sai, 45, revealed Erin told her makeup artist there was “proof” that Pavit “is gay and got caught” with men at the gym. Pavit brushed off the rumor with an Instagram video, teasing in the caption, “I do love to break a sweat at Equinox but not in that way #fakenews.”
While attending the recent Bravo Fan Fest in Charleston, South Carolina, Jessel admitted she didn’t get a “heads-up” from her husband about the video — but he still had her full support.
“I think it was really important for him to make light of the situation because, quite frankly, it is a ridiculous insinuation,” she told TV Insider. “He broke the internet that day, so kudos to him.”
The Real Housewives of New York City airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
