The Real Housewives of Potomac’s resident Grand Dame, Karen Huger, has mastered the art of turning drama into dollars.
“I’m like Teflon. It just bounces off,” Karen, 60, exclusively told Us Weekly while promoting season 8 of RHOP. “Shade doesn’t really work on me because I pivot and embrace it and make lemonade out of lemons.”
While she loves her tagline for this season — “I don’t ride the fence, honey, I am the fence. You ride me.” — there’s another line Karen wishes she had used.
“‘People come for me all the time. They just don’t find me,’” Karen told Us. “I wish that had been my tagline.”
Karen gave Us examples of how she’s made lemonade out of some of her most sour moments on RHOP, including her season 3 “wig shift.” While at Candiace Dillard Bassett’s house for a barbecue, Karen’s wig slid as she stood beneath the hot sun, leaving her at a loss for words. Karen embraced the humor and vulnerability of the gaffe, using it as inspiration to launch a wig line with RPGSHOW.
“I think many women who wear wigs should own it. And so when it shifted, I just [thought] like, ‘Let me make a moment out of it,’” she told Us. “I locked that puppy down and kept it moving and created an RPGSHOW. Now I have my own wig line. … La Dame keeps pushing ahead.”
Even her “title” was initially intended as an insult, but Karen has embraced her role as Grand Dame. “Gizelle [Bryant] called me the Grand Dame first. … She meant it to be shady, like, your ‘old broad’ kind of thing,” Karen said. “I took it and ran with it and made a business. … It takes fortitude. It takes that commitment to shake off the insults and turn it into a business.”
Season 8 of RHOP has already been packed with drama, including Karen’s ongoing feud with Robyn Dixon over her husband Juan Dixon’s alleged infidelity. An unnamed woman claimed in 2023 that she dated Juan, 45, during the coronavirus pandemic, saying that he came to Canada to visit her. Robyn defended her husband, but the alleged scandal shook up the Housewives universe.
“Own it and stop being ridiculous about it,” Karen told Us about Robyn’s response. “Things happen in everyone’s marriage. I’ve been married for 27 years. It’s not easy, but she needs to put it at ease and especially if you’re going to be a member of this core group.”
Despite their ups and downs, Karen maintains an unshakable bond with her costars that she wouldn’t change for the world.
“We have the magic bullet. It’s not perfect, but we’re strong, we’re dynamic. I believe in these women,” Karen told Us. “We’re quirky, we’re powerful, we’re intelligent. When you turn the TV on, every woman can find one of us that they can identify with. And that’s magic.”
The Real Housewives of Potomac airs on Bravo Sundays at 8 p.m. ET.
