Gizelle Bryant has no regrets for staying quiet about the cheating allegations directed at Juan Dixon, the husband of her best friend Robyn Dixon.

Photo: Charles Sykes/Bravo

The Real Housewives of Potomac star received a barrage of social media backlash last month after Robyn admitted on their Reasonably Shady podcast that Juan “was an idiot” and exchanged DMs with a woman in Canada during the pandemic, even paying for a hotel stay for her during a visit to Maryland.

Robyn denied Juan cheated, though the unnamed woman claimed differently in alleged messages to her and Bryant that the two brought up on their podcast. And though this all played out prior to season 7 — and before Juan walking down the aisle to marry Robyn again — the scandal never came up on the Bravo show, with the BFFs keeping mum even as similar accusations were leveled against several of their fellow Housewives and their husbands.

That put Robyn in the hot seat with viewers and executive producer Andy Cohen, who grilled her during an appearance on his talk show Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. But Gizelle, the self-described “word on the street” known on the show for bringing up rumors about her costars on camera, was also criticized about her silence.

Despite the ire, looking back on it all, Bryant tells PEOPLE she wouldn’t do anything differently.

“It was just not really my story to tell,” says the mother of three, while promoting her appearance in the upcoming third season of Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. “And I’m going to support my friend.”

Bryant went on to explain that the situation happened so long ago, it wasn’t even a thought in her mind. “I forgot about it, to be quite honest,” Bryant says. “I think people think we film 24-7, 365 days a year. We don’t! And that situation was like, months and months prior to us filming.”

She also notes that bringing up old drama isn’t her style and wouldn’t have made sense for Robyn.

“People need to understand, we film in a vacuum. We film certain months. And it’s about what’s happening in those months,” Bryant says. “Robyn and Juan were at a great place — I mean, she was planning her wedding! I didn’t get why everybody was like, ‘She should have talked about it because it happened.’ I don’t want to bring up when my boyfriend cheated on me in high school. But y’all want me to?”

Robyn agreed, telling Cohen on WWHL, “We dealt with it, we moved on from it. I don’t know why I would say, ‘Hey guys, pick me, let’s talk about my issues.’ … It wasn’t an issue at that moment when we were filming. … It wasn’t relevant to where we were in that present time.”

In the end, Robyn and Juan — high school sweethearts who first wed in 2005 before divorcing in 2012 — didn’t let the drama stop them from their happy ending. The two walked down the aisle for the second time in a private wedding held Aug. 24, 2022, at The Bayfront Club in Edgemere, Maryland. Sons Corey, 14, and Carter, 13, were by their side.

Bravo cameras captured the intimate ceremony, which aired on the season 7 finale. Though unlike previous Real Housewives nuptials, no cast mates were invited — not even Bryant.

“I don’t even know if I want a wedding. I don’t know if I need one — like, a traditional wedding. … I’m going to keep it super simple,” Robyn said on RHOP. “The thought of an actual wedding and all the pomp and circumstances that come with it, that doesn’t excite me. It just feels more special to do it privately, without worrying about everyone else and how they perceive it.”

Still, Bryant felt a certain way about not being there.

“I’m not bitter,” she tells PEOPLE, “But I was just like… ‘Why am I watching this with everybody else? I’m supposed to be there!'”

“Because it’s about me,” she laughs. “I know!”

Before fans can see whether those feelings surface on season 8 of RHOP, they have plenty of drama to sink their teeth into with RHUGT premiering later this month.

In addition to Bryant, the show features her RHOP costar Candiace Dillard-Bassett, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Heather Gay and Whitney Rose, Real Housewives of Miami’s Alexia Echevarria and Marysol Patton, Real Housewives of New York City veteran Leah McSweeney and Bryant’s good friend and Real Housewives of Atlanta alum Porsha Williams.

Of course, it doesn’t take long for the trip to Thailand to get messy, and Bryant tells PEOPLE she’s happy to stir the pot.

“I wanted the ladies to understand that we’re not on vaction. But we’re on vacation. But we’re not on vacation,” she says, noting her skills at asking her costars the tough questions. “I think I missed my calling. I think I’m better than Katie Couric!”