One of the best parts of Bravo’s Love Hotel is that most of the potential suitors for Real Housewives icons Gizelle Bryant, Ashley Darby, Shannon Beador, and Luann de Lesseps had no idea who they were before accepting a gig on the new reality dating series. Jay Bramble and Wale Alesh, both of whom have their eyes on the Real Housewives of Potomac ladies, were among those who had little to no Bravo knowledge — but that didn’t stop them from going back and watching Bryant and Darby after they made their connections at the Love Hotel.
Wale, a 38-year-old IT director from Rhode Island, told DECIDER that he watched “at least five” episodes of The Real Housewives of Potomac once he returned home from Cabo — and while he thought it was “nice” to see Darby in her element, he didn’t think the reality series was something he could “continually” keep up with. Still, he was happy to celebrate his small screen debut with his co-workers, who rented out a movie theater and threw him a premiere party complete with food, drinks, and T-shirts of him kissing Darby after their first date.
Meanwhile, Bramble, whose son roasted him over Bryant calling him boring, defied her wishes and watched two episodes of The Real Housewives of Potomac. According to the 46-year-old marketing director, his “ass would’ve been back in Boston” if he had watched the Bravo show before accepting a spot on Love Hotel. “I would’ve been like, ‘No, thank you. I like my peace,'” he told DECIDER, noting that Love Hotel is “such a different vibe” than Real Housewives.
When we caught up with the two potential suitors over Zoom, they dished on the hardest part of filming reality television, whether they’re prepared for Bravo stardom, and those $25,000 tacos. Check out the full interview below.
DECIDER: I have to ask you both – what made you decide to sign onto this show? How did you find your way to Love Hotel?
WALE ALESH: I was reached out on Instagram, just social media. I ignored it the first time, but the casting director was pretty persistent. I did some research and I was like, “You know what? I’m open to love. So let’s just go to the Love Hotel!” That’s how I got there.
JAY BRAMBLE: For me, like most of us single folks at the time, I was in the jungle we call the dating app world. So I got a DM from someone who said they saw my profile and they thought I would be great for this show Bravo was putting together. So again, at first I’m like, “This is some crypto scam or something.” And then after just having a conversation with them, it was legit and it seemed like a really cool, unusual experience to try out. So I said, “Hey, let’s go.” And I ended up on Love Hotel.
Question for both of you, what has been the hardest part about doing reality TV? And are you ready for Bravo stardom?
WALE: The most difficult part about doing reality TV is speaking so much. It’s a lot of talking. I didn’t even realize in my life how much solitude I have because I live alone. I’m not shy by any means, but just being required to speak so often was something that I was just not used to. There were times during the experience where you’ll just see me quiet and people are like, “Is everything okay with you?” And I’m like, “Yeah, I’m just tired of talking.” Like, it’s a lot of talking. So, that’s the one thing where I was just like, “Wow, this is a lot of speaking, a lot of it.”
JAY: I echo that. I can tell you I’ve never spoken about my feelings and emotions and relationships with a group of men as much as I did at Love Hotel. It was exhilarating, but also exhausting. So, I think that was a challenge. And in terms of like, what’s to come, again, I don’t know the Bravo world, so I don’t really know what’s to come. So, I’m just kind of enjoying the ride and taking it day by day [and seeing] where it goes.
One thing that made the selection of men so great was that most of you knew nothing about Real Housewives. Have you since gone back and watched any episodes?
WALE: So when I got back, obviously, me and Ashley, we’re all lovey dovey now. So I went back and watched some of her episodes. I was like, “Who is she really?” So I’ve watched at least five [episodes]. But I don’t know. I’m just not into reality, Housewives shows like that. But the women are amazing. I love them. I still talk to them today, but I don’t think I can continually watch it, but it was nice to see them in their element. They’re super amazing. And to be able to do this for so long, that’s a lot of talking. God, it’s just like, yeah, it is cool though.
JAY: Gizelle told me not to watch Real Housewives of Potomac, but I went and watched two episodes, and I was like, “Nope, I’m done.” If I had watched this before heading to Love Hotel, my ass would be back in Boston. I would’ve been like, “No, thank you. I like my peace.” It was so funny though because on the show it’s such a different vibe – on Love Hotel – compared to what I saw on those first two episodes. That was a nice surprise – to kind of see them in their a little softer era. And again, we were all going through this shared experience together. They don’t do a dating show. This was the first time for them as well. So it was really cool to see them in a different light.
WALE: To piggyback off what Jay said, too, I think it was interesting to see after – because when we met them, we didn’t really know of their stardom – but then after, it was like, “Oh wow, they’re huge.” They just became our friends. So we’re not thinking about them as celebrities. And so now after the show, we’re looking into [everything] and we’re like, “Wow, they’ve accomplished so many things.” So that was cool to see.
Jay, you have two sons. How did they react to you deciding to find love on reality TV? What did they think of your first episode?
JAY: They told me two things. They said, “Dad, do not go and embarrass us on national TV.” That was the first thing they said to me. And they said, “Dad, don’t use no corny pickup lines like, ‘Hey, are you from Tennessee? Cause you’re the only 10 I see.’” They told me, “Do not use that line.” As far as the first show, I had to vet and watch the show first just to make sure. Because I didn’t know what was coming. But surprisingly, they watched it. They actually enjoyed it. One of my sons – my oldest, he’s 14 – he’s like, “Jay, you did good.” My youngest son, he’s the troublemaker. He’s, like, “Dad, she called you boring.” I said, “I know.” I said, “Character assassination, son.” I’m like, “Don’t worry. I’m still in the game, though.”
Wale, you’re an IT director. What do your coworkers think of your reality TV journey?
WALE: I’ve been an IT director at this company for some time now and it’s almost like a family. Even when I was going to the casting, they were so excited. I’m fully paid while I’m over there. So they’re enjoying it, I’m working from home over there. When I get back, they’re so excited. They literally throw me a premiere party at a movie theater, my entire company, they pay for it, they invite my friends, they have T-shirts with me kissing Ashley on it. There’s 120 people there. There’s food, there’s drinks. They were so excited for this show. The love that they gave me, it just felt really good. And so my company was completely supportive. I’m in a small city, like Gizelle says, Rhode Island, Connecticut. And they’re just excited. I’m on a big screen, so that was fun.
Jay, you and Gizelle went on a one-on-one date where you ate $25,000 tacos stuffed with lobster and caviar. What were your thoughts on the food? Do you think the price tag was worth it?
JAY: Let me tell you something, Samantha. I could have saved Bravo about $24,990. We could have went up the street to Taco Loco and we would have been just as fine. Like, that’s a little extreme, a $25,000 taco when he was making it. At first, I said 25,000 pesos because I know you ain’t paying $25,000 for a taco. But, funny story behind that taco that they didn’t show is that when they were making the taco, they were serving it in a dish that had decorative pebbles in it, like, little stones. So when they were making it, they were putting all the ingredients in. So when I took a bite, I almost damn near broke my tooth. I was like, “Wait, what’s in this taco?” I thought it was maybe a piece of gold. I was just like, “Man, I just gotta act cool. This is probably what rich people do.” And after, I was like, “This is not right.” And I spit it out, and it was a big pebble in the taco. So we were laughing about it for a while, but they didn’t show it. But $25,000 for a taco is insane.
Wale, you had your eyes set on Ashley from the start. Why were you nervous to kiss her that first time? And why did you decide to turn around and go back to her door? Can you walk us through your thought process at that moment?
WALE: Besides possibly being nervous, as it may come across, it was really more so trying to be respectful. Up until that point, I’d probably known Ashley for 24 hours, maybe. And I’m someone that’s really respectful towards women. I think if you’re not sure, just don’t do it. And so there wasn’t a verbal, “Yes, Wale. Kiss me now.” It was more so that I’m supposed to read the vibes and I’m like, I don’t want to get the vibes wrong. I just think that would be super awkward. I think just as a man, sometimes it’s just like, you gotta just give space, like, just show more chivalry. So that’s really what was going through my head. I couldn’t really tell if she wanted me to kiss her. Obviously, it looks obvious to everybody, but I don’t have the background voices and stuff she’s saying. I don’t have that. And so I’m just like, “I’m not quite sure.” And so what made me come back was when I didn’t do it, one, I felt really stupid because I saw the disappointment on her face. Once I saw the disappointment, that let me know, “OK, you actually can.” And so that gave me more confidence to go back. But realistically, I just didn’t know I could kiss her even if I wanted to. I think even as a man, if you wanna do something, it doesn’t matter. It’s just like, “Do you know if she wants you to do it?” Like, I don’t know.
JAY: My favorite part is when you came back out and then you looked out the elevator, like, almost looking around to see if this is okay. That was hilarious.
WALE: I’m happy I went back though. I think it was a catalyst for me and her actually making that connection. So yeah, I’m happy I did that. I didn’t even know I was going to do that. I felt it in my body so I just did it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Bravo’s Love Hotel airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.