Pavit Randhawa Answers RHONY Rumors About His Sexuality: “Ask Any of My Gay Friends”

Gossip

By Sari Moon

Updated 3 minutes ago, October 28, 2026

Pavit Randhawa denied rumors about his sexuality after his wife, Jessel Taank, told him on the October 27 episode of The Real Housewives of New York City that castmate Erin Lichy had been spreading them.

“Well, first of all, I know myself and I am straight,” he told Jessel. “Ask any of my gay friends. I only project straightness. Not that it’s bad to be gay.”

Jessel, 47, brought up the allegations while recounting the cast’s trip to Erika Hammond’s private island. She said Sai De Silva had confronted Erin about things she’d allegedly said about Pavit. Earlier in the season, Sai, 45, said Erin had told her makeup artist there was “proof” that Pavit “is gay and got caught” with men at the gym.

For Jessel, the issue was how speculation about her husband was being used against her. “She is literally going around using it as, like, ammunition,” she said.

She connected it to earlier insinuations about his trip to Vietnam: “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 questioned why Erin hadn’t brought the claim directly to Jessel. “If she’s your friend and she hears a rumor that I’m gay, she should come to you about that.”

He’d also addressed the gym allegation with an Instagram video captioned, “I do love to break a sweat at Equinox but not in that way #fakenews.”

At Bravo Fan Fest in Charleston, South Carolina, Jessel said she hadn’t received a heads-up about that video but supported his response. “I think it was really important for him to make light of the situation because, quite frankly, it is a ridiculous insinuation,” she said.

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