Gizelle Bryant has confirmed she and her ex-husband of 12 years Jamal Bryant are officially dating again, and when Shaunie O’Neal applauded her, many began wondering when she’d do the same with Shaquille O’Neal.
Bryant shared a photo of herself with her New Birth Baptist Church pastor beau on Instagram Sunday morning. That came ahead of her confirming that they’d been dating since last year on “The Real Housewives of Potomac” reunion, which aired on Bravo that night.
“I am enjoying the pursuit and I am open,” she said on the show Sept. 15. “There’s nobody who knows me like that man.”
Gizelle captioned her Instagram photo, which saw the Bryants on a beach, by writing, “He’s got my back! 😊🙏🏽”
Many fans applauded the duo’s reunion, including Nene Leakes of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” and “Basketball Wives” star and executive producer O’Neal.
“🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 come on and join the 2nd chance at love crew❤️” wrote Leakes, who remarried husband Gregg Leakes in 2013 after initially divorcing him in 2011 following 16 years of marriage.
“Ok!!! I see you!!!! 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽❤️❤️❤️❤️” Shaunie remarked.
And at the sight of the “Basketball Wives” star’s post, Gizelle and many others commented on how they hoped she would follow the “RHOP” star’s footsteps and rekindle her romance with Shaq.
“@shaunieoneal5 waiting on you! 😘” Gizelle remarked.
“@shaunieoneal5 yall next 💃🏾”
“@shaunieoneal5 We will see you and @shaq soon!!!! 🙏🏽🔥😍”
“@shaunieoneal5 I’m praying in Jesus name I would love for shaq to be reconciled back into his wife Shaunie O’Neal 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾”
“@shaunieoneal5 Come through Shaunie and Shauq Oneal 🙌🏽💕”
“@shaunieoneal5 we know who got your back girl!!!”
But Shaunie swiftly jumped in to kill the hopes and dreams of both Gizelle and many fans by remarking, “@gizellebryant please don’t 😂😂 #ainthappenin.”
Shaunie and Shaq wed in 2002 before Shaq filed for divorce five years later. They would reconcile after that, only to split for good when Shaunie filed for divorce some two years later. Presently, the duo has a playful and solid co-parenting relationship, but Shaunie explained last year that it took work to get to that point.
“We definitely did not have the relationship that we have now the first few years,” Shauie told Life & Style in May 2018. “I mean, we’re going on eight years of being divorced now and I’d have to say the good first five [or] six were really rough. We could function, but it was rough. Now I think we just got over the hump. … But it was really really hard.”
Despite that, many fans seeing Shaq’s interactions with Shaunie have gotten their hopes up that they could be a couple again. That happened when the NBA Hall of Famer remarked, “that’s mine” under a set of June photos where he gave his ex-wife a bear hug.
However, Shaunie has already put any idea that they’ll resume dating to bed, telling Life & Style in that same interview, “no, that’s not happening.”
