Ashley Darby Was on Say Yes to the Dress, But It Didn't Go as She Had Hoped

The Real Housewives of Potomac isn't Ashley Darby's first foray into reality TV. The 'Wife got a taste of it in 2013 when she appeared on TLC's Say Yes to the Dress. "It was so fun doing Say Yes to the Dress. I applied on a whim. I didn't think I would actually make it," Ashley told The Daily Dish. "But then I thought, a 29-year age difference [with my husband Michael Darby], I was a beauty queen, like OK, hello, this is a recipe for a good show." 

In the episode, Ashley arrived at Kleinfeld with a $10,000-max budget looking to try on a gorgeous Maggie Sottero gown with a beaded halter top. She said in the episode that she hoped a halter top would make her look taller and show off her chest in all the right ways.

Unfortunately, that dress wasn't available at the New York bridal boutique. But Ashley kept an open mind and tried on a few other sexy dresses while she was there. "So I took my mom and my best friends, and we went up, and I tried on all these dresses, and my biggest thing was to make sure that my best assets were accentuated," Ashley said of her time on Say Yes to the Dress. "And [the dresses] were cute, but nothing wowed me. I wasn't in love with anything. I think I would have regretted it if I had just worn something that was just eh, you know? On that day, you are meant to shine, and I didn't want to be mediocre."

Ashley ultimately decided to leave Kleinfeld empty-handed because she couldn't get that Sottero gown out of her head. "I didn't say yes to a dress," she said. "I was really sad. [Say Yes to the Dress star] Randy [Fenoli] was sad with me, too." 

But that turned out to be for the best. "I ended up finding this dress online that I love, and it was going out of season, so I got the absolute last one, this Maggie Sottero gown. And I had it fitted to me. On my wedding day, everything was just very nice, front and center," Ashley said, motioning toward her chest. "I had two very nice wedding guests."

Though Ashley didn't find the wedding gown of her dreams on Say Yes to the Dress, the experience clearly didn't turn her off from appearing on reality TV. However, it didn't really prepare her for being apart of the RHOP cast, either. "Say Yes to the Dress is completely different because there's a goal in mind. You go in there. You know exactly what you're intending to do. You know what to expect," Ashley explained. "Going into reality television as a Real Housewife is quite different because you don't know what to expect. You don't know what's gonna happen. And in my case, I didn't really know the women. So it was about observing them, getting to know them, and then finding a way to be myself amongst them. It posed a lot of challenges." 

Now that she has survived her first season of RHOP, we'll have to wait and see how Ashley fares during the reunion kicking off Sunday, April 10 at 10/9c. See what you can expect, below.

Get Your First Look at The Real Housewives of Potomac Reunion