Cast members and relationships may change, but one thing’s certain to be a constant when “The Real Housewives of Potomac” returns tonight for a second season: There will be plenty of drama.

The Bravo reality show, part of the vast “Real Housewives” franchise, will again follow the lives of a group of women from the Maryland suburb, including a few with Baltimore ties.

Based on the extended trailer and season premiere, here are some tidbits of what’s to come: The group attends the Preakness in Baltimore and ladies take a bikini-clad trip to a tropical locale; Gizelle Bryant and Charrisse Jackson-Jordan address bad-mouthing each other; Robyn Dixon moves into a new townhouse in Hanover and continues to work on her relationship with her ex-husband, former Maryland basketball player and coach Juan Dixon; Ashley Darby enters a dance contest and attempts to make her restaurant a success; empty-nester Karen Huger looks for a slightly downsized home; and Jackson-Jordan looks for happiness after her husband asks for a divorce.

The storylines are a solid dismount off the balance beam of Season 1, which averaged 2.1 million total viewers, Bravo said. The bulk of the original cast is returning — including stalwarts Dixon and Bryant, the ex-wife of Baltimore pastor Jamal Bryant and arguably the show’s breakout star. (Katie Rost, the cast member known for her fiery discussion about race, colorism and her biracial background, is the only one not returning to the show.)

Based on an early look, viewers are in for more arguments and confrontations than the tamer first season.

“Some people overstep their boundaries and get disrespectful,” Dixon said, while quickly clarifying that confrontations never turn violent. “There is no way I’m going to really do something super out of line. If the cameras weren’t there, that might be a different story. We don’t promote fights and wanting to get physical. We believe in problem resolution. We’ll leave it to some of the other shows to get physical.”

But a clip from the trailer of a clash between Dixon and Darby may lead viewers to think otherwise.

“Ashley and I are pretty close in each other’s face,” Dixon concedes. “We keep it classy, and we don’t cross that line.”

Speaking of nonphysical fights, Bryant doesn’t exactly hit it off with new cast member Monique Samuels, who is the wife of ex-NFL player Chris Samuels.

“She unfortunately came in the midst of a tremendous amount of drama,” Bryant explains. “I wasn’t ready to give the energy for anyone new. … We didn’t hit it off.”

Dixon said that Samuels could be a bit too talkative.

“My only problem with her is that she talks a lot. A lot,” Dixon emphasized. “I would be sitting there saying, ‘Oh shut up.’ I started thinking about my grocery list.”

(Though she was quick to add that Samuels is “a lot of fun.”)

As far as the departed cast member, Bryant was mum when asked why Rost left the show, but she and Dixon sent her well wishes. Bravo also declined to comment on Rost’s departure.

“Katie was missed,” Bryant said. “Hopefully she can join us in the future.”

Added Dixon: “I really wish her well. I want all of us to be successful. I would have been happy to see her continue in Season 2.”

This season will also bring a new suitor, Kevin, for Bryant. (She declined to give his full name.)

“I am dating. He’s a blast from my past. It’s a guy that I’ve been knowing a long time. … He’s got a great job. He’s got cash flowing in his pocket. And he knows how to treat a lady,” she said.

We'll also get to meet Bryant's mother this season.

“My mother is me on steroids,” Bryant said. “She’s an old-school classy lady. Very traditional. She’s the quintessential housewife. I’ve never heard her cuss. But she will tell you where to go and how fast.”

Viewers will also get a deeper look at Dixon’s family — namely her relationship with her ex-husband, Juan Dixon.

“We still live together. We’re still functioning as a family. It’s just the romantic part of our relationship that isn’t there,” Robyn Dixon said. “We’ve been through a lot in the last two years.”

As far as potentially rekindling their romantic flame, “we’ll cross that road when it happens,” she said.

But will we see the love life of Bryant’s ex-husband, Jamal Bryant, addressed on the show? Don’t count on it.

“This show is about Gizelle, not about her ex-husband,” Bryant said. “I say that with two snaps.”

john-john.williams@baltsun.com

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