RHOP's Monique Samuels Says She Attempted to Reach Out to Candiace Dillard Days After Fight

"I had to lawyer up because she lawyered up, and at that moment, she turned it legal. I could not speak to her directly anymore," Monique Samuels said

Monique Samuels is explaining why she couldn't mend fences with Candiace Dillard after their heated onscreen scuffle.

On Sunday's episode of Watch What Happens Live, Samuels, 36, spoke out about the aftermath of the physical altercation with Dillard, 33, which aired on last week's episode of The Real Housewives of Potomac. Samuels recalled that it took her a beat to step back from the fight and process her feelings.

"At that moment I wasn't remorseful. At that moment I was still trying to figure out everything. My adrenaline was still pumping," she told host Andy Cohen after he asked if she felt bad about the fight with her costar. "What people need to understand is after the fight ended, I went home and I went back to mommy-mode. I have three kids I have to take care of, I have a whole husband here, I have businesses I was still running, a live podcast I was planning — I didn't have the luxury of going home and sipping tea with my husband with no other responsibilities."

"So my mind hadn't calmed down to the point where I actually could take it all in," continued Samuels. "When I met with the ladies, I still hadn't taken it all in. I wanted to meet with them to simply apologize to them for putting them in harm's way."

When asked whether she attempted to apologize to Dillard, Samuels said she tried to reach out days after the fight, but legal teams had become involved.

"The same day that I finally started feeling the remorse, I sent a text message to one of the producers asking if we could arrange a sit-down with us and our husbands, and minutes later I got the email from her attorney," Samuels explained. "So I had to lawyer up because she lawyered up, and at that moment, she turned it legal. I could not speak to her directly anymore."

Candiace Dillard and Monique Samuels. Mediapunch/Shutterstock; Dominik Bindl/FilmMagic

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The explosive brawl happened at a wine tasting on Oct. 16, 2019, that was meant to celebrate costar Gizelle Bryant's recent literary award. As the fight broke out between Dillard and Samuels, the castmates yelled in horror for Samuels to stop, but the tussle continued until producers arrived and forcibly separated the two.

In December, after a legal back-and-forth between the reality stars, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office informed lawyers for the costars that they would not be pursuing their ongoing cross complaints.

During her WWHL appearance, Samuels addressed criticisms that the physical confrontation upheld a negative stereotype of Black women.

"I've never actually gone that far with anyone. And at the end of the day, to make it a stereotype about Black women I just believe is a bunch of B.S," she said. "Like, we're not the only ethnicity that has human moments, that has moments where we may get physical. I think they do that all across the board, and we've seen it on Housewives shows."

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Earlier this month, Dillard spoke to PEOPLE about the fight, saying that she feels that it's "too late" for Samuels to feel remorseful about the outburst. "All of a sudden you're sorry?" Dillard said of Samuels, who expressed that she would have gone about the situation differently.

"She's been saying as of late since the fight aired, that she wishes she walked away, and it wasn't premeditated. And my response to that is: Where was that energy in July of 2020 when she was writing a song, bragging about this fight?" Dillard said of Samuels' song "Drag Queens," in which Samuels seemed to rap about the fight.

"I don't want people to believe her lies," Dillard added. "Don't allow her the space to now apologize for what she's done or now claim that she wishes it didn't happen."