Reality Recap: Confrontation, Intervention, Porsha

Sophia Umansky is detailing her shocking hair loss after being prescribed a weight loss drug. We’re getting word that the hot blonde PK Kemsley was seen making out with on the day that Dorit filed for divorce from him was at their wedding all those years ago! Hannah Berner and Paige DeSorbo had a good hang with Amy Poehler. And Teresa Giudice had some choice words for podcaster and comedian Heather McDonald and let’s just say Heather will probably think twice before mentioning Luis ever again.

Lexi Wood serves Jesse Solomon his ass on a platter

This week, the women of Summer House continue to show that they are the ones running the show. All season long, we’ve watched on as Paige has contemplated her relationship with Craig and whether she should pursue her career instead, Ciara has paid West dust after his transgressions last year – and now, Lexi is taking a stand against a two-faced Jesse.

After spending weeks portraying her to be a clingy, insecure, jealous girlfriend to the rest of the house, she set the record straight after hearing from Amanda all the one-sided stories he was running around telling. 

According to Jesse, it wasn’t “intentional” – which, to be fair, could be very true. In fact, the more I see couples navigate relationships on TV, I actually do agree that a lot of men are complete jerks without even realizing it. But that’s precisely the problem. They don’t have the instincts to know that what they’re saying, doing or how they’re acting is wrong. And when they do, they make up insane excuses like this crap we heard from Jax this week. Besides that, though, intent doesn’t negate impact. And that is what has Lexi so riled up.

Lexi took Jesse to task over being the reason she has struggled to build genuine relationships with people – whether he did it intentionally or not. Only now is she realizing that behind her back, her own boyfriend has been going around telling their housemates, his friends, half-truths. If it weren’t for Amanda telling her about what Jesse was saying, who knows how long it would’ve taken her to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Some of the social media chatter surrounding Lexi has been about how vocal and transparent she’s been in when it comes to her boundaries. For a young twenty-something, it’s so refreshing to see. Just as refreshing as it was to see the way Paige, Ciara, Amanda, Gabby and Lindsay sat Lexi down to let her know what Jesse saying, encouraging her to really sit and think about the future of their relationship and whether there’s enough potential there. 

What I loved the most was Lexi strategically having the conversation in front of everyone – and I think the reason she did this was to prevent Jesse from gaslighting her and being able to deny the truth. 

All of this – from Lexi sticking it to Jesse to Amanda making the difficult decision to be the messenger between two of her dear friends, and perhaps most importantly, the women coming together to support Lexi, the youngest woman in the group, lending their sage wisdom and genuine support, follows the trend of the increasing feminist tone of this show, and I suppose that’s why I love it so much.

A cold hard look at substance abuse issues 

This week on The Valley, cameras pick up after Jax headed off to rehab. As he packed up his items, a heated argument with Brittany ensued, painting an even more detailed picture of just how miserable life had become for the pair.

One question on everyone’s mind is how Jax could possibly profess the love he has for his son, despite choosing to be the one to stay in the family home, leaving Brittany to find a rental unit for her and Cruz.

And while Jax may be the one being side-eyed, there is one cast member who is slowly earning the hearts of many for his tenderness in handling everything from fatherhood to the disputes in the group – Jason Caperna. How he’s married to Janet, the single most-hated woman on the show, I’ll never know.

Jason was the person enlisted to physically get Jax to the treatment centre. In last week’s episode, we also saw him and Daniel host an intervention lite for Jax, offering him their support as his friends and letting him know that they wanted better for him. I cannot begin to describe the courage it takes to confront someone, let alone when that someone is Jax, about something so sensitive and touchy as a substance abuse issue.

Meanwhile, the awkward tension between ex-spouses Michelle and Jesse is palpable. And I find myself inconsistent in who I align with. One minute, I’m doubting Jesse over claims Michelle makes, mindful of just how convincing narcissists can be. But on the other hand, something tells me that Jesse is a pretty sincere guy who is just trying to do his best after a failed marriage.

One thing that’s really making me lean way more into Jesse’s story than Michelle’s narrative is the timing. Production really assisted in him making his case that she had an affair with her new beau. I mean, hell, we saw her new bae on camera long before the divorce was finalized. So there really is a lot to ponder.

But if Jesse really did contribute to rumours that his ex-wife is sleeping with a billionaire for $1,500 nightly (the math ain’t mathing on that one, by the way), then my advice to him would be to sit it out. What’s done is done – and fuelling rumours about an ex is the best way to make yourself look like you’re not over it. Even if he isn’t, he should pretend.

Is it Porsha? Is Porsha the problem?

Despite having been a fan favourite for almost the duration of her entire run on Real Housewives of Atlanta, public sentiment seems to be changing about Porsha now that she’s made her return. 

Could it have something to do with, gee, I don’t know, the fact that she married her friend’s former husband, Simon Guobadia? Or the fact that she’s actually not all that nice to her best friend Shamea?

In this week’s episode, Angela Oakley overhears a drunken Porsha saying she would f-ck her husband, Charles Oakley, and of course she took issue with that. Perhaps under any other circumstances, it would’ve been taken in jest, but I think women are realizing the danger of a woman like Porsha, who will quite literally steal your man. And joke about it.

Besides that drama, the mess she has going on with Drew is leaving a lot of people undecided about whose side they’re on. Dennis is no longer with Porsha, and as it turns out, him and Drew are in the studio making some bangers. 

So why can’t he film with Drew, especially if part of Drew’s storyline is how she’s going to fare in life after her split from Ralph? Her music career is a part of that. It seems to me like Porsha just wants to be in control. And if she hasn’t come down from the high of fans demanding her triumphant return, she will when she starts reading the comments.