It’s been confirmed that Real Housewives of New Jersey star Dolores Catania is headed to Real Housewives of Rhode Island in a casting shakeup. Who knows what this means for her original franchise. Word on the street is that Erika Jayne joined the ranks of Luann De Lesseps in banging a younger Bravolebrity after a visit to Watch What Happens Live. Imrul from Summer House shared that his father recently passed away. And the drama between besties Shamea and Porsha doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives grips viewers in its second season
Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is back and I couldn’t be happier. If you recall, when the show first premiered I wrote this piece on all the reasons why it was an overnight success. Despite concerns that the second installment wouldn’t quite live up to the first, it actually exceeded its debut season because of the range of issues the women were navigating.
One of those issues is the drama surrounding who thinks they’re the number one guy in the group, as Jax Taylor might word it. That is an incredibly unique thing to come up in discussions in the reality TV landscape. It’s a semi-breaking of the fourth wall, if you will, because as audience members, we’re really just here to watch the show as flies on the wall. But the fact that these women so openly discuss some of the drama surrounding private, off-camera conversations about compensation, who feels they bring the most value, and how it might impact their dynamics within the group is juicy af.
Beyond the salaciousness, the drama was balanced out with more knowledge about life as a Mormon, which includes the fascinating concept of “sealings” in Mormon marriage and “CTR” being a major symbol.
Fertility was also front and centre in this season. With some of the women trying desperately to start or expand their families and doing so successfully, while other women experienced fertility struggles. We watched on as some women navigated new pregnancies, the process of IVF, and for Demi, the difficulties that can come from seeing your friends be pregnant while you try desperately to conceive.
We also saw how awful Taylor’s family is. I mean, imagine finding out that your boyfriend and the father of your child is an unfaithful piece of sh-t (by way of having an in-person meeting with the girl he was having an affair with), relaying that information to your family and having your stepdad slut shame you and ask what his unfaithfulness says about you because you slept with him early on in the relationship? It’s just insane.
But that insanity is what makes this show the gold mine that it is. With so many women, all of whom are stunning by the way, which adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the production value of the show, it’s the perfect recipe for some damn good TV. The storylines are rich and layered, and when you add in the religious element, the collapsing marriages and the constant mention of those old swinging allegations, you can’t help but acknowledge that this is what reality TV should be.
Summer House season finale leaves us wanting more
I am officially over Lexi Wood. I was really rooting for her and admiring how she stood up for herself upon finding out how much Jesse was misleading the rest of the housemates. But after their breakup last episode and then seeing her strategically place herself in his proximity in this week’s episode in order to monitor and criticize his conduct at the last party of the summer – I’m done.
Something about her is giving Lauren Conrad circa The Hills when she said no to Paris to spend a summer with…*checks notes* Jason Wahler. I feel like Lexi’s summer would’ve been much more enjoyable had she spent more time building relationships with the rest of the housemates instead of cuddling in bed with Jesse. Now, she feels isolated from the group and blames Jesse but she’s got to take some damn accountability.
Near the end of the episode, we see Paige and Amanda pay a visit to new mom Lindsay and baby Gemma is just perfect. Seeing Amanda have such an emotional reaction to her friend’s newborn baby made me feel like maybe all that talk about not being too devastated if it didn’t happen for her and Kyle was rubbish. Or she could still genuinely feel that way and just really love babies.
But we all know the real reason of the visit was for Paige to give them the full rundown of her breakup with Craig – which was apparently sparked by him asking whether or not she could see them hosting holidays with their kids, to which she initially said yes. But when she reconsidered it, she realized she actually could not see that in their future.
She got into how upsetting it was that despite being “annihilated” online over cheating allegations, Craig declined her request to put a stop to it by simply making a social media post that she did not, in fact, cheat on him. He said he wasn’t comfortable addressing anything at the time, which, for several reasons, doesn’t surprise me in the least.
There was something about the end of that episode, with those three gals, all at such different places in their lives, that seems to have sparked the idea online that there should be a show, similar to The Valley, for the Summer House friend group, particularly after Danielle and Lindsay toyed with the idea of not returning. I mean, Danielle isn’t even a full-time cast member anymore, anyway.
In my opinion, the idea for a show like that has got legs. So much of the reality shows on Bravo centre around drama. And while I live for the drama, there’s something so enticing and refreshing about more of a Sex and the City vibe, which Paige actually alluded to, seeing these New Yorkers – particularly the women – try and navigate everyday life, parenthood, dating, and marriage without the Real Housewives vibe. But if we’re being totally honest, even the best laid plans are never quite drama-proof.
The Valley’s Janet continues to put vile behaviour on display
This week on The Valley, the group returns home from their explosive trip to wine country. And the first thing on everyone’s agenda is a sincere and heartfelt apology to Nia, who became a target for the group after saying her husband Danny was sleeping because he was “tired” instead of fessing up that he was “drunk” – assuming she didn’t need to state the obvious. It's unclear why everyone felt like that was a valid reason for the attack we saw take place, but when clearer minds prevailed, it became clear they all owed her an apology.
But the apology resulted in a very tearful confession from Nia about a very troubled childhood in which she and her mother were homeless for periods of time, sleeping on couches and living in cars. Even in her adult life, Nia says, she has experienced homelessness.
The group was glad to see Nia being vulnerable – but clearly Nia putting herself out there meant nothing to raging b-tch Janet, who took it upon herself to reveal that Nia had spent time in AA, though it’s unclear whether a) that’s actually true, b) whether it was for her own alcoholism or someone else’s. By the way, it’s called AA for a reason. The second A stands for anonymous, idiot.
That brings me to that someone else – Danny. The group seems to be extremely concerned about Danny’s drinking. Some of those concerns, especially with what Jasmine revealed he said and did to her and her partner while intoxicated, are completely valid. But for the most part, I think the reason he’s secretive with his drinking is because he doesn’t want to hear it from his wife. And as lame as that is, it’s pretty common.
My question is – where was this concern for Jax’s drinking? For his substance abuse issues and his behaviour? I don’t recall the group holding Jax’s feet to even the dullest of fires, like they have been with Danny. The guy is in literal rehab and you’re worried about Danny, who fell asleep after a trip to the winery, taking a swig of tequila in a pantry because he closed the door to do it? I think we’ve got bigger fish to fry, people.
