Reality Recap: Reunion, Rejection, Return

Denise Richards has been granted a restraining order against her estranged husband, Aaron Phypers, citing physical abuse and death threats. Hayu released its first sneak peek at the new Real Housewives of London franchise coming in August. I dug into the backgrounds of the cast a bit and I’m impressed with the diversity. Next Gen NYC’s Ava Dash has reportedly been evicted from her bougie New York apartment after her dad, Damon Dash, reportedly failed to comply with a court order related to a $4 million default judgement. And Kim Zolciak says after her split from Kroy, she’s feeling great. 

Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion off to fiery start

The first part of the Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion aired this past week and perhaps the colour theme should have been red or orange instead of yellow because the women came in hot. 

Personally, I think Drew should’ve had first chair because she gave this season her all. Brit’s lawsuit against Drew sounds like a joke – kind of like her entire presence this season. And lastly, never ever in my life could I have imagined Andy Cohen saying “jab jab”, referring to the cast trip to Grenada.

Brit’s absence was obvious – and when asked how she felt about it, Kelli pointed out that Brit had caused “mass destruction” among the friend group, which is the understatement of the century. 

Some of the other issues the women discussed included Porsha’s remark that she should sleep with Angela’s husband, Charles, the breakdown of Shamea and Porsha’s friendship, and of course, the allegations that Charles was cheating on Angela.

Angela, folder in hand, made connections that tied the rumour back to Phaedra, but neither Andy nor Porsha were drinking that Kool-Aid. And Porsha’s disbelief that Phaedra might be the cause of the rumour prompted Angela to make an interesting observation about Porsha’s willingness to believe Phaedra is being honest.

Angela pointed out that, despite Porsha’s tumultuous past with Phaedra, she was still ready and willing to believe that Phaedra played no part in this. That issue between Phaedra and Porsha caused serious tension not only within Porsha and Phaedra’s relationship, but throughout the whole group due to the severity of the allegations. So regardless of whether Phaedra is telling the truth this season about not being responsible for the rumours about Angela’s husband, Phaedra does have a shady past and a terrible track record for being a truth teller and it was a good look for Angela to call her out on that.

There was some level of resolution, though, which, as Andy always reminds us, is the goal of these reunions. The resolution was between Porsha and Drew. Drew got major points for me this reunion because she stood on business when she said Porsha’s return was a flop, while later acknowledging that Porsha had been a good friend to her on her debut season of the show, thanking her for helping her get her hair on point from those terrible wigs she used to wear. Being able to criticize and compliment at the same time is an underrated skill.

When Andy asked if Porsha regretted gunning so hard for Drew when she saw that her relationship with Dennis really was strictly professional, Porsha paused before getting up and going over to her and offering a hug and an apology. This must be a new Porsha because that’s pretty atypical behaviour for her.

But according to Porsha, she explained that she was just trying to protect her relationship with Dennis because the two of them coparent their daughter, Pilar, so well together. As someone who coparents, I kind of understand that. But we know damn well it had very little to do with wanting to “protect” the coparenting relationship and everything to do with wanting to make sure Dennis didn’t begin a romantic relationship with Drew (and likely because she needed him as a backup partner amid the collapse of her marriage to Simon, just saying).

Jax Taylor not returning for season 3 of The Valley

This week, The Valley fans scored a victory when it was announced that Jax Taylor would not be returning for the third season of The Valley. With calls to axe him from the cast, the decision to keep him off our screens is being well-received by people who have grown tired of his toxicity, which we got a really close look at in the latest episode. 

The argument that he and Brittany got into near the end of the episode was one of the truest depictions of a toxic coparenting situation I’ve ever seen unfold on TV. I cannot commend Brittany enough for standing her ground and for saying the things she said out loud.

It is so rare to get a front row seat to arguments about alimony and child support. In the past, we’ve seen visits to lawyers where such things were discussed, but I don’t think I’ve ever been this privy to the way people can weaponize money in a separation.

First, it was so important that Brittany named the fact that Jax was acting different than he does in his text messages. We’ve seen the rage texts from him. So the fact that he came in there pretending to be all cool, calm and collected because cameras were rolling was really manipulative. And her naming that was crucial and let him know she wasn’t going to stand for it.

But when they started talking about money, and he pointed out that she made more than him and he would use that to claim alimony, things got nasty. Well, nastier. She was taken aback by his willingness to stoop so low, but I don’t think it came as a surprise for any of the audience members – hence the calls for him to be off the show.

I hope that we continue to have visibility into their separation because I think it’s so educational on how to handle a toxic, at times abusive, narcissist, and what it looks like when there’s a child and divorce proceedings involved. I don’t think anyone is going to miss Jax on screen.

Gretchen Rossi returns to Real Housewives of Orange County

This week on Real Housewives of Orange County, Gretchen Rossi made her triumphant return after 11 years. And according to Gretchen, new housewives always call her for guidance on dealing with Tamra. Her advice? Run. 

It makes total sense, considering Tamra, Alexis and cast OG Vicki Gunvalson accused her of having a fake relationship with Slade. Beyond that accusation, Tamra spoke really poorly about Slade, calling him slimy and alleging he had only seen his kids 10 times in a year.  Gretchen says that even when Slade’s son died of cancer, Tamra had nasty things to say about him on her podcast, saying she wasn’t surprised the boy’s mother needed to fundraise to cover funeral costs. But if that’s true and Slade did have the money to contribute, why shouldn’t she have called him out? He seems to be doing just fine with his new family. 

Elsewhere in the cast, Katie decides to host a “Get to Know Katie” party at a hotpot restaurant, and things, naturally, take a turn for the worst. Gina, feeling guilty for bringing her into the group and having the rest of the cast members feel wronged in some way by her, holds Katie’s feet to the fire for “not remembering” that she was the one who initiated a call with a blogger, which, despite my love for Katie, is super sus.

But when it comes out that Katie recorded a total freak out that Shannon had at the cast gallery shoot last year and showed Alexis the footage, things grew even worse, considering Shannon was pretty much the only person who might have been on her side, until that little piece of news slipped.

In Shannon’s defense, she was in active litigation with Alexis. So to hand over anything that might have been incriminating is devastating to learn, despite Katie saying she only played it for her husband. Katie says the reason she recorded it was because she was on a business call with partners and was pissed that she had to come off the phone to deal with an irate Shannon. 

Then the heat turned to Tamra, who Jen and Gretchen grilled over the pain that she had caused within the group, highlighting her being such a liar that she was sued over her dishonesty. And then almost got sued again by Jen’s fiancé Ryan, and having to walk back her remarks to avoid legal trouble, it starts to become clear that Katie isn’t the only problem in the group.

This is the second season in a row production has orchestrated masterful chaos by bringing back an old cast member. First Alexis, now Gretchen. And with Tamra’s reputation sinking lower and lower each season, Gretchen may just be a new fan favourite.