Snoozefest Rebecca Minkoff will not be returning to Real Housewives of New York, and fans are eternally grateful. Things are getting ugly between Craig Conover and Paige DeSorbo after their split – and he revealed he bought an engagement ring prior to being dumped. The extended trailer of Summer House is here and fans are thrilled for the show’s return. And people are having mixed reactions to the news that Denise Richards is getting her own spinoff on Bravo, so I guess we’ll see how that goes.
Spanish reality TV show puts North American shows to shame
This week, there was one reality TV clip that took the internet by storm. It’s racked up over 111 million views on X and spurred some serious conversations about what makes good reality TV. It wasn’t a Real Housewives fight, it wasn’t a shocking reveal on The Traitors, in fact, the show isn’t even in English. Instead, it was an explosive scene from La isla de las tentaciones, otherwise known as Temptation Island, the Spanish version.
The premise of Temptation Island is messy as hell. Struggling couples, uncertain about their fate, get separated into men and women’s villas. The men from the struggling couples all get grouped together in a men’s villa. They are joined by several stunning and scantily-clad women whose job is to tempt them to betray their partners and ultimately, leave the island with them, instead of the woman they came with. It’s the same premise over in the women’s villa, except with beefy men taking the place of the temptresses.
As per the reality TV standard, the villas are stocked with liquor, themed parties are held nightly and people get drunk and horny. But in an incredibly messy turn of events, your partner in the other villa gets to see snippets of what you’re doing in your villa.
That brings us to current internet sensation, Montoya, an attractive Spaniard who, when shown a clip of his girlfriend, Anita, getting down and dirty with a beefcake in the women’s villa, is overcome by the sight of her with another man. He breaks free from the men’s villa and runs alongside the ocean to the women’s villa to break up the literal sex she is seen having.
Internet users were left on a cliffhanger, dying to know what happened after Montoya’s romantic but also very scary and very telenovela-esque sprint. But thanks to an X user who was pretty much cyberbullied into sharing the subsequent clip, we found out.
Despite brushing him off at first, and calling him “shameless”, Anita appeared very apologetic toward the end of the clip, which Montoya was not receptive to. After doing a deep dive and utilizing the translation tool more than I’ve ever had to in my life, word on the street is that this couple actually found each other on another dating show, and that Anita was seeking retribution against Montoya for his alleged cheating, which internet users say only consisted of getting a very inappropriate lapdance, but there are rumours he cheated on her before coming on the show. That would explain her decision to have actual intercourse in 4K. Who knows what the hell is actually going on? And who cares? It’s television – and me and millions of others are very much here for it.
Ubah forgives Brynn
This week, the Real Housewives of New York City reunion aired and finally tackled the disturbing allegation Brynn made about Ubah in the explosive finale. In that episode, she alleged that Ubah knew she had been sexually assaulted when she suggested Brynn may have slept with someone to get on the show.
Despite Ubah initially saying that the pair would never be the same and that she’d be going back to the days before she even knew Brynn, she gets up at one point during the reunion and offers her a hug. The rest of the women are clearly taken aback by Ubah’s gesture, and when the group leaves the set for a break, Ubah and Brynn hang back and hash things out.
In an emotional apology, Brynn tells Ubah she’s “sorry about everything,” which, in my opinion, is the weakest apology you could offer someone after making the allegation she did. Ubah asks why she didn’t call, and Brynn continues on with her self-inflicted victimization and her fears of Ubah being mad at her, which would be completely appropriate considering the context. Ubah posted this to her story after fans expressed confusion at her forgiving Brynn:
While I completely respect Ubah for doing this in order to protect her peace, I really would have loved to see Brynn pay, in some way, for the damage she inflicted. What does that look like? I have no idea. I mean, how do you get retribution for someone making that kind of heinous allegation?
What I do know is that Brynn is severely delusional. As this X user points out, to have six women around you telling you that you were very wrong for what you did and that the way you remember things is very far from what actually happened should be eye-opening for her. But in all likelihood, it won’t change a thing.
Dorit gets tough love
Over in Beverly Hills, at Kathy Hilton’s Capri-inspired dinner, Dorit gets some tough love from Boz and Erika as she makes some shocking revelations about the status of her relationship to PK - or PJ - according to Kathy.
After alleging that, contrary to popular belief, he isn’t the best father, Dorit is asked by Erika what she’s still holding onto. Then, Boz asks her if she thinks he still wants to be married to her, to which Dorit says no. Then, sh-t gets real.
“I’ve not seen one woman have a peaceful divorce unless the guy died,” Erika said in a confessional.
Boz tells her it’s time to take off the rose-coloured glasses, and the contact lenses, too. The women tell her that based on what she’s revealing, it’s very clear that he doesn’t want to be with her anymore.
After a pause, Dorit describes recently finding out about a law that really puts things into perspective. It’s a law that allows a spouse to obtain half of a couple’s “community property” after 10 years of marriage, at which point a couple is considered a long-term marriage. At the time of Dorit revealing this, the pair have been married for nine and a half years, meaning that in six months, she is eligible for half of everything. Erika, familiar with the law herself, says that he’s trying to get their divorce wrapped up before then in order to keep the house and other assets for himself.
“In California, when you hit the 10 year mark, it’s half-half, and that’s that. And I think spousal support is forever after that…if you’re gonna jump ship, do it before 10 years,” Erika advises in a confessional.
Erika tells Dorit that she really worries about her and that it’s time to start taking action.
“You have to be proactive. If you don’t make these decisions, life will make them for you. He will make them for you. I’m preaching to myself as much as I’m preaching to you. But I was paralyzed by fear and I waited until the last minute and I shouldn’t have,” she tells her, reflecting on her own divorce to Tom Girardi.
Recently, I wrote about the real talk Stacey Rusch from Real Housewives of Potomac got from a lawyer – and this week I’m writing about the candid Capri conversation. So it’s clear there’s an overarching theme about women being woefully unprepared and wrongfully optimistic about how they will fare in a divorce, particularly when the men they are separating from are taking a much different approach. Say what you want about reality TV but I will never not be amazed at the sage advice that comes from real women, even if they’re Real Housewives, navigating real situations that remind us, the audience, of the importance of looking out for ourselves.
