Reality Recap: Texts, hookups, good deeds

Reality headlines are nearly impossible to keep up with. It’s no wonder there are entire teams dedicated to reality TV coverage for certain publications. If it weren’t for them, how would we know which stars are shading others by liking comments, who is making a point by following and unfollowing whom, and who is saying what on Watch What Happens Live? What we do know is that Monica Garcia has wished her former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City castmates “well in hell”, Jeff Lewis thinks Bravo set Shannon up and removed all her allies from Real Housewives of Orange County, and Lala is having to walk back a lot of the sh-t she’s talked in the last year.

Margaret stuns Jackie by exposing incriminating texts

This week, Margaret and Jackie’s beef was escalated to a new level after the pair get into a heated argument – one of many at Melissa and Joe’s housewarming. Shortly after this, Jackie and Dolores end up in a conversation, and Dolores confronts Jackie about things she had heard from Margaret about how Jackie felt about her. 

Jackie admits to being upset that she wasn’t tagged in a post, but denies speaking ill of Dolores. Meanwhile, Margaret, just a few feet away, begins screenshotting the conversation she had with Jackie, where Jackie called Dolores a slob. Margaret casually instructs her husband to tell Dolores to check her phone. Dolores excuses herself from the conversation, saying she needs to check on her dogs, and begins reading all of the nasty things Jackie said about her in her conversation with Margaret.

“You called me a slob?” Dolores said, flipping her phone over to Jackie, forcing Jackie to sit with what she had said.

While Margaret seems to be public enemy number two this season, only after Rachel Fuda, of course, this was an amazing play. This is the villainy that fans have not seen in years, if ever. But in addition to it being a form of villainy, really, it’s about accountability. For this to have happened just seconds after Jackie denied speaking poorly of Dolores was poetic. It was such a thrill to watch.

But beyond being exciting, it really pads the narrative that so many people have pushed about Margaret and her willingness to go below the belt without a moment’s notice. There is nothing Margaret will not do in an attempt to take you down if you are not on her side. 

Dolores, naturally, was enraged that Jackie would speak about her like that. And Jackie apologized profusely, unsure of how to even proceed now that the text messages she thought were private had been shared with the exact person she had been talking about. I once heard that you should always text as if your messages would be read in a court of law one day. Perhaps we should be texting as if they’d be read aloud on national TV instead.

Below Deck’s Gael cancels plans to hookup with costar after production run-in

Last week’s episode of Below Deck ended on a cliffhanger as Nathan and Gael were about to hook up. Nothing new for Below Deck, but considering Gael has a boyfriend in the yachting industry, we would’ve been witnessing infidelity on screen. Again, nothing new for Below Deck. 

As the pair work their way around the boat separately, trying to find an area to fool around sans cameras, texting back and forth about possible places they can go, Nathan tells her to come to an area. However, on her way there, she runs into a few members of the production crew, who eagerly await the opportunity to get her mic’d up, fully aware of where she’s going. She lies and says she’s just going to get water and that she “won’t speak to anyone” before cheekily heading up the stairs, changing her mind about hooking up with Nathan and going back to bed.

Secret hookups have been a hot topic on Below Deck in the last few seasons. And by secret hookups, I’m referring to the consensual ones, not the one that production had to intervene on and stop from happening. 

Last season, when Barbie and Kyle hooked up after loads of sexual tension finally got the best of them, Barbie spent the next few days feeling so much guilt because she had done the one thing her father had asked her not to do – hook up on camera. She was so guilt-ridden that she began resenting Kyle, something I don’t think was entirely fair to him.

I always find myself stunned at how slick these castmates think they are that, despite production having access to their call and text logs, cameras being everywhere, and the boat being littered with production crew members in ever corner, that they think they can get away with this stuff. It just boggles my mind!

While I’m glad that Gael utilized some discernment and took running into the camera crew as a sign to get to bed, her bed, I do wonder what will happen when her partner sees this episode. We’re just three episodes in and the infidelity itch is already happening. There are still weeks left to go in the charter season. What, then, Gael?

Lindsay Hubbard’s good gesture

After a rough season on Summer House where her behaviour left a lot of fans with a bad taste in their mouth, Lindsay Hubbard is working her way back into everyone’s good graces with her latest act of kindness. 

Recently, it was announced she would be selling the three (yes, you heard that right) wedding gowns she planned on wearing during her nuptials to Carl in order to donate the proceeds to women who were about to undergo chemo and needed to freeze their eggs.

Despite being very vocal about my discontentment with Lindsay this season – and like, all the seasons before this – I don’t think there’s a person in the world that can deny that this is an amazing thing that she’s doing, and judging by the comments, most people agree.

“No matter what anyone thinks of Lindsay at the moment, this is honestly a beautiful gesture. Good for her. Turning lemons into lemonade for people who really deserve it,” this X user remarked.

“Not a fan of hers but can’t be mad at this. As someone who had to go through this I think it’s a wonderful gesture,” another person commented.

Some people are pointing out that the dresses were part of influencer agreements and weren’t paid for by her in the first place, but I don’t think how she acquired the dresses matters in this case. I think what’s important is that on a very rare occasion, Lindsay is proving herself to be capable of being considerate and doing the right thing. And who knows when we’ll see that again.