The Real Housewives
Created by	Scott Dunlop
Original work	The Real Housewives of Orange County
Owner	NBCUniversal
Years	2006–present
Films and television
Television series	Orange County New York City Atlanta New Jersey D.C. Beverly Hills Miami Potomac Dallas Salt Lake City Dubai Rhode Island
Miscellaneous
Genre	Reality television
Country of origin	United States
Official website
bravotv.com/the-real-housewives

The Real Housewives is an Americanreality televisionfranchise that began on March 21, 2006, withThe Real Housewives of Orange County. Each installment of the franchise documents the personal and professional lives of a group of affluent women residing in a certain city or geopolitical region. Ten different series have been produced in the United States, with an announced eleventh. In addition, there are 21 international adaptations. The American series is broadcast onBravo; previously, theMiami installment aired for a time onPeacock.

The first international adaptation,The Real Housewives of Athens, premiered on March 4, 2011. The longest-running international edition isThe Real Housewives of Cheshire, which is currently airing its eighteenth season.

The American franchise has led to 27spin-off series in all, the most successful one beingVanderpump Rules, which has itself had a number of spin-offs.

The show was inspired by scripted soap operas, includingDesperate Housewives andPeyton Place, and would document the lives of five to eight upper-class women who "lead glamorous lives in a picturesque Southern California gated community where the average home has a $1.6 million price tag and residents include CEOs and retired professional athletes."^[1]

On May 1, 2005,The Real Housewives was first announced as one of sixreality television shows ordered by the American television networkBravo.^[2]

In January 2006, the show was announced asThe Real Housewives of Orange County. However, filming began in 2005 under the titleBehind the Gates.^[3] Thefirst season aired on Bravo from March 21 to May 9, 2006.^[1] The original cast consisted of Kimberly Bryant,Jo De La Rosa,Vicki Gunvalson,Jeana Keough, and Lauri Waring. The show has had four spin-offs:Date My Ex: Jo & Slade,Tamra’s OC Wedding,Glitter Town,and Simply Gina.

In September 2007, the network started production for the showManhattan Moms.^[4] In January 2008, the show was retitled asThe Real Housewives of New York City became the second installment in the franchise. Thefirst season aired on Bravo from March 4 to May 27, 2008.^[5] The original cast consisted ofBethenny Frankel,Luann de Lesseps, Alex McCord,Ramona Singer, andJill Zarin. In 2022, the show was completely rebooted with a brand-new cast for the fourteenth season. The show has had three spin-offs:Bethenny Ever After,Bethenny & Fredrik andLuann & Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake.

In June 2008, the third installment in the franchise,The Real Housewives of Atlanta was announced.^[6] Thefirst season aired on Bravo from October 7 to November 25, 2008.^[7] The original cast consisted ofNeNe Leakes, DeShawn Snow, Shereé Whitfield,Lisa Wu, andKim Zolciak. The show has had ten spin-offs:Don't Be Tardy,The Kandi Factory,I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding,Kandi's Wedding,Kandi's Ski Trip,Xscape: Still Kickin' It,Kandi Koated Nights,Porsha's Having a Baby,Porsha's Family Matters andKandi & The Gang.

In May 2008, the fourth installment in the franchise,The Real Housewives of New Jersey, was announced before the announcement of theAtlanta installment.^[8] Thefirst season aired on Bravo from May 12 to July 8, 2009.^[9] The original cast consisted ofDina Manzo,Teresa Giudice,Jacqueline Laurita,Caroline Manzo, andDanielle Staub. The show has had three spin-offs:Boys to Manzo,Manzo'd with Children andTeresa Checks In.

In October 2009, the fifth installment in the franchise,The Real Housewives of D.C., was announced.^[10] The season aired on Bravo from August 5 to October 21, 2010.^[11] The cast consisted of Mary Amons, Lynda Erkiletian, Cat Ommanney,Michaele Salahi, and Stacie Scott Turner. The show ended after one season, becoming the first franchise to be canceled; its cancellation came after one of the cast members, Salahi, and her husband,Tareq, caused controversy bysuccessfully entering the White House uninvited for a state dinner while being filmed for the show.^[12]

In March 2010, the sixth installment in the franchise,The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, was announced.^[13] Thefirst season aired on Bravo from October 14, 2010, to February 15, 2011.^[14] The original cast consisted ofTaylor Armstrong,Camille Grammer,Adrienne Maloof,Kim Richards,Kyle Richards, andLisa Vanderpump. The show has had three spin-offs:Vanderpump Rules,Vanderpump Dogs, andVanderpump Villa.Vanderpump Rules has had three additional spin-offs:Vanderpump Rules After Show,Vanderpump Rules: Jax & Brittany Take Kentucky, andThe Valley, a show that premiered on March 19, 2024.

In March 2010, the network ordered a show titledMiami Social Club, which would serve as a reconstruction ofMiami Social.^[15] The show was later retitled asThe Real Housewives of Miami and became the seventh installment in the franchise. Thefirst season aired on Bravo from February 22 to April 5, 2011.^[16] The original cast consisted of Lea Black, Adriana de Moura, Alexia Echevarria, Marysol Patton,Larsa Pippen, and Cristy Rice. The cast addedLisa Hochstein,Joanna Krupa, Ana Quincoces, and Karent Sierra as housewives in season 2. After an eight-year hiatus following season 3, thefourth season aired onPeacock from December 16, 2021, to March 10, 2022. The rebooted cast consisted of Guerdy Abraira, Lisa Hochstein,Julia Lemigova, Nicole Martin, Alexia Nepola née Echevarria, and Larsa Pippen. The show has had one spin-off:Havana Elsa.

In November 2015, the eighth installment in the franchise,The Real Housewives of Potomac, was announced.^[17] The series had theworking titlePotomac Ensemble prior to the announcement.^[18] Thefirst season aired on Bravo from January 17 to April 17, 2016.^[19] The original cast consisted of Gizelle Bryant,Ashley Darby, Robyn Dixon,Karen Huger, Charrisse Jackson-Jordan, and Katie Rost. The show has had one spin-off:Karen's Grande Dame Reunion.

Prior to being announced, the ninth installment in the franchise,The Real Housewives of Dallas was initially titledLadies of Dallas during its early production, a potential spin-off toLadies of London.^[20] It was announced in November 2015. Thefirst season aired on Bravo from April 11 to June 19, 2016.^[21] The original cast consisted of Cary Deuber,Tiffany Hendra, Stephanie Hollman,LeeAnne Locken, and Brandi Redmond. On August 17, 2021, the network announced that they had no plans to immediately renew the show for a sixth season, placing it on an indefinite hiatus.^[22]

In November 2019, the tenth installment in the franchise,The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City was announced.^[23] Thefirst season aired on Bravo from November 11, 2020, to February 24, 2021.^[24] The original cast consisted ofLisa Barlow,Mary Cosby,Heather Gay,Meredith Marks,Whitney Rose andJen Shah.

In November 2021,The Real Housewives of Dubai was announced as the network's first original international installment of the franchise.^[25] Thefirst season aired on Bravo from June 1, 2022, to September 7, 2022. The original cast consisted of Sara Al Madani, Nina Ali,Chanel Ayan, Caroline Brooks, Lesa Milan, andCaroline Stanbury. In November 2024, Bravo placed the series on hiatus.^[26]

In May 2025, the eleventh installment in the franchise,The Real Housewives of Rhode Island was announced.^[27]

In June 2025,Real Housewives franchise executive Lauren Miller died shortly after childbirth.^[28][29]

Bravo has aired 12 series in the United States, of which 11 have been filmed in the country and one has been filmed internationally. The network has also licensed the brand to networks outside the United States, giving rise to several international installments, with varying levels of success.

The success of the American franchise has resulted in 28spin-offs centered on specific housewives, with the longest-running beingVanderpump Rules, which focuses on the staff at the restaurants and bars owned byLisa Vanderpump fromThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

  Indicates a series that is currently airing.

  Indicates a series that has been confirmed for an upcoming season.

  Indicates a series with an unknown status.

  Indicates a series that is no longer in development.

  Indicates a housewife currently starring on her franchise.

  Indicates a housewife's status on her franchise is unknown.

Each series focuses on the lives and social dynamics of a core group of around five to eight women in a particular city or geographic area. Cast members are typically relatively wealthy, middle-aged women. Scenes may depict cast members' personal and professional lives, and especially their social interactions with one another.^[79] Individual scenes may feature any combination of cast members (including solo scenes), though producers aim to include at least one "tent-pole" event per episode, which brings together the full cast.^[80] A single season typically consists of around 15–25 episodes.^[81]

The franchise has been described as a "docu-soap"— a hybrid of the reality television and soap opera genres.^[82] The shows are not scripted, but field producers often intervene to steer the direction of conversations or inflame conflicts.^[83]

A highly recognizable and frequently parodied feature of the franchise is itsopening credits, which feature clips andgreen screen footage of each housewife in turn, with each housewife delivering a "tagline"—a short quip alluding to some aspect of their personality or story.^[84] For example, forseason six ofThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,Lisa Vanderpump, who runs a dog rescue organization, used the tagline "I'm passionate about dogs, just not crazy about bitches". Housewives record several taglines for a given season, some of which may be written by the housewife herself and some by producers, with the network having final say on which one is used.^[85]

The credits end with atitle card showing a lineup of the entire cast holding in their outstretched hands an object related to the show's location.^[86] For example, the housewives ofOrange County hold oranges, the cast ofAtlanta hold peaches, and the women ofBeverly Hills hold oversized diamonds. This began as an allusion to the opening credits ofDesperate Housewives, which featured the show's main actresses holding apples, and each object is often used as asymbolic reference for being a cast member on each respective show — for example, if a long-time guest on a franchise is finally cast to appear full time, her cast mates may say she has "finally earned her peach." The housewife in the center of the cast shot is generally chosen to be the cast member who had the greatest impact on the season.^[86]

Each season of aReal Housewives series ends with a "reunion", in which the cast members convene to discuss the events of the season. The reunion is generally filmed after most of the season has aired, and the women have had a chance to view the season's episodes.^[87] Reunions are filmed in a single day over the course of around ten hours, but are generally edited into two or three one-hour episodes.^[88]

Housewives are typically paid for their participation in each season of the program in two separate amounts, with the second portion paid to the Housewives after the filming of the reunion. WhenAdrienne Maloof failed to show up forThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hillsseason three reunion in 2013, a precedent was set where, with the exception of certain circumstances such as attending analcohol rehabilitation facility, the Housewife's employment as a cast member on the program is terminated if she is a no-show.^[89] Housewives to skip the reunion and not return to the series in the next season include Maloof, Mary Cosby (Salt Lake City), and Lisa Vanderpump (Beverly Hills).

Cast members are seated on couches on either side of a host (Andy Cohen, in the case of the American editions) who asks the cast questions (sometimes viewer-submitted) about the events of the season. It is theorized that the closer a Housewife sits to the host, the more integral the part she played in the drama and storyline that season. By 2016, entertainment websites were analyzing the importance of the reunion seating charts, withSlice noting that the Housewives assigned to the "end spots", meaning the ones farthest away from the host, meant a near-certain end to their time onReal Housewives.^[v][90] Housewives generally dress formally, inevening orcocktail dresses, for reunions.

In addition to answering questions, the Housewives are given the chance to look back on video clips of events from the season, with their reactions shown to the audience viapicture-in-picture.^[91] "Friends of the Housewives", part-time cast members, typically only appear for a portion of the reunion time.^[w] In many but not all AmericanReal Housewives installments, a segment of the reunion is filmed with the husbands of the Housewives joining their spouses on stage and giving their thoughts on what happened during the filming of the season. The first show to debut such a segment wasThe Real Housewives of Orange County in 2010, and many production companies now consider spouse participation to be standard fare on reunion day. The vast majority of reunion specials end with the cast making atoast, signifying a formal end to the season. In many cases production makes note of offering non-alcoholic toasts to Housewives who have quit drinking alcohol, or who are pregnant.

The final episode of the first season ofThe Real Housewives of Orange County, the franchise's original incarnation, diverged from the now-standard reunion format; it lacked a host, and the women dressed casually and cordially reminisced over the course of a single episode, set in the backyard of one of the women. The reunion for the second season, then titled "Real Housewives Confess: A Watch What Happens Special", was the first to feature Andy Cohen as host, and to use thetalk show-like format which subsequent reunions would adopt.^[87] From then on, a standard season-ending reunion would play out across two episodes, with season three ofThe Real Housewives of New York City debuting the franchise's first-ever three-part reunion in June 2010.^[92] In the years since, three-part reunions have become commonplace on many AmericanHousewives series, and in April 2017,The Real Housewives of Atlanta ended its ninth season with a four-part reunion special.^[92] The four-part reunion special format was later duplicated by the Potomac and Beverly Hills installments in 2021.

During theCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020, theseason 12 andseason 10 reunions ofAtlanta andBeverly Hills respectively were filmed virtually, onZoom, from the homes of Cohen and the Housewives due to lockdown orders at the time.

EachReal Housewives program is made by a different production company, though some are responsible for more than one show. For example,Evolution Media produces bothThe Real Housewives of Orange County andThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.^[81] A season is shot on location over the course of around four to six months. The typical field crew for a show consists of three production crews of around ten people, including one lead producer, several camera crew, and a sound technician. Small scenes, such as those centered on just one or two housewives, are shot by a single production crew, whereas multiple crews will cover larger events involving most of the cast.^[93]

The postproduction process of putting episodes together takes around ten to twelve weeks and begins near the end of filming. Estimates for the amount of raw footage recorded per hour-long episode have ranged from 40 to 85 hours.^[94]

While early seasons occasionally made use of open casting calls, potential housewives are more typically referred by existing cast members or invited to interview by casting agents as a result of their research into the city's social circles. Candidates must pass through three stages: a phone interview with a casting director, a video interview, and finally a filmed home visit, simulating the process of filming a scene for the show.^[95]

The casting of Housewives' family members as primary cast members has occurred many times, withThe Real Housewives of New Jersey casting siblings in itsfirst season.^[96] This particular installment of the franchise would later cast sisters-in-law,^[96] cousins,^[96] and even twin sisters.^[97] The first mother-daughter Housewives, Evodia and Mercy Mogase fromThe Real Housewives of Johannesburg,^[98] eventually received their own spinoff program in 2020.^[98]

The compensation ofReal Housewives cast members has been the subject of some speculation. In his book about theHousewives franchise, writer Brian Moylan estimates that, as of 2021, a cast member would receive around $60,000 for her first season, increasing year over year up to a cap of around 300 to 500 thousand dollars. Certain "star" cast members have been rumored to be paid figures in the low millions, such asNeNe Leakes, andKandi Burruss ofThe Real Housewives of Atlanta,Lisa Vanderpump ofThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, and Tamra Judge ofThe Real Housewives of Orange County.^[99] In the early years of the franchise, cast members were paid considerably less, withReal Housewives of New York City cast memberBethenny Frankel stating that she was paid $7,250 for her appearance on the show's first season in 2008.^[100]

A notable provision of housewives' contracts is the so-called "Bethenny clause", which states that Bravo receives 10% of the sale price of any business a cast member starts while on the show, provided that it sells for more than 1 million dollars.^[101] The colloquial name for the clause is in reference toBethenny Frankel, who sold her Skinnygirl cocktail line in 2011 for a reported $120 million.^[100]

Like many reality television shows, theReal Housewives franchise makes use ofconfessional interviews, in which scenes are interspersed with "talking head" commentary from the cast members. Confessional interviews were originally filmed at the housewives' homes, but are now mostly shot on a soundstage in front of agreen screen, with an image of the cast member's home composited behind them. Interviews are filmed periodically during and after the filming of a season, sometimes over the course of a full day, and involve the women responding to questions from an off-screen producer.^[102] Over the years, cast members have adopted increasingly elaborate hair, makeup, and fashions for confessional interviews, and may spend between 45 minutes and three hours before filming in order to prepare their looks with the help of hair and makeup artists.^[103] Each cast member typically has three different confessional looks for a season, with some franchises adopting up to seven, which may need to be reproduced in multiple interview sessions for the sake of continuity.^[103] Confessional looks must be approved in advance by producers and the network.^[102]

On December 2, 2016, Cohen spoke on the future of the franchise, saying if there were to be a new installment to the franchise, it could potentially be set inNashville. Cohen also stated that an All Star edition of the franchise would serve as an end-goal if ratings began to drop.^[104] Later in December 2016, during an interview withHarry Connick Jr., Cohen stated that they look for cities with strong personalities, and agreed thatNew Orleans fits that criterion.^[105][106]

Cities where Cohen and other producers began the casting process but ultimately decided not to create a series includeChicago,Greenwich,Houston andSan Francisco.^[107]

Feminist leaderGloria Steinem has vociferously criticized theReal Housewives franchise for "presenting women as rich, pampered, dependent and hateful towards each other."^[108]

Others have criticized the show for its promotion of conspicuous consumption.^[110] The franchise is often analyzed through a lens of feminist political economy, and how the show "creates rich women as objects of cultural derision, well-heeled jesters in a populist court."^[111]

In October 2019,The New York Times ran an article criticizing how the casts of the differentReal Housewives installments appear "segregated" by skin color.^[112] Author Tracie Egan Morrissey pointed toPotomac andAtlanta for their almost entirelyAfrican American casts, while the other iterations, such asBeverly Hills,Orange County,Dallas,New York, andNew Jersey, are overwhelminglywhite and have featured fewwomen of color.The Real Housewives of New York did not have an African-American cast member until 2021; while the addition of Kary Brittingham toDallas in 2019 marked the show's firstHispanic cast member.Beverly Hills, with the exception ofseason four’sJoyce Giraud, featured "a racially homogeneous cast throughout its run", until the addition ofGarcelle Beauvais in 2019^[112] andCrystal Kung-Minkoff in 2021.^[113]

TheReal Housewives of Dubai installment, which premiered on June 1, 2022, has been the subject of criticism due to its setting inDubai,United Arab Emirates. On May 25, 2022, a group of 12 human rights organizations, including Freedom Forward,CODEPINK and FairSquare, wrote an open letter to Andy Cohen and other executives condemning the decision to film a show there, citing the Dubai and UAE governments purportedhomophobia andwomen's rights violations. The groups asked the producers to reveal the financial role of the UAE in the series' production, run a disclaimer, and publicly cite past human rights abuses committed by the emirate.^[114][115]

In January 2024, formerThe Real Housewives of New Jersey starCaroline Manzo filed a lawsuit againstBravo which alleged that the network and its affiliated companies—Forest Productions, Warner Bros. Entertainment, NBCUniversal Media, Shed Media and Peacock TV— would "regularly ply the Real Housewives cast with alcohol, cause them to become severely intoxicated, and then direct, encourage and/or allow them to sexually harass other cast members because that is good for ratings."^{[116][117][118]} The lawsuit was filed a year after it was reportedBrandi Glanville gave Manzo "unwanted kisses" while they participated in season 5 ofThe Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.^[119][117] The lawsuit also accused Bravo of knowing that Glanville, who was also previously a cast member ofThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, had a history of sexual misconduct, but hired her anyway for good ratings.^[117][118]

The first four installments entered weekdaybroadcast syndication in the majority of United States markets on September 13, 2010, with episodes ofThe Real Housewives of Orange County.^[120][121]The Real Housewives of Atlanta started airing episodes in the syndicated time slot on October 25, 2010;The Real Housewives of New York City on November 29, 2010; andThe Real Housewives of New Jersey on January 17, 2011. More episodes ofOrange County and an encore ofAtlanta finished off the season.

Since the conception of the series,The Real Housewives franchise has been parodied in television, film, theatre and online media.

• Real Husbands of Hollywood is a reality television parody show broadcast onBET from January 15, 2013, to December 13, 2016, created byKevin Hart.^[122] The show ran for five seasons, before being revived onBET+ in February 2022.
• The Hotwives is a sitcom parody show broadcast onHulu from July 15, 2014, to September 15, 2015. Created byDannah Phirman andDanielle Schneider, the show ran for two seasons. The first season was set inOrlando, Florida, while the second was set inLas Vegas.^[123]
• InKenya, a parody ofThe Real Housewives began airing in July 2014, titledReal Househelps of Kawangware.^[124][125] The show was added to the South African mobile streaming service ShowMax in October 2016.^[126]

• The30 Rock episodes "Queen of Jordan" (2011) and "Queen of Jordan 2: Mystery of the Phantom Pooper" (2012) were both structured as episodes of a fictional reality show calledQueen of Jordan which parodied several personalities and events ofThe Real Housewives franchise, particularlyThe Real Housewives of New Jersey.^[127] The 2012 episode "Idiots Are People Three!" also featuredDenise Richards parodyingLuAnn de Lesseps's song "Chic, C'est La Vie" as "J'adore La Piscine".^[128]
• The 2022 episode "The Real Rodents of Little Rodentia" of theDisney+ seriesZootopia+ parodies the format ofThe Real Housewives;Crystal Kung Minkoff fromBeverly Hills andPorsha Williams fromAtlanta make guest appearances voicing two of Fru Fru's friends.^[129]

• From 2009 to 2012, a recurring sketch titledThe Real Housewives of Late Night aired onLate Night with Jimmy Fallon. The sketch featured the men dressing up as their wives in a parody ofThe Real Housewives franchise.^{[130][131][132]}
• On November 2, 2010,Saturday Night Live parodiedThe Real Housewives franchise as a whole, with a segment titledWomen of SNL. The segment was stylized as though it were a reunion special, which guest starredAndy Cohen making a cameo as the host for the segment. The skit featured classic housewives moments spoofed by many women who are a part ofSaturday Night Live, includingRachel Dratch,Nora Dunn,Tina Fey,Ana Gasteyer,Julia Louis-Dreyfus,Laraine Newman,Cheri Oteri,Amy Poehler,Maya Rudolph,Molly Shannon, andKristen Wiig.^{[133][134][135]}
• Saturday Night Live parodiedThe Real Housewives again on March 3, 2012, with a sketch calledReal Housewives of Disney guest starringLindsay Lohan asRapunzel.^[136]
• On November 5, 2014, a parody titledHousewives of Narromine aired in Australia, onABC's Indigenous sketch show,Black Comedy.^[137] The skit featured back and forth comedy between two characters located inNarromine, played byDeborah Mailman and Elizabeth Wymarra.^[138][139]
• From May 24 to November 8, 2015, the Australian sketch showOpen Slather frequently parodied the series with the sketchThe Real Housewives of The World. The sketch featured prominent women in politics in the format ofThe Real Housewives. The cast includedMarg Downey asHelen Clark,Gina Riley asHillary Clinton andMagda Szubanski asAngela Merkel. In the same series, Gina Riley also played a parodied version ofThe Real Housewives of Melbourne cast memberGina Liano.^[140][141]
• On June 16, 2016, the franchise was parodied in episode 9 in thefourth season ofInside Amy Schumer.Amy Schumer parodiedThe Real Housewives' reunion with Andy Cohen making a guest appearance as himself, as the host.^[142]
• In New Zealand, a parody series calledFresh Housewives of South Auckland aired onTV2 during the Saturday morning segmentFresh and was released online. It ran for eight episodes from November September 11, to November 2, 2016.^{[143][144][145]}
• In January 2017, theBBC2 comedy showRevolting aired the sketch "The Real Housewives of ISIS", which featured women affiliated with the terrorist organization in the style ofThe Real Housewives franchise.^[146][147]

• On February 25, 2011,Third Degree Films released apornographic parody film of the franchise, titledThe Real Housewives of San Fernando Valley.^[148]
• In February 2014,Michael Kulich produced a pornographic film calledThe Real Housewives ofWestport featuringNina Hartley.^[149]

• The series was parodied in August 2012 by the musicalThe Real Drunk Housewives of the San Fernando Valley, which featuredRachel Reilly.^[150][151]
• The musical parodyThe Real Housewives of Walnut Creek ran in April and May 2014 at Lesher Center for the Arts inWalnut Creek, California. The musical was created by Molly Bell, who also starred, and was presented by the Center REPertory.^[152][153] In April 2016, the musical was restaged asReal Housewives of Toluca Lake at the Falcon Theatre inBurbank, California.^[154]
• In the United Kingdom, the theater productionThe Real Hoosewives - Fae Glesga ran from September 10 to September 14, 2014, at thePavilion Theatre inGlasgow.^[155]
• From January to May 2016, a performance titledThe Realish Housewives: A Parody toured cities across the United States. Each performance was titled "The Realish Housewives of [the city they performed in]".^[156][157]
• From July 16 to September 12, 2016, a parody theater piece calledHousewives of Secaucus, a Suburban Travesty was shown in New Jersey and New York across several venues. The show also parodied reality television seriesJersey Shore andMob Wives^[158]
• In October 2016, a musical titledThe Real Wicked Witches of Halloween Hills was performed over 2 nights on October 29 and October 30, at Westchester Broadway Theatre andEmelin Theatre in New York. The musical is a family-friendly Halloween take onThe Real Housewives franchise.^[159]
• In May 2021, the play "This American Wife" parodied and reenacted characters from across The Real Housewives franchise. Written and directed byPulitzer Prize for Drama nominees Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley, and produced byJeremy O. Harris, the play was filmed on multiple cameras and livestreamed from an actual Long Island mansion during theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[160][161]

• The 2009 online seriesThe unReal Housewives of Kansas City had seven episodes in all. It was directed by Jon Davis, and starred Michelle Davidson, Meagan Flynn, Erin McGrane,Tasha Smith and Jennifer Plas. Davidson, Flynn and Plas also served as writers for the series.^{[162][163][164]}
• The Real Housewives ofSouth Boston is aYouTube parody series created by Lucia Aniello andPaul W. Downs in October 2011.^[165][166]
• Real Housewives of Benning Road is a YouTube parody series created Brooks and Amon Williams of Hardhead Films. The series aired for 3 seasons between 2013 and 2014.^[167][168]
• Nerdist airedThe Real Housewives of Horror, from October 29 to December 4, 2014. The series is written and created byBrea Grant, who also stars in the series, and is a mash-up of thehorror movie genre andThe Real Housewives franchise.^[169]
• On April 12, 2015, formerBig Brother contestant Wil Hueser released a video titledThe Real Housewives of Louisville on his YouTube channel, which went on to serve as the first season. On June 16, 2016, Hueser began airing a second season of his series. The series features Hueser parodying multiple women fromLouisville, including his own mother.^{[170][171][172]}
• In late August 2016,Real Housewives of Christchurch began airing as an online series. The series is designed as a parody ofThe Real Housewives of Auckland and showcases everyday women, rather than the wealthy and polished women featured on the Auckland series.^[173][174] In September 2016, cast-members ofThe Real Housewives of Auckland, Gilda Kirkpatrick and Anne Batley-Burton, were featured in a video meeting with the ladies ofThe Real Housewives of Christchurch.^[175]
• In October 2016, a web series titledThe Real Houseboys of Waiheke began airing as a parody ofThe Real Housewives and more specificallyThe Real Housewives of Auckland.^[176]
• In a collaboration with Bravo,Mashable began airing an online mini-series titledThe Real Housekids. It began on August 1, 2016, and featured children recreating well-known scenes from the franchise. In total four episodes were released, three featuring scenes fromThe Real Housewives of Atlanta and one featuring a scene fromThe Real Housewives of Orange County.^{[177][178][179]}
• In 2017,Jimmy Tatro and Christian A. Pierce createdThe Real Bros of Simi Valley, which premiered on YouTube and later moved to Facebook Watch in season 2.

• On August 14, 2012,The Real Housekeepers of Long Island was released online as a parody of the series, created by Tyler Gildin.^[180][181]
• On October 12, 2012, a segment was published onFunny or Die titledThe Real Dragwives: Very Rich. The video is a parody of a scene fromThe Real Housewives of Atlanta, withLatrice Royale in the role ofNeNe Leakes andDiDa Ritz in the role of Sheree Whitfield.^[132][182]
• In June 2015, Dirty Cues Productions produced the parodyThe Real Housewives of Westeros, combining the popularHBO showGame of Thrones with theReal Housewives franchise.^[183][184]
• On October 14, 2016, a parody video was released online calledThe Real Housewitches of Salem. The video parodiedThe Real Housewives as well asHocus Pocus andMean Girls.^[185][186]

• In 2009, Amy Phillips began impersonating stars from Bravo and many other celebrities on her YouTube channel and eventually began parodying the women fromThe Real Housewives. Since she began, Phillips has since been endorsed by Bravo and has made several appearances onWatch What Happens Live!.^[187][188] In January 2016, Phillips parodied bothThe Real Housewives andStar Wars inStar Wars: The Housewives Awaken, during her segmentReality Checked with Amy Phillips, onSiriusXM'sRadio Andy.^[189]
• On February 26, 2012,The Real Housewives was parodied duringepisode 2 of thefifth season ofThe Celebrity Apprentice, during a task sponsored byMedieval Times. Contestant and star ofThe Real Housewives of New JerseyTeresa Giudice recreated her table-flipping scene fromThe Real Housewives of New Jersey in a segment titledThe Unreal Housewives of Camelot.^[190][191]
• In the 2013 filmThe Best Man Holiday,Melissa De Sousa's character "Shelby" is a star of the fictional reality showThe Real Housewives ofWestchester.^[192][193]
• In episode 9 of thefourth season ofHot in Cleveland, which aired on January 23, 2013, actress, and cast member ofThe Real Housewives of Orange County,Heather Dubrow guest starred as Nikki, the wife of Emmet (Alan Dale), who is trying to get on the fictional seriesTrue Housewives of Tampa St. Pete.^[194][195]
• SBS 2'sThe Feed parodied the franchise in August 2014, with a segment titledThe Real Newsreaders of Sydney. The segment featuredSandra Sully,Lee Lin Chin andNatalie Barr.^[196]
• On May 4, 2015,The Real Housewives was parodied during the tenth episode in theseventh season ofRuPaul's Drag Race. In a mini-challenge titledFake Housewives of RuPaul's Drag Race, the contestants were challenged to create a tagline, replicating the taglines ofThe Real Housewives franchise, as well as replicating plastic surgery using tape.^[132][197]
• The Real Tradies of Melbourne is an online video released on July 29, 2015, created to promote awareness for Tradies National Health Month. The video featuresShane Jacobson, as well as originalThe Real Housewives of Melbourne cast member Andrea Moss.^[198]
• On August 11, 2016, during an episode ofWatch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen featured a segment titledThe Real Housewives of Rio, inspired by the then-ongoing2016 Summer Olympics. The segment featured current and former Olympians (likeNadia Comăneci) deliveringReal Housewives-style taglines.^[199]
• On October 27, 2016, a scene fromThe Real Housewives of New York City, featuring Aviva Drescher throwing her prosthetic leg, was parodied byAlaska Thunderfuck 5000 during the reunion for thesecond season ofRuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.^[200][201]
• On October 26, 2016, theWe the Voters campaign released a video online titledReal Voters of the USA, which used the format ofThe Real Housewives franchise to display that people could discuss politics without fighting. The video featured three housewives who were portrayed byAnabelle Acosta,Charlotte McKinney andAnaleigh Tipton.^{[202][203][204]}
• In the fifth episode of the Disney+ seriesHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series, "The Real Campers of Shallow Lake", the characters are inspired by theReal Housewives franchise to act more dramatic so that the documentary crew filming them won't write them off as boring.^[205]

The franchise has collectively won fourNational Reality Television Awards, aCritics' Choice Television Award, aCritics' Choice Real TV Award, and anMTV Movie & TV Award. It has also received nominations at thePrimetime Emmy Awards,People's Choice Awards,AACTA Awards,Dorian Awards,Leo Awards,TCA Awards,Canadian Screen Awards, andTRIC Awards.

• List of The Real Housewives cast members

• Media related toThe Real Housewives at Wikimedia Commons

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