Cat

When someone is vague about their job? Total red flags. They either get their money from defrauding others (likely), or they are in espionage. Either way, step away! Simon legit looks like a military dictator in that uniform.

Wait...Candiace could have been there too?? This is the RHOA/Potomac crossover I never knew I needed. In fact, on the Potomac front alone, G/M/C would have been the crossing of paths we've been crying for the last few weeks! Again I say, we need Porsha back on RHOA, to bring a little escándalo and glamour (because you know the Guobadias are going to be throwing their money around). And she is single-handedly pulling Monique back towards the Bravo universe (if Porsha is still employed by Bravo...? Suddenly I am having doubts if PEOPLE won the exclusive).

I keep looking at the dress up close on my phone, and I'm still stunned by the flammability of the material. It's giving 'I work at Disney Orlando on the weekend parades.' They sell it at the Disney store, only in little-girl (and not grown-ass Gizelle) sizing. Plus its her fave color. Thank you, Gizelle, for giving me an early Christmas present with this incredible outfit.

Um...... is Bravo filming this?? This is why Porsha (and Nene) should be back on RHOA asap. Why aren't they? This wedding is the cumulation of over a year of build-up! OTT Fashion! Drama! I gasped when I saw that pic of Gizelle with Carlos King. (Quick question: does Carlos like Karen Huger at all? He never seems to talk about her when he discusses Potomac). Also, how awkward that Gizelle and the Samuels were at the same wedding! SEE, THIS IS WHY THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BRAVO CAMERAS THERE. Plus, Carlos is the Samuels' EP on Love & Marriage DC. Ooooo. I cannot wait to read your thoughts about this most recent Potomac episode. And Tonight's episode. P.S.: Porsha & Simon look STUNNING. I love Carlos's paisley suit! Gizelle.... never lets me down in the outfit department, lol. This is exactly what I imagine she would pick: one of the princess outfits from Frozen, by way of Party City. That hosiery fabric holding up the front of her bodice! I do love her fan, I must say. And just FTR: I hope Gizelle never changes her core fashion preferences! This is 100% authentic to her tastes. I remember on BH, after Erika Jayne ushered in the era of overpaid glam-squads to replace actual SLs, everyone got really scared, started glam-squadding it up, and appeared everywhere looking overdressed and uncomfortable. LVP lost a little of her spice when she stopped wearing pink platform heels with her 80s/90s closet (including with white shirts + bootcut jeans), and instead showed up in rigid, punishing black business attire by way of a new stylist.

I meant that the conflict turning physical was unplanned. And unexpected. I don't think either women thought it would go there. Yes, the confrontation had been building for a while, and there was a lot of hurt and bitterness between the two because of their friendship. But again, I think they envisioned a face-to-face confrontation that would be impassioned but largely verbal. Mia & Wendy is so strange. I feel like the GEBs (Robyn especially) have it out for Wendy, and Mia wants to get in good with them, so she's like "Me too! I hate her too!"

IA it was super-confusing. Monique & Candiace also went from 0 to 100. However, the way production covered that fight, with split-screen at times, breaking it all down second-by-second, gave it clarity and allowed the audience to make up their own minds. It was impulsive and unplanned on either Monique and Candiace's parts. Mia & Wendy's conflict? Did not feel impulsive to me. Robyn, Gizelle and Mia were bringing up Wendy to each other throughout the whole day. It was Get Wendy Day. Almost like pre-gaming the fight. It would be too easy to say that the GEBs were stirring Mia up to get into Game Mode -- it was just as much Mia wanting to 'impress' the GEBs and get on-side with them. Mia's interaction with Jacqueline was weirdly fractious and febrile. She was hyped up and also very obviously laying groundwork for a SL about how she and J are no longer friends. Robyn, Gizelle and Charrisse were watching the Mia & Wendy blow-out like crocodiles licking their chops. None of the three seemed shocked that this happened in any way, and had been pushing for some confrontation bringing Wendy down a peg or two. Mia's interaction at Bar One with Patricia Thomas-Bailey [(c) Housewives Twitter] was very contrived. He came out and said his piece, but Mia was trying milk an additional scene from him for additional justification to Get Wendy. BTW Charisse telling Patricia Thomas-Bailey she wants to open a champagne lounge. Robyn filming the blowout, jumping up and down, jeering and telling Wendy she is 'antagonistic'... she is trash and fully involved in getting it to this point. Mia was talking nonsense and Wendy suddenly clocks that this conflict is coming out of nowhere, Mia is working herself up to something, and tells her: "You're doing too much." The ease with which the GEBs decided this was Karen's fault and she should have diffused things... yeah, they'd been thinking beforehand about how they could craft the narrative to their advantage. And they are lazy, so of course they went back to the S5 well. Very interesting that you mention that Candiace was not there. I also think Candiace might have been the intended target and that Robyn, Gizelle, Mia were hoping to bait Candiace into getting physical first, because she has a very short fuse. I caught Wendy once on one of the news channels. A lot of news-show talking-heads are high on the sound of their own voice and LOVE to grandstand. And Wendy was leaning into the Grandstanding big-time during her first season of RHOP. She understood implicitly this was a golden opportunity to be righteously indignant. Sadly, on this latest episode, Wendy has now seen another side of RH confrontation -- when you feel set-up and alone and like everyone has turned on you. It must be horribly humbling.

It gets even more egregious in next week's sneak peek. I literally watched this with jaw on the ground. The GEBs don't even bother hiding their glee. Neither does Mia, who thinks she really Did Something Major on the RH front. Clown. Naturally everybody decides to blame Karen for "not diffusing the situation." What? I actually feel sorry for Wendy here. It is awful to be treated this way. Robyn, Mia and Giz are sickening. Karen responded to the sneak peek:

Monique was ostensibly removed from the cast because of the fight with Candiace. "We're better than this" etc. So what is the excuse for Mia? I've only seen edited snippets of course, but it looks pretty awful. Wendy has given a few interviews and pointed out the lack of pushback from the GEBs about Mia's place on the cast. I felt bad for Wendy hearing that hypocrisy. But I agree that something is off with her on the show. She's not comfortable with the cast IMO, and not comfortable in her own skin. And some of these women have long ago picked up on that vibe like a shark picking up on blood in the water. IA that she overcompensates and gets haughty with the others. Her first season, she threw around the Four Degrees as a way of making herselflook better. Mia has this hyper-feminine thing going on particular to some strippers. I was turned off by G licking his lips and her boasting of how she got him. The problem with Mia is she thinks everything she says and does is a boss-girl flex, and unfortunately none of it is landing.

I was going to mention her, but the cast did such a good job of icing her out and giving her the Danielle Staub treatment that I didn't know if she could ever come back. Also Candiace would never stand for it, and I think Candiace might have more sway with production and more fans in the audience than one might think. The Diamonds & Rosé book about RH has the production EP co-signing this, calling Monique fake and untrustworthy and basically it was a "see ya." So, I wasn't sure Monique would ever be able to return. But you are right: we are two seasons out from her final season, and Monique's shadow continues to loom over proceedings. Basically, RHOA are crying out for Porsha, Nene and Phaedrea to return, so RHOP might as well go for broke and getting her back. Otherwise she remains the 'elephant' in the room.

'Go after the husband' was the gift that kept on giving when it came to Potomac. It has become a bona fide template of the show. Now this template is coming up against (A) the Law of Diminishing Returns), and (B ) a target who has greater credibility amongst the audience than Gizelle or Ashley. This is not to take away from my enjoyment of the season thus far. The Potomac cast is so tough! They withstand blow after blow after blow from the GEBs and Ashley (and BTW Ashley is not some independent mover & shaker. She is no true friend to anybody but the GEBs. After pretending to be pals with Wendy this week, she is already throwing her under the bus in Miami). And then this cast bounces back, keeps it moving and bides its time until they can deliver a blow of their own. Nevertheless, there are cracks that can never be glossed over. Gizelle & Robyn truly despise Wendy & Karen, for example. These two parties are never, ever getting back together. The casting jackpot on Potomac has been largely due to longtime relationships prior to the show. If Bravo wants to recast, the cast may have to dig deep into longtime ties again, like Erica Lyles (on Gizelle's side). Or how about you throw in a wild card like... Phaedra Parks? IA that Mia and Wendy are not quite working. Wendy feels awkward and contrived when she is with the cast. Mia is auditioning for a whole other show over on VH1, and is such a flip-flopper that nothing she says carries any weight. Charrisse can disappear under a rock. She has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Karen ❤️

I saw Durban was going to be on Bravo AND Peacock! Seems like Bravo is dipping its toe in the water of showing non-US-centric reality shows. It always surprises me because Bravo is reliant on US ratings only for ad dollars, and US-only viewers don't seem to have embraced Dubai or Real Girlfriends in Paris. The Peacock component is interesting because Peacocl did a worldwide launch of its streaming service last year, which allowed me to watch Miami. And I noticed that at Reunion last year, Andy was citing questions from international fans as much as US ones. So Peacock is taking note of worldwide streaming numbers even if Bravo TV ratings cannot. As for Alexia, lol, I'm not surprised her telenovela life continues. Will be interesting to see her with the OG Bad Boy. The Ramona news made me sad. After the Black Shabbat episode, obviously, there's no coming back from that horror. But I do think Ramona was being baited last RHONY season by Leah and Eboni (and FTR I like Eboni and would have given her a second season on RHONY) into saying something 'shocking and racist.' We know she's a New York Trumper. Some people will feel that, as a result, she shouldn't be rewarded with a place on the show. Others might say that a large fraction (almost 50%) of US society votes this way, we cannot ice all those people out. I'm not sure which way to go, honestly, because I find politics fairly traumatizing and exhausting these days, as I'm sure many of you do. I've come to the point where having politics feature on RH as yet another wedge/stick for these women to beat each other becomes too painful and real. Ramona said as much on Carlos King's podcast, and I found myself agreeing with her. (Now, I'm not talking about the BLM marches shown on RHOA, M2M, because those instances felt like bonding moments for the cast to find common ground, empathy, and raise awareness to a wider audience). The Carlos King interview was where I kind of reconnected to Ramona as a RHONY cast member, and I couldn't help but think afterwards how I wish THIS Ramona was doing RHONY Legacy. She was unfiltered, open and herself, in a good way. And if Legacy is going to be Jill, Kelly, Dorinda instead of Ramona.... sigh. Not really interested in Kelly. Jill is not the strategic pot stirrer she thinks she is. And Dorinda still doesn't get why she was 'put on pause' to begin with. She exhausted me in RHUGT 2, and I'm not sure i need to see her always so ON in this Legacy show. Obviously I'll take Lu and Sonjarita on any RHONY show, lol. Ramona would have been a missing ingredient in that trifecta.

That's what I'm worried about also. Potomac was always able to ride above (most of) the toxicity: the women give as good as they get, with humor and real SLs. And I don't like Charrisse for the same reason you don't: when anything, even interpersonal relationships become fodder for TV, that's when you enter Lisa Rinna Meaningless Territory. We know there is scripting and contrivance and alliances, but friendships lose meaning and everything gets thrown on the bonfire to score points. @Gray Bunny im still on the fence about Wendy. As @DaytimeFan pointed out, the lounge SL is for the birds. She wants to cash in on RH 'stardom,' but looks completely ridiculous when she realises, oh, you need to invest money in a restaurant? And work at it? But she and Candiace are the target this year, and for that reason, I feel bad for her.

I voted by absentee ballot, but it's in eastern Massachusetts where it will likely be a blue drop in a blue ocean. I am praying that the general outturn is not nearly as bad as some media pundits say, and that we get a few positive surprises.

The lies are so blatant, it's like they are gaslighting the audience too. Do they expect Andy not to call them out at reunion? (Answer: probably). Robyn & Cha x2 denying Robyn running up on Wendy in a threatening manner was the first lie. We all saw it. Production rolled the flashbacks because she's been pulling the same stunt for years. Typical bully's sidekick who waits for Gizelle to strike the first blow, then runs up to get her licks in. Gizelle has become the Lisa Rinna of the show. She has miscalculated and totally overreached this season. Ashley turning on Candiace within the space of one episode was brutal. She always does Gizelle's dirty work, and it's not funny or charming. She's been living in such a sordid marriage for so long that she assumes everyone else's relationship is just as sordid. And with Mia, she may be right! Mia really thought she flexed telling that story about [!@#$%^&*] a married G on the beach with an audience. It confirms viewers' preconceptions about her. Also lying about Chris Bassett-Hound -- Mia will literally say/do anything for TV and a few coins. She could go tomorrow and I wouldn't miss her.

I do like Candiace's Shakespearean turn-of-phrase sometimes ("bed-wench!"). But you are probably right about the low-hanging fruit. Even if she is miffed with Karen, she is careful to not go up against her in a war of wordsmithery. Karen has a way of calmly winning those battles. And no way is she on a par with Nene Leakes, the QUEEN of Memes to this very day. Giz never does anything without back-up. Her lil sidekick Robyn, Ashley, Charrisse -- Gizelle always has her ducks lined up in a row. I think she may have overreached with this one, though, because no-one buys the idea that Chris is trying to pull a Michael Darby on the cast.

The marriages of all the other women are Gizelle's target every damn season. To the point where for the past 6 seasons, Ashley basically had to announce her own marriage shenanigans before Gizelle got to them first. Potomac resembles BH in the way it looks for personal trigger points by any means necessary. The fact that both BH and Potomac overlapped this year, and people are beyond over Rinna, makes me wonder if Gizelle is going to have a LisaRinnaBacklash moment. Yep! "DON'T YOU EVER [!@#$%^&*] GO NEAR MY HUSBAND DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?" ~smashes glassware~

I keep hoping that Karen and Candiace find their way back to each other (last year's get-together where Candiace said they could never be friends, just light acquaintances hurt my heart a little). But Candiace isn't as morally flexible as Ashley. She doesn't forgive and she cannot let it go. And by 'it,' I mean when Karen didn't co-sign on the 'Special Snowflake is 100% in the right' narrative in S5, Special Snowflake felt (and still feels) #Aggrieved. So Candiace now laughing over the Huger marriage is no surprise to me. Ashley treated her like complete sh*t for three straight seasons (and how many altercations has she gotten into with Michael Darby?). But the second Ashley pretends to be pals, Candiace is gossiping about the other women ON CAMERA. Candiace may be a wordsmith, but as you say, she is not emotionally intelligent, because Messley is clearly friend to no-one but herself.

I'm assuming by 'White (yt) Karen' and 'the other one' 🤭 she is referring to Gizelle and Messy Ashley (who ALWAYS does Gizelle's bone-carrying season after season, and nobody ever calls out her undercover alliance with the GEBs). And that Candiace is not actually referring to Karen Huger and her YT channel. Though I do find it interesting that Candiace has zero problem with the GEBs going after Monique's marriage + baby (even giving them free advice on dropping the baby paternity angle). She had no problem when the GEBs went for Wendy's marriage last year (even though Wendy was purportedly her friend). And she has no problem ki-ki-ing with Messy Ashley about Karen's marriage. But when it's HER Marriage? Volcanic eruption. She is literally supplicating the Gods to rain vengeance down on Gizelle's head, Greek Tragedy-styles.

Congratulations on your Paris trip -- one of my all-time favorite cities! In fact, I am watching Real Girlfriends in Paris (criminally underrated show if you ask me) just to live vicariously through them and you. And yes, we absolutely missed you. CAROLYN. Agree on so much of what you are saying here, including Wendy and Mia, not to mention the Richards sisters' stuff, and the need to tap the FOHs on SLC to bring the thirsty drama. Angie H literally LOOKS like Kim Granatell to me (early RHONJ reference, guys). And that's not necessarily a bad thing. You are most welcome for that Ramona interview. She so rarely does interviews, but she really laid bare her soul in this one. Ramona is nothing if not consistent in her thinking, and I thought she gave some pretty fascinating insights. She wasn't petty or trying to attack Bravo, but she has nothing to lose with RHONY. I believe her when she says she always cultivated a life outside Bravo. Actually, I think that has always been OG RHONY's strong point -- the authentic and seamless social events dotted across the city and the Hamptons where the cameras just happened to be there. Anyway, I thought it was a great interview which kept me hooked from beginning to end, and confirmed what a top-tier HW she was. I haven't watched since episode 2. I started watching Real Housewives in Paris instead, which says a lot, because that show has next to no viewership. IMO, It is already a huge problem that Mary is no longer there, and Jen Shah being gradually phased out is looming. Mary spoke truth to to all of them and gave no f*cks (kind of like RHONY's Ramona). Jen Shah is contrived but she's loosened up and opened up since S1. Judging by her gate-crashing BravoCon after Bravo rescinded her invite, she is also going to be a hot mess right up until sentencing. However, the other three do not have the necessary chemistry with each other to keep this franchise afloat. Lisa Barlow is not nearly the flex she, or her 5 Twitter fans, think she is. Meredith is absolutely my favorite, but she is an introverted INFJ personality who has to be cornered and forced to go volcanic. Heather is milking this RH gig for all it is worth, but we are starting to notice the seams. And Bébé Voice is possibly the most thirstily annoying Real Housewife after Rinna & Erika. All three SLC women seem to operate in their bubbles chemistry-wise.

Krissy Marsh has been trying to move this project along for years. I wonder if she is financing any part of this reboot, actually. I thought 'Queen' Victoria would be along for the ride too, but seems she dropped out at the last minute. Which is a shame, because the show needs the four Alphas! Krissy, Victoria, and the two loons (Lisa 'pet python' Oldfield and Athena 'not filming until Foxtel sign off on a psych evaluation' X). And build around that. The rest of the original cast can go. And that includes Nicole who contributed zilch. Nicole has appeared on Ladies of London and RHONY very briefly as well as RHOS, but as they say, always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Just a little pause! Instead of starting filming now, they are pushing it to January or February. I guess Bravo needs time to figure out -if Rinna stays or goes, -if they can convince Kyle, Kathy AND Kim to return, -if they bring back Brandi and (shocker) Denise, -if they bring back Diana. I saw Kyle lunching with Alex Baskin and Chris Cullen! But aren't they from the old producing team -- i.e. the one that gave her glowing edits? I think there is a new one in place now, and both AB and CC have left Evolution Media. Hmmmmmmm. 🤔 Now I'm thinking Kyle is trying to get her buddies back. Lint found the bots somewhere in Northern California. No word yet where the person who paid for the bots actually is. Garcelle said yesterday she is paying for her own investigation into this, so we will see if it corroborates anything.

Potomac Robyn really thought she did something with "I'm not going to extend an invitation to Wendy, but only her kids, and then I will have EXPOSED HER when she refuses to drop them off BWAHAHAHA." What is this flop 'win' she is claiming? This is why I cannot warm to Robyn. She clearly dislikes two women (Wendy, Karen) and lives for bashing them constantly. Right on cue, she invited Charrisse. We know Karen & Ray's marriage will be a hot topic this season, and I don't know whether Karen stepped out on him or not, but I do know that Charrisse the Sloth is so desperate to be on RHOP that she said an unforgivably ratchet lie two years ago about Monique for which she should not be rewarded. Wendy... sigh. Why is she being so dumb about business and this Nigerian lounge? Wendy has FOUR DEGREES and yet she's divorced from reality. Stupefied that she has to pony up money. Stunned that --gasp-- restaurants don't run themselves. I can't with these people who live on social media thinking that represents 'work' and everything else in life magically runs on an app. I'm starting to think that the Ashley & Michael Darby divorce might be a storyline concocted by the both of them.

Please. She's acting like she deleted her Twitter because she needs some kind of break, when she doesn't even use her own Twitter -- only a couple of fake bot burner accounts (allegedly) to attack Garcelle and Kathy on the sly. She saves all her Rinna Crazy for Instagram. And she has not deleted her account there. My guess is, she heard Melon Husk wants to charge Twit users $20/month and got the hell out before she had to part with money.

"I don't f*ck with that woman, because I don't F*CK with that woman." And this us why I DO f*ck with Karen Huger. I love her.

This is why the Potomac cast is on another level. They are in on the joke and can poke fun at some of their most, uh, memorable looks. They have a sense of humor about themselves. Iconic.