Cat

This video.... It took me a minute, but the chick in the brown Kyle wig is actually TEDDI ! She now has a job at Extra (!). What happened to 'All In' and the job as Kyle's butt plug? Even after this traumatic event, Dorit is still running around looking hideous in head-to-toe overpriced crap. @1.27 you can spot Garcelle and Sutton in the background leaving Kyle's store.

Say what now?? Monique would have been a great addition! You know she would have forged an alliance or two. For some reason, I see her hitting it off with Master Strategist/cat-with-nine-lives, Tamra Judge. What a blessed sight that would have been. Well, this def explains why Eva was there -- I figured she was a last-minute replacement for somebody more exciting. And I'm assuming Phaedra was there because Bravo couldn't bring itself to ask Nene. Ugh, and now I'm realising that Monique didn't get a chance to meet one of Mr. Chocolate's former sidepieces!

Can I ask who that was?

I think Monique very much enjoyed being on RHOP and actually never intended to leave. But when fans pointed out to Monique that Andy was doing Gizelle's dirty work at the last reunion and shutting Chris Samuels down again and again... Well, I think Chris S told his wife no way should she go back to that. So Monique turned down the contract, but I do think she regrets it and wishes she was still part of the mix. Hence the Bedtime Fairy Tales stuff on YouTube. Also in that Diamonds and Rosé book, one of the EPs, Lorraine Haughton-Lawson, was interviewed and she really tore Monique to bits. So it doesn't sound like one of the EPs wants her back.

That is very interesting, and some days I dream of bolting from Brexit Island to start anew somewhere else, where the politics and populism and point-scoring don't detract as much from the already-difficult task of making a living! The skills/brain drain is for sure already happening (happened?), but by the time Britain acknowledges the extent of how much it harms the country, it will be many years passed. Brexit is, in some ways, like MAGA for some people here. They bought the T-shirt, the baseball cap, stuck the 'Brexit Means Brexit' poster in their front yard. They are All In. And once you go All In on an ideology, it's like a cult or the mafia. You can't All Out. You have staked your social circle, your lifestyle, your personality, your soul on this thing. There was an interview with Mark Gatiss, a remainer, recently. He said some things which kind of summed up the remainer's feelings about England and Brexit:

Word. I'm not even a fan of Mia, but the constant trashing of her as a stripper was low and reflected so badly on them. These women think they're better than her? At least she worked her way out of that life. She didn't have the advantages of some of the others (private school and prestigious universities, for example). Also Candiace should apologize to Mia about screaming "HOE WHERE'S YOUR PIMP" at the salad-toss. That was completely out-of-line. Instead she was VERY arrogant and high-handed with her this episode. Shouting YOU NEED TO BE RESPECTFUL and YOU UNGRATEFUL? Who does she think she is? Her insults to Ashley about her looks are also awful. Candiace really thinks she is all that and a side of fries. In addition, she still refuses to take accountability for her mouth and rage issues. When Andy said fans were Tweeting him to fire her, that's a definite warning. I wonder if Candiace thinks she is already fired, because this past week she has Tweeted a lot of pointedly negative stuff about Andy and Bravo. The irony is that I don't think Bravo even wants to let Candiace go right now -- production just wants her scared so that she'll toe their line. They love her rage-drama, and all the family/husband drama. She polarizes the viewers and keeps them watching. After Andy said Candiace was the common denominator, he raised the ghost of Monique from her Bravo grave. Now we can drop the pretence of 'BuT MoNiQuE BrOuGhT tHe ShOw DoWn.' Monique's unfinished business is still being litigated by Candiace and the other women, and IMO she needs to return for another season. I'm sorta tired out by Wendy, and she hasn't even really begun her segment yet.

ITA with all of this post... until your final paragraph, lol. Forgive me @Chris B but I found Joanna Krupa vapid beyond belief! At the time, I wondered whether Bravo promoted Joanna because she was the 'acceptable' white face of RHOMiami -- meanwhile, there was Adriana, Marysol, Karent, Alexia, and the Queen herself, Mama Elsa, giving me the real excitement! I did like hunky-bear Romain, though, and I felt empathy for her put-upon sister whom Joanna seemed to be pushing down the same Girls Gone Wild route she had once embarked on. Miami was rebooted well in S2. Adriana is drama personified, and I expect nothing less from someone who comes from the land of the telenovela. (Truly, Brazil has soap operas airing morning, noon and night). And while S3 Miami was panned, Adriana's drama with Lea was the most compelling storyline, especially as their young sons were close friends at the same school. Lea and Adriana had history going back years and you could feel the weight of that in their interactions. So much more was at stake than some petty squabble over marriage licenses. Mama Elsa was the beating heart of RHOM. The more you watch her, the less you notice her face and more the person. She was larger than life -- the words of wisdom she had for others, the way she saw people for what they were (S1 when she read Larsa Pippen to a T), her symbiotic relationship with Marysol. She was humor, she was drama, she was entertainment, she was the tentpole character of the show. Her loss from the franchise in S3 cannot be underestimated.

Exactly this. This particular government, for all its educational credentials (Eton, Oxbridge) is mediocre, lazy and has zero imagination or ideas. It has no vision beyond 'I wanna stay in power for the foreseeable future.' So they trot out Brexit talking points because for the base, Brexit is the emotional touchstone which goes beyond mere policy. And in their mind's eye, they are giving Johnny Foreigner a kicking -- it makes them feel good about their own lives. The government has no other policies except to erode those institutions which put a check on its power and bribe-taking. They have learned the Trump culture-war lesson well. I'd like to think this latest accumulation of mess -- Brexit shortages, fuel & heat prices, Tory corruption -- is finally going to chip at potential voters to the point where they cannot stand seeing them anymore. But the fact is, many voters have their own reasons for keeping this sorry bunch in power, and will take pretty much any indignity as a result. The other problem is that the opposition has been utterly neutered, so no viable alternatives to the National Brexit 'Conservative' Party. This is a problem befalling many Socialist parties in Europe, which have seen their voter share drop to single-digits. The difference is that, in parts of Europe, the Green party has filled the left-wing void. Not so in the UK. At least, not yet.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make her drink! That's what crossed my mind as I watched Andy bend over backwards to make Erika grudgingly say that she felt bad for the victims. It literally took 4 parts of the reunion to spit out, but once she did, Andy's relief was audible. Andy and Bravo are invested in Erika. She is now firmly tied to RHOBH and Bravo. They think she's the next Teresa Giudice: on the show through felony and beyond. Well, as long as Erika lets them televize it. And Erika has no choice but to do just that, because she is addicted to the fame and the money, and is no longer powerful enough to lay down boundaries between Bravo and her private life. The way Erika gazed into camera so many times, disconnecting from some of the women and their comments. Or the way she periodically referenced herself in the third person. She really sees herself as acting a role, the role of 'Erika,' and it's the performance of a lifetime. I don't know why I didn't clock until now how unsettlingly, coldly narcissistic Erika is. It was clear in past reunions how incredibly bored Erika would get listening to the other women talk, but this season really exposed the depths of her self-involvement. She came alive this reunion and no wonder: the subject was All about Erika where she could give the bravura performance of her dreams, styled as Baby Jayne. But she still doesn't get it regarding her social media posts, the 'alleged' victims or the other women daring to question her. This is what happens when you have surrounded yourself with only a dwindling band of (mostly paid) sycophants for years. As for the rest of the cast (with the exception of, as you say, Garcelle, Sutton, and possibly Kathy who has no Fs to give), these women are completely spineless, trembling in the face of Erika's direct or oblique threats. The way Erika and Rinna backed each other up -- two enforcers in a pod. Both IMO bullies to the core. After this episode aired, I saw on Twitter that Rihanna's beauty brand had cut Erika as one of Fenty's brand ambassadors.

We got a segment on Rinna cleaning out her dusty garage, but not this??

Despite his initial gawkiness, I always found Blake Berris incredibly charismatic and that made him stand-out attractive on the show. Chemistry can get you a long way -- as evidenced by the way ZombieNick was necking MarDevil on Monday! If there was any way to get Berris back, I think the show should take it.

This response to that clip wins the Internet today:

She cannot give a precise date on the break-up, because IMO there was no break-up. And that's because there was no romantic relationship. Gizelle needed a SL and Jamal owed her big-time. Allegedly, of course. Gizelle's father was obviously not feeling the idea that they may have rekindled things AT ALL.

I think @Taoboi likes Mia, too. Tell us why you like her! 😊

Potomac The finale was an exercise in passive-aggressiveness. Gizelle playing coy with the producer was her way of maintaining mystery where there isn't any. I'm not sure she is all that interested in dating seriously unless he is a rich, connected guy, and that's fine. But she wants to maintain her place on the show and thinks this is the story that keeps viewers invested. Robyn and Juan were playing the passive aggressive game big time. I'm not sure either of them really want a kid: Robyn just wants a sign of commitment that Juan is unwilling to give. Robyn, I think, only has eyes for Juan, and Juan... sigh... loves his kids and Robyn's extended family unit. He was the star of the episode and came alive when mediating between Michael and Chris. But he Ubered straight out of there afterwards. He has long been over production and this show. Ashley also managed to strong-arm Michael into making a Very Special Appearance, and he was game, but it wasn't his usual messiness. This episode felt like production wanted to recreate last season's finale and it didn't quite fly. Candiace & Chris... yikes. He's at the end of his rope with her. I'd be ok with Mia being a one and done. Wendy, too, was meh and could barely hold her dress up. Despite her PS tweaks, the boldness and sassiness have been removed from her personality in some weird way. Karen and Ray renewing their vows was lovely, but I feel like Karen was a little removed from the group this year. The more I think about it, the more I am feeling very meh about NM trilling her way through her segment. I will of course watch lol. Next season, I hope we get a newbie or two with stronger ties to the group and a bit of dynamism. Potomac is always a pleasure, and I love the core group, but Covid this season contributed to a feeling that the show was stuck in park.

Well, this makes me feel a little better about Bravo trying to represent the neighbourhood in which it is set, while also underscoring Dubai's international reach. Hope it's a good group! Incidentally, I enjoyed Caroline Stanbury on Ladies of London, where she was messy, sarcastic, imperious and sharp-tongued.

I am not sure they will have any local Emirati women. As 'progressive' as Dubai is considered to be compared with, say, Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan, no Dubai family would allow a female member to be filmed on a franchise like the Real Housewives. That kind of public life risks embarrassing the family name which is mega-important. I suspect this will be entirely focused on the ex-pat community in Dubai and within their gated, closed-off enclaves. No public screaming matches in a shopping mall. No mixing with locals. Ex-pats in Dubai are mostly Westerners who work in the oil, retail and financial service industries. South Asian? Depends on how untraditional their families are. There are a lot of Lebanese who live and work in Dubai, but again, the family thing will decide if they participate. I don't think Bravo would be producing this without a LOT of American women involved. And Caroline Stanbury, for whom Andy has long wanted to find anther project. They need US ratings for this show. The wealth on this show will probably make Kyle's life look like Tammy Knickerbocker's. But, um, hello, the ruler of Dubai? One of the wealthiest men on earth, he kidnapped and made disappear two of his daughters who tried to escape his grasp. His most recent wife, Princess Haya of Jordan, absconded to London in fear of her and her children's lives.

The Real Housewives of Dubai starring most probably Caroline Stanbury

Could very well be! Bravo does appear to be worried about the performance of some of its RH franchises for sure. It has been a not-so-great year for the network, and it wants to capitalize on the real-life buzz surrounding BH while it can in order to attract viewers. As for Potomac, it is building on its audience each season, which makes it a bit of a positive anomaly among the RH shows.

Agreed. Against the Covid odds, and with safety and travel curbs in place, Potomac managed to produce a relatively decent season. But it wasn't like the last 3 seasons which were full-on drama. Even with an extended Minaj segment, you can hit the salad toss, Candiace's rage issues, Wendy's new bod, Karen vs Gizelle, Mia's mom, etc., in 3 succinct parts. BH has definitely bucked the RH trend this past year. I believe it is one of only a few shows in the franchise to pass the psychological 1 million threshold. The others were ATL, NJ and Potomac. Its demos are pretty good, too.

What a day this has been! And that's even before @DaytimeFan Bob Woodwarded not just this thread, but SON as a whole, with that Lucci/Liza tea. Sad tea as it is. I hope they repair their relationship -- Susan and Liza seemed close back when Liza was younger. As for the RHOP trailer -- a chill of concern went down my spine when I saw it was FOUR parts. Now last year? That should have been a four-parter. Not sure, even with Nicki Minaj, we need quite so many this season. One thing I will say: all the women look simply PHENOMENAL in that trailer. And that includes Gizelle.

IA. Zayn has something of the tragic hot-head about him. But I also think he's been coddled and excused up until now because he's cute. Add drugs (allegedly) into that mix and some violent tendencies, and this can't be heading anywhere good. Yolanda stays micromanaging every inch of her daughters' lives. Her persistence could try the patience of a saint on RHOBH! There is a rumor that Yolanda leaked a pic of the baby to some press agency and Zayn got mad about it. OTOH it could be that Zayn wanted an excuse to go against his MIL to edge her out of Gigi's life. Who knows. But this is a Grade A Mess for everybody concerned. I have to imagine that Gigi and Yolanda would not have pressed charges unless this really happened.

Yep. TMZ got the deets again (cough *Yolanda* cough). Yolanda wasn't alone in the house, she was with Gigi. Mess. He must have been drunk or high to bring up his sperm and then try to fight the security guard. (Even though you know Yolanda has probably been working his last nerve since he got with Gigi). https://www.tmz.com/2021/10/29/zayn-malik-pleads-guilty-to-harassment-yolanda-hadid-hit-gigi/

She and her husband are so mindful about preserving her image and the mystery around her, and the RHONY women on the whole would be about destroying that aura. I think she's better off developing acting projects for herself and just living her best life. ETA: WTF is dis?