Bravo's The Real Housewives of....

[chrisml]

I liked Yolanda until the fourth season (the show never recovered from that season). Brandi and Yolanda thought they could take down LVP (the way Brandi did with Adrienne) and it backfired on them spectacularly.  Fifth season Yolanda was fine, but the damage had been done. Brandi then attacked Joanna for Yolanda and we know what happened there. Yolanda later dropped Brandi when she no longer needed her. You're right though--a vindictive Yolanda would go after cowards Kyle and Rinna. That's the problem with the show. Camille is the only one to call out Kyle and to a lesser extent, Rinna on their b.s. Bravo has allowed these shrews to protect themselves from being called out. Joyce was interviewed on Heather McDonald's show and she had some interesting things to say (especially about two-faced Yolanda). I always liked her on the show even though she got a bad edit. She's totally right on how Brandi's racist comments would be perceived in a negative light today: Joyce Giraud interview

 

 

[DynamiteKiddo]

I have only watched since s5 (as a soap fan, I started for Rinna and Eileen)... everything earlier, I have only seen clips.  From seasons 3-4, it was really sad to see Yolanda stage mom-ing Gigi and not letting her eat food.  YIKES.  From what I've seen of the Ken thing--he did put his hands on her and spoke disgustingly to her (like he's done about Rinna).  I can't have have any sympathy for him because he somehow gets away with murder for being a truly vile, hateful little troll.  But with that, "my husband..." comment, she really tipped her hand--she is not the humble earth mother she was pretending to be.

 

She knows this fame and fortune game and she likes to think she's winning.  I do think she plays much more gracefully than others, though.  And she did bring such legitimacy to this franchise through her husband, later with her kids, her modeling career, and her style.  She is the real deal.  She and Vanderpump are such opposites, and they both envy what the other has, because it's exactly what they lack.  In my opinion, everything about Lisa is garish and classless... you can look at Villa Rosa and compare it to Yolanda's Malibu house (or her new farm, or any of her other homes), and I think it speaks volumes about how different their aesthetics and presentation are.  Lisa seemed very envious.  But Yolanda was probably even more envious of how Lisa really enjoyed herself and effortlessly charms people (esp. men) and entertains with such ease and fun.  I hope Yolanda is enjoying that amazing farm in Pennsylvania, because she always sort of tragically felt like she was struggling to have fun, despite her claims to the contrary.  But she's with another rich guy, lolol.  But I think she wants to be that humble earth mother, and it was lovely to see her with her family in Holland and her life is lifestyle porn.

 

It was very heartless of Yolanda to publicly drop Brandi, though.  Even if she thought she was a hot mess she didn't want to deal with anymore post-BH, she didn't have to publicly denounce her with all the other women.  Her relationship with Erika was random, but actually helped them both and I'm curious how they felt about each other then and now.

Edited March 11, 2020 by DynamiteKiddo

[chrisml]

Ken did not grab or assault her as Yolanda and Brandi initially claimed. Yolanda had to backtrack on that when the footage was shown. Yolanda was despicable towards Ken and Lisa at the event. Brandi and Yolanda really thought they had taken down LVP but the reverse happened. Brandi was too stupid to course correct but the fake Yolanda knew how to pivot. From what I remember, Yolanda was angry that LVP got a spinoff because she initially joined RHOBH because she wanted her own show about romance. 

[DynamiteKiddo]

LVP is obviously untouchable.  Despite the BH Housewives' and Andy's spin, she has completely, totally, unquestionably won this show and I wonder if they know or delude themselves to buy the bs they're selling?

 

I think the way to have actually taken her down (and who knows if anything could really touch Vanderpump's teflon booty) was Yolanda's Lyme disease, but then Rinna and Kyle would have implicated themselves in the plot to ruin Yolanda.

 

I hope Rinna doesn't actually try to destroy Denise this year (everything is pointing to that, though) and further sully herself.  Brandi obviously has learned nothing from her disgrace in seasons prior, lol.

[chrisml]

I think a lot of viewers felt Yolanda was faking. If I had to place a bet, I would say she was faking. David and her family thought she was faking. Rinna did not want to be the villain so she turned it all around on LVP. I never understood that season because if everything Rinna said was true about Vanderpump, it was a big so what to me. I think that's why their pile-ups never worked because their anger at her was so overblown and about  idiotic stuff. She had to remove herself from the show, and even then, the audience disliked the other housewives.

[DynamiteKiddo]

I think LVP, Kyle, and Rinna staged a plot to expose Yolanda (I don't have an opinion on Yolanda's Lyme) and then Rinna was left holding the bag and LVP and Kyle let her go down for it alone.  I get why Rinna hates LVP, I just don't get how Kyle slithered out of that (and everything).  She sorta copped to it but she and Rinna blamed LVP, who I no doubt think instigated it... but they all decided to do it and Rinna got talked in to doing the dirty work.  It's the same story as Brandi and where there's smoke there's usually fire.  But they always picked the dumbest s to "get" her on.

 

But it's all over now, and like you said, LVP won with the (overwhelming) majority of the audience.

[Antoyne]

 

I also believed Yolanda was faking it. 
 

The problem with the LVP take downs is they expected the audience to care about a bunch of [!@#$%^&*] that happened off camera that could not be proven and it always felt like a gang up so LVP ended up looking sympathetic to the audience. 

[chrisml]

This 100 times. OR they would pull something like an Eileen Davidson where they would carry a vendetta over the dumbest things.  Rinna, Kyle and LVP knew Yolanda was faking (LVP was the only one at season six reunion to suggest it was depression not Lyme Disease). There's no chronic illness that goes away when you have important Hollywood social events to go to. Considering how vindictive Yolanda had been to Lisa outside of the show, I wouldn't blame LVP if she wanted Rinna to be the one to call out Yolanda. Yolanda's Lyme Disease was as authentic as her relationship with Erika--such a good relationship that Yolanda knew nothing about her and could not name one of her songs (not that I blame her for that one).

[Antoyne]

They were also such good friends that their husbands had never met until filming. It was such bull. She was specifically brought on to be Yolanda's guard dog after Yolanda dropped Brandi post her getting fired. Hence Erika coming on immediately deciding she didn't like Lisa, when Lisa literally hadn't done anything to her.

[chrisml]

And she's still talking about her and badmouthing her and LVP did nothing to her. It's pathetic how these women need LVP to be relevant. I still wish they would have fired Erika and kept Kathryn. 

[Antoyne]

Kathryn was infinitely more interesting to me than Erika and actually showed her life and opened up about it. Why the show has rewarded an uninteresting Housewife who half the time looks like she'd rather be somewhere else, is maddening to me. She's been on what 5-6 seasons now? That's ABSURD.

[Faulkner]

It’s funny. My impression was that LVP was polarizing with a lot of viewers (and, speaking anecdotally, a lot of my friends really disliked her), but the takedown really galvanized her support, much to the dismay of the other HWs.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Faulkner

[Cat]

This week has been incredibly busy and anxiety-inducing. I have not been able to come to the board until now, and what a relief it is to talk about RH and soaps and stuff and give the brain a rest from worst-case scenarios and worry. 

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@DynamiteKiddo @chrisml Regarding Yolanda: I think she epitomises the description "iron fist in a velvet glove."

 

She is graceful and elegant, and channels European wealth and glamour. IA that she did look down on LVP and Ken as garish, tacky and below her. The biggest irony of all was that she married her way UP into that 'garish' world -- Mohamed Hadid. And I think it is pretty clear the way she talked on BH that she was cheated on constantly. It must have been humiliating and consequently she probably looks back on that as a dark time for her, one she does not remember fondly. The rumor is that Mo likes high-class escort girls, which his last GF Shiva may have been. And which Joanna Krupa was rumored to have been. And which -- I'm making a speculative leap here -- Yolanda may also have been, after her modelling career petered out.

 

I also think the way she launched her daughters' modelling careers was genius. Rinna can only look on in envy! At the beginning, I believed Yolanda was limiting her daughters' potential by encouraging them into modelling -- an industry which spits out young girls after using them. I also thought Gigi and Bella were smart enough to go the college route. However, now she has set them up for life financially so...

 

I remember Yo on WWHL during S4 (Carlton season), and Andy referred to Brandi as her BFF and Yolanda went "I wouldn't say close friend, she's an acquaintance" and the audience went OOOOOOOO. She definitely pulled a "I don't know ha." That was ruthless, and I'm surprised Brandi never, ever lashed out at Yolanda in revenge. Because she sure as hell went after LVP after she felt dropped.

 

Erika & Yolanda. Clearly they had never met before the show put them together. It was an alliance, evident at reunion when Yolanda ran out halfway through and Erika was prompted (as her 'friend') to follow. She coldly but quietly told Yolanda in her dressing room to pull it together. The two shared an understanding and certain commonalities. They were both married to prestigious wealth, both icy blondes with their eyes on a bigger prize than the show itself. Their relationship of convenience seemed a good one, and a relatively warm one (as warm as it can be between two ice queens!). And the hate for LVP with the both of them is legit.

 

@Antoyne @chrisml I loved Kathryn! Her life story was really interesting and she seems genuinely good people on social media. 

 

NJ:

Seeing the castmates and their husbands talk honestly about their lives (and sex lives), it feels largely authentic, and you can tell that most of these people hang out for real during the off season. It makes this reunion an easy, breezy pleasure to watch. I FFed the stuff at the end when it was just Jennifer yelling at the right couch because that is draining. But it was fun seeing the husbands (Evan talked more than during the entire season).

 

Jennifer's insistence on the sex she is having with her husband is OTT. Methinks she doth protest too much.

 

Something about the way Jackie kept somewhat quiet, hanging out on the edge of her sofa (while Jennifer is practically in Dolores' lap) makes me wonder if she will be gone after this season. She seems a little over it all.

 

The talk about Caroline Manzo makes me want her to come back. She is buds with Dolores, after all.

Edited March 13, 2020 by Cat

[Cheap21]

Nene is jealous of Kenya

 

 

[Chris B]

RHOA reunion was due to tape Thursday but according to Twitter it had been canceled for now.