America’s smallest state is about to bring some of the biggest drama as the ladies of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island make their debut.
The Season 1 cast includes Alicia Carmody, Rosie DiMare, Ashley Iaconetti, Liz McGraw, Rulla Nehme Pontarelli, Kelsey Swanson, and Jo-Ellen Tiberi, with The Real Housewives of of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania joining as a friend.
As the women make a splash on Bravo, they’ve got big shoes to fill. We’ve put together a look back at all the ‘Wives who came before them, and all the firsts they brought to the Real Housewives world.
Check out the below watch guide to get ready for the premiere of RHORI on Thursday, April 2 at 9/8c on Bravo, with episodes streaming the next day on Peacock.
The cast of The Real Housewives of Orange County made history as the first ever ‘Wives when they debuted in March 2006. The OGs included Vicki Gunvalson, Jeana Keough, Jo De La Rosa, Lauri Waring and Kimberly Bryant. Titled appropriately “Meet the Wives,” the episode featured our first peek into an exclusive gated community and stunning million dollar homes.
“It isn’t just a place to live, it’s a lifestyle,” a voiceover declared in the opening moment of the premiere, before the iconic notes of RHOC’s theme song played against the backdrop of a gate opening.
The Real Housewives reunions have become an iconic part of every season, as the ‘Wives hash out all the fights, highs and lows of the last few months. But the first “reunion” during RHOC Season 1, Episode 8, looked very different, as the first half of the episode saw the ladies talking over their last few months in confessional interviews alone. It wasn’t until about a half hour into the episode that they all met up to chat, and it wasn’t on a stage, but rather in Vicki’s backyard, in a much more casual setting that included Jeana wearing jeans.
History was made in RHOC Season 2, Episode 10, as Andy Cohen hosted a reunion for the ‘Wives. But rather than being set on formal the stage we know today, it was a much more casual Watch What Happens special. It also marked the first time Andy asked the ‘Wives questions from viewers at home during a reunion.
Although the first two seasons of RHOC used clips from the episodes in place of what we now know to be the iconic “tag lines,” Season 3 marked the first time the ‘Wives uttered their own first official taglines during the opening theme song. Vicki declared, “Everything’s got to be huge, large and grand,” while Tamra Judge proclaimed, “I’m the hottest housewife in Orange County!”
It set the stage for sister franchises to jump on the tagline train, as the RHONY cast soon joined in during their debut season a few months after RHOC Season 3’s premiere aired.
The RHOC ‘Wives broke ground again when they filmed the first ever “cast trip” to San Diego. The vacay was a way to keep Jeana’s mind off things after separating from her husband, Matt Keough, and involved a limo and champagne on the drive. Things quickly escalated during a conflict between Jeana and Vicki.
Wedding bells rang for the first time on Real Housewives as Lauri walked down the aisle in a televised wedding, marrying George Peterson in 2007. The Season 3 finale featured a beautiful outdoor ceremony and was followed by a tented reception.
Many a Housewife has renewed her vows during filming, but the first to pave the way for a declaration of love was Vicki to her then-husband Donn Gunvalson back in 2010. To mark their 15th wedding anniversary, the couple renewed their vows on the beach in Turks and Caicos during sunset.
Although many ‘Wives have sadly seen their marriages fall apart, the end of Tamra’s marriage to her-then husband, Simon Barney, played out in dramatic fashion during the filming of Season 5. On the way to the final party of the season, Simon and Tamra took a tense limo ride where they argued and hurled insults at each other, before Tamra memorably yelled at him, “I want a divorce!” Although the two continued on to the party
and Simon attempted to apologize and hug his wife, it was revealed in the closing credits that by the end of filming, he’d filed for divorce.
While most of the Real Housewives drama usually centers around the ladies, it was a first when Andy invited the RHOC men behind the Housewives to join their better halves on the reunion couches for Season 5. Gretchen Rossi’s boyfriend, Slade Smiley; Alexis Bellino’s husband, Jim; Lynne Curtain’s husband, Frank; and Vicki’s husband, Donn joined the conversation.
Every good reunion needs receipts, and Gretchen paved the way when she cleared up an ongoing point of contention between her and Alexis by offering actual evidence during the Season 7 reunion.
“I want to talk about Fox 5 [tv station]. Ladies, set the record straight: who was offered the job first?” Andy asked the ‘Wives. Gretchen eventually responded by pulling a printed email from behind her reunion couch pillow, and both she and Andy read the emails out loud.
Taylor Armstrong became the first-ever ‘Wife to crossover between franchises when she joined RHOC after appearing on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. During her debut, she joined RHOC ’Wives Tamra, Shannon Storms Beador, Heather Dubrow, Emily Simpson, and Jennifer Pedranti on a yacht for Gina Kirschenheiter’s “Last Fla-mingle party.”
As far as differences between the franchises, Taylor had this to say to The Daily Dish: “I think Beverly Hills was more dramatic than Orange County.” Taylor went on to share that her time on RHOBH was challenging because she and the other ladies “had so much going on in [their] lives.”
Although reunion walk-offs are much more common now, Ramona stunned the rest of the RHONY ‘Wives and Andy when she abruptly got up and walked off the stage during the first-ever RHONY reunion, becoming the first Housewife to do so. It happened after Andy turned the conversation to Alex’s nude photos resurfacing. As Alex was in the middle of speaking, Ramona claimed she needed to go to the ladies room. But it quickly became clear that wasn’t the whole story.
“I think that what I gather, is that [Ramona] feels that you crossed the line by posing for these [photos],” Andy explained. She later rejoined the group.
Sometimes the drama is too much for just one reunion episode! The RHONY ‘Wives were the first to see their season’s arguments and reflections broken up into a two-part reunion. The conversation covered everything from Bethenny and Kelly Bensimon’s strained relationship to New York Fashion Week to Simon Van Kempen and Alex McCord’s house renovation party.
The Real Housewives world added its first Southern belles with the premiere of The Real Housewives of Atlanta in October 2008. It featured Shereé Whitfield, Nene Leakes, Kim Zolciak, DeShawn Snow, and Lisa Wu Hartwell. The ‘Wives hit the ground running as they all attended a birthday party for Shereé, who was celebrating her first birthday without her ex, former NFL player Bob Whitfield.
Although Denise Richards’ infamous “Bravo, Bravo, f–king Bravo,” moment went viral during The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 10, the honor of breaking the fourth wall for the first time in Real Housewives history belongs to Shereé, after Kim misspelled “cat” as “K-A-T” while telling a story.
Although Kim never missed a beat, Shereé visibly did a double take when the letter “K” was mentioned, and glanced at the cameras and producers to see if they also clocked the spelling error, making for an instantly iconic moment.
Kim Zolciak was one of the first Housewives to get her own spinoff with multiple seasons when she and her new husband Kroy Biermann appeared in Don’t Be Tardy, named for her song “Don’t Be Tardy for the Party.” The show focused on her marriage to Kroy, as well as the raising of their six kids: Kroy, Kash, twins Kaia and Kane and Kim’s children from a previous relationship, Brielle and Next Gen NYC‘s Ariana Biermann.
Cameras picked back up on the East Coast to bring us the fourth Real Housewives franchise, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, in May 2009. Featuring Teresa Giudice and Danielle Staub, it also followed Caroline Manzo, her sister, Dina Manzo, and their sister-in-law through marriage, Jacqueline Laurita, as cast members, making it the first Real Housewives iteration to feature family members as full-time ‘Wives.
“Let me tell you something about my family. We’re thick as thieves, and we protect each other to the end,” Caroline iconically said as the opening line of the series.
The series premiere was appropriately titled, “Thicker Than Water.”
Teresa and her then-husband, Joe Giudice, cemented themselves in Real Housewives baby history when she became the first to give birth to a child on camera. It was an extreme moment of vulnerability for Teresa, as she cried in her hospital bed and told her nurse, “I’m dying,” while wiping away tears. Teresa kept her mic on as she screamed through the pain of pushing, and viewers heard the baby’s first cries. Although cameras didn’t capture the exact moment of birth, they did catch the first moments Teresa was happily holding her fourth daughter, Audriana.
The Jersey ‘Wives traveled back to their roots for the first-ever Real Housewives international cast trip. Teresa, Caroline, and Jacqueline traveled to Venice, Italy with their families, and enjoyed food, wine and cruises. Teresa and her husband Joe also gave everyone a tour of their hometown.
Although Real Housewives drama is often in front of the cameras, what’s said on a hot mic can be even more explosive. That was certainly the case when Teresa’s husband, Joe, answered a phone call from a mystery person during a trip to Napa Valley for Caroline’s 50th birthday. Although we only heard his side of the call, he had less-than-nice things to say about Teresa, and it marked one of the earliest hot mic moments in the Real Housewives world.
Although The Real Housewives of D.C. was a one-season wonder when it premiered in August 2010, the ‘Wives gave us our first look behind the scenes at our nation’s capital city, and a hearty dish of politics with a side of drama. It featured Mary Amons, Lynda Erkiletian, Cat Ommannery, Michaele Salahi and Stacie Scott, and the premiere centered around a polo event.
The Real Housewives world became a whole lot shinier when the diamonds of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills debuted in October 2010, marking the second West Coast franchise. The first cast featured sisters Kyle Richards and Kim Richards, as well as Taylor Armstrong, Camille Grammer, Adrienne Maloof, and Lisa Vanderpump.
The series premiere was a showcase of wealth, and was aptly titled, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Wealthiness.” Stunning mansions in the Hollywood hillside, Louboutins walking down the street, and glittering jewels in cases added to the vibes in the opening seconds. Adrienne was one of the first ‘Wives ever to show off her private jet, and invited the ladies to get VIP treatment and sit courtside at an NBA game.
Although tense dinner parties with arguing and shouting are now the bread and butter of many Housewives get togethers, one cast was responsible for the original “Dinner Party From Hell”: the Season 1 RHOBH ‘Wives.
The infamous party was hosted by Camille at her Malibu home, and included Kyle’s friend Faye Resnick. Camille started the party off with a bang by calling Faye “morally corrupt” because, among other things, she posed for Playboy.
Then things exploded when Camille’s guest, psychic Allison DuBois, told Kyle of her husband, Mauricio Umansky, “[He] will never emotionally fulfill you — know that.”
Bravo turned up the heat when The Real Housewives of Miami premiered in February 2011 with Larsa Pippen, Marysol Patton, Adriana de Moura, Alexia Nepola (then Echevarria), Lea Black, and Cristy Rice.
“Miami is just a hot city,” Alexia shared in the opening moment, and later added, “It’s very colorful, it’s very vibrant, it’s very loud, it’s very flashy.”
Larsa added of the vibes, “It’s like no work, just fun — party all day,” as producers showed the ‘Wives dancing and having a good time.
The Miami ‘Wives made history when they took part in the first-ever Real Housewives live reunion with Andy back in 2011. Andy later dished on why it was both the first and last live reunion, and paved the way for the reunions we see today.
“Live reunions are a very bad idea,” he said during a broadcast of his Sirius XM series, Radio Andy. “There’s a reason we don’t do reunions live.”
He explained regular reunion tapings, which can take upwards of 12 hours to film, give the ‘Wives an opportunity to talk about certain subjects at length — something which was lost during the first-ever RHOM reunion. “There is a lot of grist to go through before you get to the prime beef,” he added. “And there’s a reason we’re edited down. We could talk about a topic for 25 minutes, for 45 minutes, before really getting to the heart of something.”
Bravo traveled back to our nation’s capital to launch The Real Housewives of Potomac in January 2016 with Gizelle Bryant, Ashley Darby, Karen Huger, Robyn Dixon, Charrisse Jackson-Jordan, and Katie Rost.
Against the backdrop of the idyllic Potomac River just outside Washington D.C., Gizelle declared, “If you haven’t heard of Potomac, that’s fine, because that means we’ve done a great job of keeping it a nice little secret,” in her first-ever confessional interview.
The series premiere centered around Gizelle and the “Grande Dame” Karen getting into their first-ever tiff over manners.
The Real Housewives of Dallas was the first to venture to the Lone Star state, and followed Cary Deuber, Tiffany Hendra, Stephanie Hollman, LeeAnne Locken, and Brandi Redmond. The premiere episode was appropriately titled “Everything’s Bigger in Dallas.”
Andy Cohen originally broke the news of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City at BravoCon 2019, and it premiered in November 2020.
“We’ve always tried to choose a city that has completely unique personalities and we also try to throw a little curveball now and then. Pick somewhere you weren’t expecting,” he shared at the time. “We are very excited to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah!”
The original cast included Lisa Barlow, Mary Cosby, Heather Gay, Meredith Marks, Whitney Rose and Jen Shah. Set against snowy mountains and warm fires, the premiere episode featured Jen throwing a party for her friend, and Mary infamously telling Jen she “smelled like a hospital.”
The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip was the first franchise to bring together Housewives from different series to take one legendary trip together. Season 1 included RHONJ‘s Melissa Gorga and Teresa, RHOA‘s Cynthia Bailey and Kenya Moore, RHOBH‘s Kyle, and RHONY‘s Luann and Ramona.
The all-star vacation brought us an epic dancing video on the stunning beaches of Turks and Caicos, along with all the bikinis, fashion, and dinner bickering we know and love.
The Real Housewives of Dubai made history as Bravo’s first international franchise when it premiered in June 2022. It featured Nina Ali, Chanel Ayan, Caroline Brooks, Sara al Madani, Lesa Milan, and Caroline Stanbury in the cast.
ICYMI, get your first behind-the-scenes look at Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Roaring 20th.
