I have watched The Real Housewives franchise on Bravo since I was thirteen. Now I know, that sounds young to watch 40+year-old woman fight with one another over material problems, but I have learned a lot from all of my years of watching. I started tuning in with my mom (who has been watching them since the beginning), and I was hooked.
Watching the Housewives has taught me many valuable life lessons and created a huge bonding experience with my mom that I am so thankful for. Now that I am in college, it is hard not to watch with her, but we always call and discuss after each weekly episode. Our brains are full of references and quotes; I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Lesson #1: Talking bad behind someone’s back will get back to you, so don’t do it.
This may seem obvious, but I have seen countless times when housewives say things about another housewife and falsely believe it will never come back to haunt them. Some will even deny saying things when it is literally on tape. Take Lisa Rinna from Beverly Hills as an example. She said that she thought fellow castmate Kim Richards was not 100% sober, close to death and that her sister, Kyle, was her enabler. She completely denied saying these things when confronted and broke down in tears even though it was on camera, and she very much said it.
Lesson #2: Own it!
Speaking of Lisa Rinna, one of her catchphrases is “Own it!” meaning that people need to own what they say and always be honest. Ironically, Rinna constantly says this because she is one of the housewives that fails to “own it” when things turn south.
Lesson #3: Keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer
In the Housewives world, it is important for them to make sure that if they have any enemies, they keep them close to prevent any additional drama. Time and time again, I have seen Housewives that hate each other simply put up with each other for the sake of no drama. The relationship that comes to mind is Gizelle Bryant and Karen Huger’s from Potomac. These two women have gone at it for as long as I can remember, but in the Season 7 premiere, they were seen eating at a picnic together, despite their differences.
Lesson #4: Money Can’t Buy You Class
Thanks to New York legend Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, I learned that money can’t buy you, class. In a completely autotuned and camp song, de Lesseps sings about how just because one has money, that doesn’t mean one has class. This lesson is more of a circumstantial and funny one but had to include it because the Countess is iconic.
Lesson #5: Keep your receipts
One of the most important lessons in Housewives has to be that you need to keep receipts if you’re going to win any type of argument. Although many may see keeping receipts as being incredibly shady, sometimes, if you want to prove that you are telling the truth, having some backup is necessary. The most iconic receipt-keeping moment was when Monique Samuels from Potomac showed up to the reunion with a BINDER full of receipts.
Lesson #6: Always think of yourself as fabulous
It can be hard to look fabulous all the time, let alone feel fabulous all the time. For some Housewives, this was difficult, but it was quite easy for Kenya Moore from Atlanta. After a fight with fellow castmate Porsha Williams, Moore exclaimed that she was “gone with the wind fabulous” after being told she was less than. The moment is iconic and taught me to always believe in myself and that no one could tell me I wasn’t fabulous.
Lesson #7: If you have an idea, go for it
The Housewives have had their fair share of successful ideas and their fair share of failed ideas. Every once in a while, these ideas are turned into real products, no matter their practicality. The one product that comes to mind is LeeAnne Locken from Dallas’ dress which could be worn in over one hundred different ways. The product was very quirky, and I appreciated its idea; it just fell flat with viewers but showed me that even the wildest ideas could become a reality with hard work.
Lesson #8: It’s okay to run away, and even more okay to come back
Sometimes life gets hard, and the only solution at the moment feels like running away. Then once you’ve run away, you realize what you left behind and have to (sometimes embarrassingly) return to what you ran away from. This exact situation happened to Tamra Judge from Orange County. After running away from a situation (barefoot) and exclaiming no one would ever see her face again, she returned the next day and remained on the show.
Lesson #9: Listen when people tell you bad things about who your significant other
The fact that multiple Housewives have had to go through this insane, but some of them do not know how to choose the right men. If your friends say they heard bad things about your fiance and show you proof, I will listen to them. When Luann’s friends in New York came to her and told her that her fiancé, Tom, was cheating, she didn’t listen, and they divorced after seven months. When Vicki Gunvalson’s friends on Orange County told her that her fiancé, Brooks, was lying about having cancer, she didn’t believe them, and it was later revealed he actually was lying. When Ashley Darby’s friends from Potomac told her that her husband was cheating on her AND groped a cameraman, she chose not to believe them for years, and they recently got a divorce. When Teresa Giudice from New Jersey’s friends told her that her fiance Luis was sketchy and had abuse allegations against him, she didn’t listen and the two recently married without a prenup, so we’ll see how that goes. You get the point that you should always listen when there are red flags.
Lesson #10: You never know what someone is going through, so its best to be kind
This is one of my favorite lessons because I wish everyone could understand. It is so easy to be kind and shocking the number of unkind people worldwide. Everyday, people go through different things and may choose not to share. When Jen Shah from Salt Lake City arrived at a party and her castmate Mary Cosby told her that she reeked of the hospital, Shah exploded. Shah had just returned from visiting her aunt in the hospital after she had had both legs amputated. Cosby did not know this, but this still created an awkward and upsetting moment.
Now I know some of these lessons seem a little silly and are meant to be that way; I truly have learned so much from watching the Housewives. I am so thankful to Andy Cohen for creating it and my mom for showing them to me.
Here are the current Housewives franchises that are still in production and airing in the US:
- Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
- Real Housewives of New Jersey
- Real Housewives of Atlanta
- Real Housewives of Potomac
- Real Housewives of Orange County
- Real Housewives of Miami
- Real Housewives of New YorkCity
- Real Housewives of Dubai
- Real Housewives of Salt Lake City