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-Photo by Bravo-

The show that started it all is coming back for its fifth season! The Real Housewives of Orange County, the original face of Bravo's Real Housewives brand, is currently filming its newest installment. With the introduction of a new housewife, Alexis Bellino, the season is already drama-filled.

Alexis, 32, is married to Jim Bellino, a self-made entrepreneur. They live in Newport Coast, California, one of the wealthiest and most exclusive parts of Orange Country, with their three children. The fiery blonde hails from Hannibal, Missouri and devotes herself to her roles as a wife and mother to her three-year-old son, James, and 20-month-old twins, Melania and Mackenna. In her spare time, she frequents the gym to keep herself feeling and looking amazing.

Favorite cast members Tamra Barney, Lynne Curtin, Vicki Gunvalson, Jeana Keough and Gretchen Rossi will all be returning for the new season. How do you think newbie Alexis will fit in with the current housewives?

We can't wait to watch the drama unfold!

--Sarah Levy

If you watched the director's cut of The Real Housewives of New Jersey's finale episode last night, you're probably thinking the same thing I am... "How the heck did I just re-watch an episode of a show that I just watched Tuesday night, and still love it oh so much?"

At first I didn't know what to think about this "lost footage" episode, since I hadn't seen Bravo do anything like it before. After a few minutes of watching though, I decided that what Bravo had done was genius -- they broke down that dinner footage like it was a crime scene, showing each person's (originally unseen) reactions to all sorts of moments.

My favorite was seeing each person's facial expressions when housewife Danielle Staub first brought out "the book." Caroline Manzo's son kicked his aunt Dina Manzo under the table, Teresa Giudice looked at it in total disbelief and Danielle's crazy eyes penetrated Jacqueline Laurita (Seriously, if you didn't notice it, fast forward to 00:49 in the video above. You won't miss it.).

So, what did you think of last night's extended version of the finale? And, more importantly, after seeing all the bits and pieces now, are you on Team Danielle, Team Teresa, Dina and
Caroline or Team Jacqueline (aka Team Staying Neutral)?

-- Jacki Garfinkel

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Could Countess LuAnn de Lesseps no longer be a countess? (More on how funny that could be in a minute.)

First, here's the deal: apparently LuAnn (from Real Housewives of New York City) and her husband, the Count, have split.

A source close to LuAnn told the NY Post, "They decided to separate. She got wind he was seeing somebody and he didn't answer her when she called. He finally sent her an e-mail saying he was with an Ethiopian woman in Geneva and he was serious with her."

Could that get any more random??? I guess I shouldn't be too surprised

The source added: "It has been very rough for her and the children [Victoria and Noel], but she's taking the high road and will remain friends with him. She has no intention of making it bitter or becoming angry. She's just trying to come to terms with [the separation and impending divorce]. She feels this is the ultimate test for her to handle this with dignity and grace."

So, why is this funny? Well, the Countess (who is the Count's fourth wife) is obsessed with her Countess status. Everyone must refer to her as "Countess." In fact, she refers to herself that way, saying lines like, "Sweetheart, the Countess doesn't drink beer from a bottle!" Plus, she has a book next month titled "Class with the Countess."

Think she'll still refer to herself as "The Countess" on next season of Real Housewives of NYC? I kind of love this. -- Jacki Garfinkel

Fan me on Facebook and Follow me on Twitter!
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We've had the O.C., Atlanta and New York, and now we're meeting the latest batch of housewives, The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Oh mama!

If you're Housewives obsessed like I am, be sure to catch he newest addition to the Housewives franchise when it premieres on May 12 at 11 pm. As always, the next week it will move to its regular slot at 10 pm.

Now for the good stuff. Let's meet the ladies!

Caroline Manzo: Caroline's been married to her husband, Albert, for over 25 years and has three children with him: Albie, Christopher and Lauren. Albert runs a catering facility, Albie is in law school, Christopher is an "entrepreneur" (aka potential strip club owner -- see clip below) and Lauren helps out with the family company. Caroline also owns two businesses -- a real estate firm and a children's accessories line. And, as all the Housewives seem to, she helps out with charities.



Dina Manzo: Like Caroline, Dina has two careers. She's an interior designer and owns an event planning company. She's married to her husband Tommy and has a teenage daughter, Alexia. Actually, Dina is very much like Caroline - if you can't tell from their last name - they're sisters. Sisters on Real Housewives? Well, that's new!

Jacqueline Laurita: I'll flat out admit that I hope Jacqueline does not go by Jacki (or any form of it) so I can preserve the semi-sanity associated with my name. Really though, Jacqueline is a stay-at-home mom who is married to a man named Chris... who just happens to be the brother of Caroline and Dina. They're really keeping it in the family this year! The couple has a son, CJ, and Jacqueline has a teenage daughter, Ashley, from a previous marriage. Jacqueline, who is a former cosmetologist, has no plans to age gracefully and pampers herself with regular facials, manicures and pedicures, though she thinks she's down to earth. Riiiight.

Danielle Staub: Danielle sums herself up this way: "You either love me or you love to hate me, there is no in between." Well, that should be interesting. Danielle is verrry proud of the fact that she was one of the first women in New Jersey to have a Black American Express Card (gag me). She's known for being brutally honest (watch the clip below) and is a recently single mom with two daughters, Christine and Jillian. Danielle loves her daughters and her looks. Unlike the previous three housewives, Danielle is not related to any of them.



Teresa Giudice: Teresa is married to her childhood sweetheart, Joe. They've now been married for over eight years and are building their (gigantic) dream home together. They have three daughters, Gia, Gabriella and Milania. Like Jacqueline (though they are also not related), Teresa's a stay-at-home mom. She hopes to get back into the fashion industry, where she worked before having children. Teresa also says she teaches her kids how to be "fabulous." Anyone else happy that you're not related to her?

I won't be mean about New Jersey because my girls Ysolt and Tracy live there, but I have had enough ex-boyfriends from the state to know that there will be a lot to make fun of.... And, let's be honest, that's the reason we watch the show.

So, what do you think? Can they compete with the other Housewives? -- Jacki Garfinkel

Follow Jacki on Twitter!
Calling all Real Housewives of New York City  fans! The Housewives will be hanging out at Sephora on February 17th, and you're invited to see them. Check out the invite:

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Click on the invite to take you to a larger version that you can print out. You must bring the invite to the event. And, don't forget to check out the premiere of The Real Housewives of New York City on February 17 at 11 pm on Bravo.
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The Real Housewives are moving down south, Atlanta style, y'all.

The new series, which expands on the fame of The Real Housewives of Orange County and The Real Housewives of New York City, premieres Tuesday, October 7 at 9 pm on Bravo.

Are you ready for the Southern belles? (From the picture above -- aka pink dress -- does it not look like a former pageant queen is involved?)

A quick rundown of the housewives:

E_DeShawn_89.jpgDeShawn Snow: DeShawn's hubby is the captain of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, Eric Snow. They have three sons together. DeShawn runs a charity and is an active church member.





E_Kim_89.jpgKim Zolciak: Kim is not a housewife. Like Bethenny of The Real Housewives of NYC, Kim is single. Unlike Bethenny, she's a mom to two daughters. She has an active dating life and wants to be a famous country singer. Kim is also dating a mystery man who seems to buy her anything she wants.



E_LisaHu_89.jpgLisa Wu Hartwell: Lisa's the career woman, owning a real estate firm, a jewelery line and a baby clothing line, while juggling her work as an actress, model and writer. Busy much? Lisa's hubby is also an athlete, NFL player Ed Hartwell. They have three children together.




E_NeNe_89.jpgNeNe Leakes: NeNe is married to husband Gregg, a successful businessman, and the mother to their two sons. She helps out foundations and wants to open a luxury boutique hotel.





E_Sheree_89.jpgSheree Whitfield: Another single "housewife" and single mom to three children, Sheree owned her own upscale clothing boutique but closed it to work on her own clothing line, "She by Sheree."





Will you watch The Real Housewives of Atlanta?

  • Of course!
  • No, I'm loyal to Orange County and New York City.
  • I can't stand any of the Housewives.
Vote Results
-- Jacki Garfinkel
joandslade.jpgWhen I first heard that Jo De La Rosa and Slade Smiley were getting their own reality show, Date My Ex: Jo & Slade, I didn't know what to think. Jo and Slade could be considered the most boring of the Real Housewives of Orange County cast.

Then Bravo aired a special called Jo & Slade: The Breakup and I was hooked. The show chronicled the ups and downs of the duo's relationship that took place during Housewives. And, I kind of fell in love.

You see, Jo and Slade were adorable together. They decided to break up--not because they didn't like each other anymore--but because they were truly at different stages in their lives. They remained the best of friends and still do love each other deeply... as friends... or so they say.

Any viewer can totally still see the connection between the two former lovebirds. So, why then, would I like a reality show in which Slade helps his ex-fiance find a date? Well, because I kinda-sorta-really-really hope they get back together.

Each episode Jo goes on a bunch of dates and then decides who she wants to go on a second date with. As the episodes progress, the second daters have to battle it out. But, the guys also have to live with Slade and Slade gets to watch all the dates on a monitor. (Um, hello heartbreak!)

Now I have to watch the show because I'm dying to know if Jo truly falls in love with another man (and Slade cries), or if Jo and Slade reunite and live happily ever after. Which are you rooting for?

Date My Ex premieres tonight on Bravo at 10 p.m. ET.  -- Jacki Garfinkel
kathygriffin2.jpgLast night I hit up the taping of the Bravo A-List Awards, hosted by Kathy Griffin, with my lovely coworker, Beauty & Style producer, Ysolt.

Considering this is the first A-List Awards, we had no idea what to expect. Would it be like the Oscars or the MTV Awards? (Two totally different events!) Turns out it was right in the middle - in terms of the atmosphere it was very MTV-ish, but when it came to the outfits, it was Oscars all the way.

When Ysolt and I arrived, we assumed we'd be ushered in and directed to our seats immediately. Not so. Instead there was a massive mingle fest, filled with current and past Top Chef and Project Runway contestants, the ladies of The Real Housewives of NYC and Orange County, plus some other reality folks. Dana Delaney of Desperate Housewives was one of the only "real" actresses there.

Immediately Ysolt and I turned from journalists into fans. Once we saw all our Bravo reality show favorites, we got a bit camera happy. Lucky for you, you get to see all the ridiculous photos we snapped.

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Here's me with my massive Top Chef crush, season one winner, Harold. Love him!

alex-and-simon1.jpgAlex McCord and Simon van Kempen from Real Housewives of NYC. Look at how shiny Simon's jacket is! Ysolt kept saying he looked like he was dressed as a magician.
realhousewives.jpgDoes that picture make you laugh? Or is it just me?

Anyway, the Real Housewives of NYC were out in full force at the NBC red carpet. You could tell they've been trained well, because when anyone asked them for scoop, they chimed in with the Bravo line, "Watch what happens!"

First things first, I wanted to know how Alex felt about what went down at the reunion show, when the other housewives were totally attacking her.

Her reaction?

"You know what, it is a reality show. It's not brain surgery. It's meant to be entertaining. It is meant to provide people with a little bit of an escape when they turn on the tube at the end of a long day. And if us doing what we do can provide that, then really what's the harm?"

Okay, well that didn't really answer my question, so I pried some more. Her answer this time?

"If someone came up to you and said you are a fire truck, would you suddenly believe that you were one?"

Oooooh, well in that case...

Moving on, Ramona had on so much makeup. It must have taken 50 hours to put in. Scary. Jill said her stepson is out of the hospital, and, "We're about to have a baby in the family. I don't want to say who, and it's not mine." (Any guesses?)

Lastly, I told Bethenny she should be a standup comic. I also told her it seems like she's only on the show to promote herself since she is so not a typical housewife (heck, she's not even a housewife). Bethenny totally agreed. She's not acting—she's the same in person as she is on the show. "You went to lunch with me," she said (about a lunch the two of us had a little over a year ago). "You know exactly what I'm like."

And that is why Bethenny is my favorite fake housewife. Who's yours?


On The Real Housewives of NYC reunion...

The Beginning

Right off the bat, Ramona is back to her usual bitchy self and calls Alex out on the state of her home. Alex tries to defend herself (we're renovating, blah blah blah), and LuAnn cuts in to defend her... for a minute. She then changes her mind and says, "It was a little scary, Alex."

Bethenny then chimes in with, "You really are all show and no go." Will this reunion be Attack Alex Day? (P.S. After watching the full episode, yes it will be.)

LuAnn then makes a backhanded compliment, saying kudos to Alex for allowing the cameras in her house that way. C'mon guys! She's renovating! And even if she's not, way to be superficial!

Ramona

We now get a montage of awkward Ramona clips and awesome comments from daughter Avery of how inappropriate her mother is. While I get why they are showing the clips, does anyone really want to relive Ramona moments?

One of the viewer's questions was whether or not Ramona is embarrassed of the footage. I think we all know the answer to that: Of course not!

On this week's episode of ...

LuAnn, Bethenny, Alex

The three ladies all met up at a Habitat for Humanity event and got right to discussing how awkward Ramon was at the dinner party when she just upped and left. LuAnn asked Simon if he knew it was going to be all girls at the party and he said no, which Bethenny quickly called him on. Alex said that Bethenny could have said no to Simon coming (she's getting defensive), so then LuAnn asks Alex why she wanted to bring her husband to a girls night in the first place. Alex said she'll come clean and explains that she doesn't like girls nights and guys nights because it's gender inequality. This, obviously, makes Bethenny (and us!) roll her eyes.

Alex then asks, "Why can't you talk about vibrators in mixed company?" which she follows with "Plug it in. What's the problem?" and Bethenny says in her interview, "Why are you plugging it in? What era are you in?" Hands down, this was the funniest Real Housewives moment yet. Thank you, Bethenny!
On this week's episode of The Real Housewives of NYC...

Bethenny

Surprise, surprise, Bethenny and Jason are back together. That was quick. The couple was supposed to go out to dinner with Jill and her husband Bobby, but Jason was stuck at work. He finally showed once dinner was over, which raised him up a notch in Jill's book, since she said he obviously only showed up out of respect for Bethenny.

Plus: Check out how Jason allegedly was fired for appearing on the show!

Alex

Alex and Simon are going to an event at the Met, and Alex's hair actually looks good! She got it straightened professionally, and it looks fantastic, especially compared to that witch hair she usually sports.

LuAnn

LuAnn has Bethenny over to drinks and we learn a surprising fact. LuAnn's marriage to the Count is her first... but it's his fourth. As Bethenny says, "Four's a charm, right?" Wow. I wonder if he has kids from his previous marriages.

LuAnn's son (the one who thinks his mom is never home) asks if he can go to dinner with LuAnn and Bethenny. LuAnn says no, because "no children go to this restaurant." Her son says, "It's a restaurant!" and she shoots him down again. She really never is home.

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On this week's The Real Housewives of NYC...

While watching the recap of what previously happened, they showed a clip of Alex saying, "Jill is a very valuable contact to have."

Jill's a contact. Not a friend. Surprise, surprise. These women so do not care about each other.

Okay back to this week's episode...

Awkward! Bethenny was set to meet up with Alex at the market to give her some tips about natural cooking and help find recipes to get her boys to eat meat. Bethenny, however, was beyond agitated. Turned out that five minutes before Alex showed up, Bethenny broke up with her boyfriend Jason.

On this week's episode of The Real Housewives of NYC

Alex goes out without her husband! Shocker!

Apparently he said he'd throw on a dress in order to join the festivities, but the rest of the housewives vetoed that idea. Verrrry interesting.

E_AlexJill_220.jpg So, all the housewives, minus Ramona (who was out with some other ladies talking about plastic surgery), went out to eat for a dinner that was quickly ruined…by LuAnn sharing the news that her kids all had lice. Lovely dinner conversation, really. Jill was shocked that LuAnn would tell this information to people she barely knew… as we know, these women are all about appearances.

Following the lice talk, LuAnn and Alex started speaking to each other in French and Italian, or both, who knows. Jill's reaction? She was jealous because she can barely speak English. Bethenny's response? She knows French but didn't feel the need to chime in and show off. Jill's next reaction? LuAnn only liked Alex because she could speak a different language.

Pretty sure these women are in constant competition and secretly hate each other.

The housewives are back in the city, which is probably a good thing since this show is called The Real Housewives of NYC, and not The Real Housewives of the Hamptons.

In the beginning of tonight's episode Jill takes her daughter shopping for school clothing. This then turns into a shopping spree for that night's Seventeen party, and the mother daughter duo begin to fight over why they're in the fancy shmancy store -- for school clothing or party dresses. How can Jill actually get mad? She took her daughter to a high end store for school shopping! Of course then Jill says, "She got whatever she wanted that day. I got tired." Great way to teach your daughter!

Oh wait, Jill later says, "I don't think it's a classy thing to talk about money." Really? Then why are you on this show?
Welcome to episode two of The Real Housewives of NYC, which begins with the detox center so that Jill's daughter Allyson can lose 21 pounds in 21 days... and "help her arthritis." Oh, did I mention that to get to this detox center they take a private jet that costs $5,000/day? If only we were all that lucky!

While on the plane Jill asks husband Bobby, "Will you take Ally shopping for school supplies?" That apparently was supposed to show that Bobby cares about Ally.

His way of showing he cares? Responding: "I will or I'll send somebody to take her for sure." Aw how sweet.

After awkward "bonding" at the detox center (where Bobby was almost nowhere to be found), we moved onto Ramona's house.

I LOVE Ramona's daughter Avery who tells her mother that her clothes are "too showy," look like lingerie, and are "disgusting." Thankfully someone is telling her mom that, because if my mother ever walked out of the house the way Ramona does, I'd throw a burlap sack over her.

 

E_RealHousewivesNY_350.jpgSo, what did you think?

When I last wrote about The Real Housewives of Orange County, it turned out that I wasn't alone in my obsession with the show.

As I watched the premiere, I had the natural reaction of, "Oh my gosh, these women make me sick." Then again, I had that same response after watching the OC ladies, and now I'm addicted to that show.

Perhaps that's why we watch the show? Because these women's lives fascinate us (because they're so absolutely insane), and we're shocked at the fact that they're actually real. Plus, it makes for great comedy.

Now that The Real Housewives of NYC has aired, did you like it? Can you love Alex, Bethenny, Jill, Luann and Ramona as much as Vicki, Jeana, Lauri, Tammy, Tamra, Quinn and even Jo?

Did you know that American Idol was on last night?

Who am I kidding? Of course you did. Everyone did. And while all of America was stoked on its return, there was another show on TV last night that I can't stay away from: Bravo's The Real Housewives of Orange County.

I have an addiction to the show. I mean, it must be an addiction, considering the show is absolutely ridiculous, but I know I'd lose my mind if I ever missed an episode.

So as I was basking in the delight of watching The Real Housewives, while my boyfriend did the dishes (I'm lucky, I know -- he cooked dinner too!), something made me jump.

At first I had no idea what it was. Then I realized it was my boyfriend yelling something. Something totally inaudible. I asked him what just happened, and he repeated, "We're going to Mexico!" in the most high pitched, whiny, annoying voice.

Of course! He was referring to a little freak-out Miss Housewife Vicki had when they were going to Mexico a few episodes back. And in that high pitched, whiny, annoying voice, she kept yelling, "We're going to Mexico! We're going to Mexico!" (How absolutely crazy is she???)

The surprising part was that my boyfriend remembered this. He hates this show. Tells me all the time. Can't stand how these rich women flaunt their money. (I love it. I think it's hilarious.) And yet The Real Housewives still rubbed off on him.

Who else loves this show? Have you convinced your guy to watch it with you? Who's your favorite housewife?

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